Daisy Hill v AFC Liverpool, 5th September 2009


To date, I have only done the trip to Daisy Hill once.  Over the years of travelling around the North West to support the little Reds, there has been the odd occasion in which the internet has misdirected me.  This was one of those occasions, as I nearly found myself in Atherton!

I did thankfully manage to get to the ground with 5 minutes to spare.  Alan and Dave Williams were more unfortunate.  Alan had taken a wrong turn somewhere in Bolton, and due to traffic, got to the ground midway through the first half.  At this point we were 1-0 down.

There was no doubt that the home side had been first out of the blocks, in a spell which saw our defence all over the place.  Around the time Alan and Dave arrived, we had a good two-minute spell which saw us start to give the home side something to think about down our right. 

I sensed that Daisy Hill's momentum had gone.  Unfortunately, I was wrong!  Daisy Hill were playing with the direction of the wind, and went on to score four more goals before half time, with our sole reply being a John Kennedy penalty!

Thankfully the wind continued to blow in the same direction after the break, as the match did indeed turn out to be one of those games of two halves.  Our danger man during the early part of the second half was Ryan Wignall, who certainly appeared to have the beating of Daisy Hill's right back. 

It wasn't until midway through the second half that the Reds got a little foothold back into the game, as a Liam Coyne header brought it back to 5-2.  Shortly afterwards the home side nearly restored their four-goal advantage when a decent opportunity thankfully saw a block from defender or a save from Paul Willis.

Two Dean Thurston goals brought us back to 5-4 with approximately 13 minutes to go.  One of Thurston's goals was an overhead kick following a good header from Todd Bamber.  Bamber himself came close to equalise when a header got headed off the line.  The resulting corner saw a scramble ensue, but the home side survived to hold onto the victory.

I have to admit that it was an entertaining game, despite the frustration of the narrow defeat.  However, it later emerged that the final score that day was not the end of the matter.  Daisy Hill turned out to have fielded an ineligible player.  This led to the match being replayed later in the season, with the Reds winning the replayed match 3-0.

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