AFC Liverpool v Pilkington, 12th December 2021

 It was the weekend of my wife Caz's 40th birthday celebration. Kev, my longtime mate from College in Southport stayed over. We headed into Crosby and straight for the Dace Coffee Shop. About a quarter to one I headed over to run the turnstile for AFC's FA Vase Tie against Pilkington.

It was a first half a little bit characterised by some strong Pilkington tackling. Ollie Sanderson was forced off injured. Callum Schorah also took a bit of a clobbering. But he ran his knock off. For all their clobbering, they only suffered one yellow card.In terms of chances, they shaded it. Anthony Lyons (who replaced Sanderson) had our best chance. His shot just went wide and hit the stantion behind the goal. One of their best efforts was when Lee McConchie unwittingly presented a half chance which was duly shot wide. Another effort brought a save from Jack McGovern.The start of the second half was delayed due to the most bizarre reasons. Only after a door handle came off, Pilks couldn't  get out of their changing room! When it finally started Pilks forced two early corners.  Within a few minutes though it was first blood to the Red Men. Luke Stephens was lurking at the back post after it got flicked on from a corner.For the next twenty minutes or so AFC were very much on the front foot. But, we didn't really come close to increasing our advantage. Pilks' keeper was attracting a lot of attention with his Orange top which was clashing with our Red, especially in the light. The chant this drew was "Tango!" This was especially funny when at one point a mix up with one of his defenders brought a corner.In the closing stages, Pilks did come back into things and forced some excellent saves from Jack McGovern. There was one unsavoury incident near the end after we were trying to keep the ball near the corner. Of course when the boot is on the other foot it is frustrating when an opponent is managing the game in this way. But after Callum Schorah went down injured, it did appear from my vantage point that one of their players was trying to hit him whilst he was on the floor. Equally the ref saw fit to take no action after the brawl which ensued.We did manage to see it out, and it was job done!After that scrappy win, I took the chance to introduce Kevin to Crosby seafront. Kev knows Southport having lived there for a few years. He also has seen a bit of Formby. But he was not particularly familiar with Crosby. So before it was time to drive him home to Stockport via Warrington (where Caz was looking after his dog Daisy), a nice way to finish off a super weekend all round was a visit to the seafront and the iron men on Crosby beach.

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