Bacup Borough v AFC Liverpool, 21st September 2019

This was only my second visit to Bacup. On my only other visit to Bacup six years previously, myself and the other Rattlers were threatened by a lottery saleswoman with being thrown out of the ground! This time round the backdrop could not have been more different, with Bacup's Official Twitter Account starting to follow me just a couple of hours before kick off. In any case, I don't believe that rogue saleswoman was really anyone important as far as Bacup Borough was concerned.

I posted at half time the following on the AFC Liverpool Supporters WhatsApp group:0-0 HT . The Reds have had the line share of chances, but those efforts were only expected to be dealt with by their keeper. Bacup's no 5 is quite commanding.Our best chance was probably a couple of minutes before half time when Rhys Hardacre's shot was tipped round the post. At the other end, Bacup's big number 5 got his head on the end of a free kick to head wide. I suspect he was stretching a bit.The Reds dominance continued into the second half, with Bacup's goalkeeper being called upon to make more saves. There was one big call the referee had to make as Luke Stephen's went down in the area. I must admit, when it was clear the ref was not going to give us the decision, I fully expected Luke to go into the book. I also confess that I was not convinced there was a significant contact from the Bacup defender. But, Steve Fraser posted on the WhatsApp group that it was a blatant penalty, and I think Steve was better positioned than myself.Although we had been dominant, the final 15 minutes or so did become stretched, with both sides having a few chances to snatch the points. One effort  from the home side needed our keeper David Potter to make a crucial block. Whilst a late effort from the Reds went narrowly wide.On the way out of Bacup, I tried unsuccessfully to find an historical wall with my mate Kevin who came to the game with me, which was signposted in the Town Centre. As far as the Footy was concerned, we did only manage a draw against a side many would expect us to beat. But that said, having started the season poorly away from home, we now had four points on the road from two successive league away matches.

On the pitch the season did get better. At the time of my birthday in March 2020 , we found ourselves in 2nd place in the North West Counties League Division North and 10 points clear of 3rd place. However, less than a fortnight later the season got abanndoned due to the Coronavirus Pandemic.

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