AFC Liverpool v Abbey Hey, 15th October 2013

The first 25 minutes or so was nothing to write home about.  If anything, Abbey Hey were playing the better stuff.  On a few occasions the visitors were just a final pass away from a good chance. 

Just before the half hour mark, Steve Corris won the ball in midfield, and played in Steve Jones, who in turn played in Paul Brown to slot home the opener.  A few minutes previously, Alan Williams and I were in conversation agreeing that Corris's best days in an AFC shirt were probably behind him!


With the half time break approaching, the Reds pushed for a second.  A Liam Loughlin header came back off the post and into the keeper's arms.  But the goal did come a few minutes after that as Michael Girvan was found down the right.  He brought the ball inside and was brought down for a penalty.  John Lawless made no mistake from the spot to give the Reds a 2-0 half time advantage.

 

Watching the match this day with some mates was a chap called Liam, a work mate of mine.  When I chatted to him at half time I acknowledged a small indiscretion on my part, when John Lawless initially looked to be in a promising position.  I only realised Lawless was miles offside after I opened my mouth!  For his part, Liam acknowledged the standard to be way above that of the pub football he used to see his dad play.

 

Abbey Hey continued to play good football after the break, without finding that decisive final ball.  For our part, Liam Loughlin almost got on the end of a ball across the box.  But 2-0 was how it remained until a little over 10 minutes to go.

 

Alan and I had been in broad agreement that Liam Loughlin had not been having the best of games, at least in terms of his passing.  Now I did not go to the match previous week at Congleton, but Alan filled me in that in his view Loughlin was much the same then.  Anyway, it was the same player who got played in to make it 3-0.

 

Steve Jones made it 4-0 after dispossessing a defender in the penalty area, and then placing the ball beautifully.  The 4-0 final score was not really a true reflection of proceedings, and Abbey Hey twice forced fine saves from Ste Longrigg in the closing minutes.  Sometimes though you have to take good fortune as it comes your way

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Abbey Hey v AFC Liverpool, 16th September 2017

I was accompanied for this match by Kevin, my friend of many years. We met other supporters in the club house, including Dave The Rattler and the two Chesterfield lads (who are mates of Steve Fraser). On the pitch, we got off to the best possible start. Debutant George Lomax stabbed home from close range, after Joe Whittington had played the ball across the area to keep the ball alive from a corner. For the first twenty minutes we were in complete control. We could have scored a second when a shot was diverted away unconvincingly by the keeper, and just narrowly went wide. Along with Steve, Dave, and the Chesterfield lads, we were stood behind the goal we were attacking in the first half. On a couple of occasions, I played ballboy. Much to the amusement of everyone behind that goal, I tried a spin of the ball with my feet! But then, the home side came back into it. They moved through the left side of our defence with ease, and shot against Jack Cookson's left hand post. The respite...
Read more

AFC Liverpool v Wythenshawe, 19th December 2023

Exactly a week earlier we lost 5-0 at home against lowly Burscough. It was in fact our second 5-0 home defeat of the season having lost against Lower Breck in the FA Cup back in August. Wythenshawe, who had never been relegated in their history, were playing at this level for the first time. They were also the surprise League Leaders ahead of Bury. Following on from the Burscough defeat, we had also lost 3-0 at Pilkington on the Saturday. Rather predictably the early phase of the game was very much about staying in the game. It was heartening to see the lads showing an endeavour to battle. As the early minutes clocked up without much Wythenshawe threat and a clean sheet intact, the more our supporters began to believe we could perhaps nick a draw. Around the 15 minute mark one of our boys was down injured. But the visitors carried on playing, which did not go down too well. Five minutes later a misplaced back pass from a Wythenshawe defender was collected by Billy "Whiz" McCa...
Read more

AFC Liverpool v Morecambe, 26th July 2012

After leaving Valerie Park following our 4-3 pre-season victory over Morecambe, I got a text off my brother in Northampton who had been aware of the scoreline from good old Sky Sports News.  He suggested it must have been a bit of a ding dong game.  Well, not exactly. Two well taken first half goals from Franny Barry gave the Reds a 2-0 half time lead, following an earlier tame shot with his weaker left foot which was saved by the Morecambe keeper.  Steve Williams was particularly influential in the first goal, playing a one two with John Lawless, before Barry was able to pounce to the loose ball and slot home.  The second was a stunning strike cum volley, which I felt had shades of Marco Van Basten in Euro 88. Morecambe did miss a few chances at the other end, including one effort which forced a goal-line clearance.  Of equal significance, the Reds were denied a third as Lee Madin was denied by the Morecambe keeper's fingertips. Their number 10 was put through ...
Read more