AFC Liverpool v Barnoldswick Town, 20th January 2018

 We came into this match off the back of a 7-2 League Cup win over Holker Old Boys in midweek. However, we found ourselves a goal down to Barnoldswick within 3 minutes, whilst I was still in the turnstile hut. As I was heading up into the stand, Barlick's number 9 Mark Threlfall headed in a second.  

With myself the sole Rattler that day, and with us attacking the Crossender Road End, I decided to head to the other side of the ground. As I walked round the ground, one of our players had to have his boots changed following a tackle. No sooner had I joined our supporters behind the goal, Jack Cookson was called into action to palm another Barlick effort onto the Bar.

 

We did soon enough manage to come into the game though. A free kick from Kevin Edgar hit the post, and was scored on the rebound. Bizarrely, the effort was ruled out for offside by the assistant. Barlick's Keeper engaged in conversation with us shortly afterwards, and even he was surprised by the Linesman's decision.

 

Further controversy followed, as the officials continued to make questionable decisions. The ref got a bit of stick from ourselves, as we likened him to Warwick Davis due to his appearance. Each side got a man in the book, perhaps deservedly. Although, to be fair to the man in the middle, Danny Boden had earlier received a warning following a foul, when he could so easily have been given a yellow card.

 

Just after the half hour mark, two goals in the space of 3 minutes from Kevin Edgar and Danny Boden saw us dramatically draw level. The Boden equaliser came after a good run down the left by Leon Arnasalam, who was causing Barlick quite a few problems. Arnasalam later won the Alan Williams Man of the Match.

 

After the break, end to end stuff ensued. But the visitors went back into the lead on 51 minutes. One of our better chances during the early minutes of the second half saw a cross dangerously go across the visitors' box, but evade a vital connection.

 

An entertaining match took another twist on 76 minutes as Danny Boden equalised. However, no sooner were we level, we found ourselves behind again. Barlick's number 11 Harry Thompson lobbed Jack Cookson to restore the visitors' advantage.

 

The Warwick Davis lookalike referee's handling of the match still left a lot to be desired. Myself and Steve Fraser were often making our feelings known. James Anderson went close with a header from an Oscar Billington freekick late on. But when Danny Boden was sent off for a second yellow card just into injury time, it was clear the game was up. To be fair, Barlick were just that bit better than us, even though a bit more luck could have seen us take something on another day.

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