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Goldline Trophy
Quarter Final
Before league
business even gets under way, Villa find themselves through
to the semi final of the Goldline Trophy after last night’s
win over Tempest, but it proved to be much harder work than
it should have been. Villa cruised to a 3 - 0 lead inside
half an hour, and missed a couple of other gilt-edged
chances, which would have put them out of sight by the
interval. However they couldn’t regain their momentum in the
second half, affording Tempest enough encouragement to see
them stage a valiant comeback and push their rivals all the
way to the wire.
Virtually all the early play was
conducted in Tempest’s defensive third of the pitch, and
Villa deservedly took the lead on fifteen minutes when Matt
Atherton stood the ball up to the back post where Eliot Dunn
met it with a precision header. Two minutes later we very
nearly had a replica goal, but this time Dunn hit the post,
but George Craddock was first in line to prod home the
rebound. Bang on the half hour, Stuart Bingham picked out
Craddock with a deft flick, and the latter doubled his tally
for the night with a rasping volley from fifteen yards.
Strangers to the Villa could have been
forgiven for thinking that this was a friendly, and that
Mark McDonnell had sent out a different team in the second
half. Perhaps they were missing the driving influence of
Stuart Bingham who had to go off ten minutes before the
interval. Perhaps they simply thought ‘job done’. Or perhaps
they just didn’t fancy playing in the heavy rain, which
persisted for the last hour of the match.
Whatever the reason, Villa dropped
deeper and deeper, and allowed Tempest hope where there
should have been none. Sure enough, fifteen minutes into the
half, the visitors were rewarded for their refusal to lie
down, deservedly pulling one back. Suddenly Villa looked
rattled and for the next twenty minutes or so, play was only
in one direction. Twenty five minutes from the end, a rash
attempt at a tackle saw Tempest awarded a spot kick, and
although Shaun Gibbs reacted well and got a good hand on it,
it was struck with enough force to give him no real chance.
The Euxton side featured little as an
attacking force, and the so pleasing to the eye flowing
football of the first half was notable only for it’s
absence, and Gibbs had to pull out a couple of fine saves to
keep their noses in front. Almost inevitably however, as
Tempest threw everything forward in the dying minutes, space
opened up at the back, and Villa were finally able to nail
the tie when Gavin Cooper stole in to finish from close
range in stoppage time.
Through to the semi then, but one has to
say it was a poor second half display. This Saturday, Villa
travel to Haslingden in a tough opener to their league
campaign, with the Reserves home to Fereckleton. Don’t
forget Monday sees the Reserves entertain Tempest, and on
Tuesday (12th) newly promoted Stoneclough make an
early return to the Villa having recently secured a draw
there to help them qualify from the Goldline group stage..
6.45 pm kick off both.
Villa line-up. Gibbs, C.Chambers,
Davies, L.Chambers, Bolton, Woodman, Bingham (Kirkpatrick
35), Cooper, Atherton, Craddock (Shone 74), Dunn (Dickinson
90+)
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