AFC Liverpool v Pilkington, 6th October 2020

It was the opening game of the season. Due to the Covid Pandemic it was also taking place on 6th October. The unusual circumstances meant my pre-match job was to sort track and trace, and make sure the fans were paying their money. It was the visitors who struck first on 25 minutes, with a goal that had a hint of offside about it. The heavens then opened and I decided to move from behind the Crossender Road end and head for cover. As I was walking down to behind the goal, we struck back. After good approach work by Kyle Schorah, Anthony Lyons was teed up to fire the ball past the keeper.


We weren't level for long though. Once again there was a hint of offside, but I think one of our defenders had the final touch before their player beat Day Potter. Quite frankly we were not asking enough questions of Pilks, and had it not been for a Potter save with his foot a few minutes earlier, Pilks could already have been 2-1 up.


Just before half time a better move found the head of Jay McGrane. But McGrane headed wide. That was a bit better.


The Reds came out after the break with more purpose. On 53 minutes the Pilks goalkeeper made a double save. The second one was always a tight angle for Anthony Lyons. But the keeper still did what he needed to do. The reds would not be denied for long though. The subsequent corner saw Lyons glance a header from a Callum Schorah corner to restore parity for a second time.


What followed was a combination of frustration, bad refereeing, and bad language from Pilks' Keeper. Eric Palfreyman lamented the balls always dropping favourably for the visitors. The colourful language from the Pilks Keeper drew a response from Alan Harrison. Alan suggested the Keeper's mum should have something to say about his bad language. Dave The Rattler piped up "my Grandad is here!"


Pilkington sub Wade Rutherford picked up two yellows after two really cynical challenges.  The second was just outside the area on the left as we attacked.


Despite the man advantage, the Reds had two late goals disallowed for offside. The second one, which was a header by Kyle Schorah, looked particularly harsh. Kyle was running in, and how could he have been offside when the ball was played? How could any other player have been interfering with play? It was so frustrating. But at least we did not lose.

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