AFC Liverpool v Chadderton, 29th April 2009

AFC Liverpool went into their final home match of their inaugural season, needing a victory over Chadderton to have any hope of keeping their promotion challenge alive, going into the final match.  The Reds also needed rivals Padiham to slip up as well.  It was a fairly nervous start as the visitors created a few chances, including one that was presented to them following an uncharacteristic slip in concentration from Liam Coyne.


Before the half hour mark, Chadderton's Keeper found himself in the referee's notebook following a lunge outside the area on one of our attackers.  He wasn't the last man, so a Red Card would have been harsh.  We took the lead from an Andy McCoy penalty just before half time.  That was how it stayed until about five minutes from time.  Chadderton's equaliser at the time seemed totally out of the blue.  However when I looked at the highlights on YouTube a few days later, I accepted that a draw was probably the least the visitors deserved on the balance of play.


After being pegged back, we could have re-taken the lead following a goalmouth scramble.  I later realised that we also hit the post during that passage of play.  We had fallen just short in every sense, as the 1-1 draw confirmed that AFC Liverpool could now no longer catch Padiham.  It was still a memorable day though as the players and fans applauded each other to mark the end of AFC Liverpool's first season.  It was also memorable from a personal point of view, for seeing Alan Williams' other son and Grandson at an AFC match for the first time.

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