Euxton Villa    4       Fleetwood Hesketh    0

                   ( 1 )                                     ( 0 )

Bretherton 2

L.Conway

Briggs

Villa started their season in impressive style with a well deserved victory over a committed Fleetwood Hesketh side.

From the start both sides attacked, and the visitors had the better of the early exchanges as Villa tried to establish their pattern of play. Given that for the first twenty minutes Fleetwood had the bulk of the possession, all the best goal scoring opportunities fell to the home side. With only two minutes gone good work by Ian Curwen created an opening for Liam Conway, but the effort was wide. Three minutes later Rob Marquis cut in from the left, only to see his shot fly over the bar. Euxton continued to probe and on eight minutes were awarded a free kick just outside the area, from the kick Ian Curwen out jumped the keeper only to see his header clear the bar.

With ten minutes played Villa took the lead, the visitors defence had been struggling to cope with Neil Bretherton, and when he picked a ball up on the left no-one closed him down allowing him time to look up and beat the keeper with a perfectly placed lob.The visitors continued to play neat possession football without really troubling the Villa defence. After the first twenty minutes the home side started to take control of the game and the chances increased. On twenty minutes Matthew Atherton played through Liam Conway, his effort was turned away for a corner, from the kick Ian Curwen picked up the ball cut inside his marker and put a left foot shot just wide.

Fleetwoods first effort on goal came after 28 minutes when a low shot flashed past the foot of the post, this was a warning for the home side who immediately went back onto the attack. Matthew Atherton came close with a header, then Liam Conway shot wide, this effort was followed by another shot from Ian Curwen again just wide. On 35 minutes the visitors had a shot on goal, but again they were off target. Villa nearly increased their lead two minutes before half time when Liam Conway got behind the Fleetwood defence, his cut back was met by Heath Broadbent who forced the keeper into a good save.

From the start of the second half Villa increased their domination of the match. With only one goal to show for their efforts Villa could not afford to relax, but all this changed on 58 minutes when Neil Bretherton effectively ended the game as a contest with his second goal of the match. From a corner he was first to react and beat the Fleetwood keeper with a good header. The Villa second goal deflated the visitors who had worked hard throughout the game without ever really troubling a very solid Villa defence.

For the rest of the game Villa continued to press. Neil Bretherton nearly completed his hat trick on 65 minutes when he shot just wide from a free kick. The visitors held out until 85 minutes when they were hit by a further two Villa goals. The first was scored by Liam Conway who cut into the box before beating the keeper with a good shot. With a minute to play Adrian Briggs picked up the ball on the left, beat a defender before shooting low into the bottom corner. Villa can be very satisfied with their start to the season as they try to improve on last season runners up spot.

Team   Gibbs, C.Chambers, Dickinson, O'Loughlin, Marquis, L.Conway, Broadbent,

( McGladrigan ) Dowling, ( Walker ) Atherton, ( Briggs ) Bretherton, Curwen.