AFC Liverpool v Ramsbottom United, 29th February 2012

After a delayed Kick Off to 8PM, John Lawless's debut match got under way with the high flying visitors on the offensive.  I will confess that I had heard a few not so positive things about our new signing.  But in terms of his footballing ability, I understood that he had good ability on the field of play. He had after all been on Liverpool's books once upon a time.

After a spell with us penned back and defending deep, we went up the other end.  And guess what?  It was that man Lawless who headed home, leaving the Rammy keeper stranded.  We did play some good stuff in the first half.  Although, we were probably not as dominant as we had been against Squires Gate a few days previously.
Steve Jones scored a second with a wonderful shot from the edge of the area.  And we really should have gone in 3-0 at half time, as Franny Barry got in behind their keeper who had misjudged a bounce.  But the shot Franny got away was weak, and a defender was able to clear it off the line.
Before half time, Steve Williams went into the book for a dangerous tackle.  Apparently, he did the same thing again a couple of minutes into the second half, as I was passing the sweets to the other rattlers!  Anyway, he was off.
When the visitors soon got a goal back from a freekick, the Reds faced over half an hour very much with backs against the wall.  We did have the odd chance on the break to restore a two goal cushion.  But we had to survive late Rammy pressure, to hold on for a massive victory against the side who were to go on to win the league that season.

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