AFC Liverpool v Wigan Robin Park, 15th January 2011

Having lost 7-1 to Whitley Bay in the FA Vase the previous week, the Reds now had only one priority for the season. There was at this point a crowded promotion pictureat the top of the North West Counties League First Division with AFC Blackpool and Runcorn Town both going strong. Wigan Robin Park, the Reds' opponents on 15th January 2011, were another threat at this point to the Reds' ambitions.

Although we started well enough courtesy of an early Aaron Stafford goal, Wigan drew level almost immediately with a header from a corner. As the first half wore on, the feeling on me rose that Wigan would gain the upper hand as the Robins were always first to the loose ball.

That sinking feeling got worse after the break, despite AFC Liverpool creating more chances. This dismissal of Shaun Chart was always going to make it very tough and what made it worse was that at times it seemed like we were playing ten against twelve, as the referee seemed more inclined to take action against our indiscipline, but not Wigan's. One example I recall was when a Wigan player who kicked the ball away following the award of an AFC Liverpool free kick did not even receive a booking. As the decisions continued to go against us, I remembered being at Anfield just over twelve years previously as Gerard Houllier took charge of his first match in sole charge of Liverpool. That day Liverpool went down 1-3 to Leeds United.

Thankfully my fears that this match would go the same way proved to be unfounded as Aaron Stafford played Steve Jones in to score what proved to be his last goal of his first spell at AFC Liverpool. As expected, Wigan did exert some pressure late on and AFC were fortunate when one Wigan corner was totally wasted by going into the side netting.

The triumph through adversity was almost complete in the closing stages when debutant goalkeeper, Christopher Ochwat, made a crucial save. The biggest turnaround in fortune though came from the referee. Straight after that crucial save, he refused to award Wigan a penalty, which they were claiming for handball.

With that win, I had hopes that the Reds would kick start their season, which had been interrupted by a second successive harsh winter. Unfortunately, mother nature was to intervene once again as we would only play one more match before the end of February. The consequence was that the run-in would see the Reds play at least twice a week until the end of the season. Subsequently, the Reds would finish fourth, quite a distance behind AFC Blackpool and Runcorn Town.

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