Villa found it difficult to come to terms with the vicious gale howling down the length of the pitch, and although with the wind at their backs they actually scored first, in truth they were unable to meaningfully harness the ‘advantage’ and failed to find their range and allowed the home side the fillip of scoring an equaliser right on the half time whistle.   Freckleton, on the other hand, used their local knowledge to good effect in a second half during which they dominated and went on to run out convincing winners.  

The first half was a fairly lacklustre affair. The Freckleton keeper was much the busier of the two, but alas that was mostly regarding goal kick duties, as most of Villa’s attacking moves resulted in the ball running harmlessly into touch on the end of countless over-hit passes.  Damian Stewart went very close, flashing a low drive into the side netting on the end of a determined and skilful run from Tom Whittaker. It was clear that Villa would need to capitalise on their advantage before the turn around, as no doubt the second half would prove a different story, but it was nearly forty minutes before said breakthrough was forthcoming.  Lee Chambers sent George Craddock away, he sprinted to the touch-line, cut the ball back into the middle, precisely picking out Stewart who arrived right on cue to slot home. 

Regrettably for the visitors, they were not able to hold on to their slender advantage till half time, as Freckleton grabbed a late equaliser with a fine diving header with almost the last touch of the half. 

The second half began ominously for villa, with David Bibby forced into a flying save inside the first couple of minutes. The Euxton side’s best opportunity came when Craddock went flying in the box when bearing down on goal, but referee Alan Young had a good view and remained unimpressed. To be fair there were few complaints from the Villa players, largely one suspects due to the respect for the aforementioned Mr Young, being one of the consistently best officials in the league. 

Other than that, the half belonged to Freckleton, who went on to win in a canter, scoring a further three times, albeit with a little help from a spectacular o.g. from Lee Chambers which nearly lifted the bar from the posts!  

Several in Villa colours played as though they had other matters on their minds, and no doubt their Goldline Semi Final on Monday night [see website for details] was hard to banish from the thinking, though some may be in danger of having played themselves out of the starting line-up!   Does the result give Freckleton a psychological advantage for the forthcoming Shield semi when the two meet again on the 12thy December? No doubt it is better to have won than lost, but one suspects that both starting line ups will have a different look on that occasion. 

Villa : Bibby, C.Chambers, Dickenson, L.Chambers, Bolton (Walker 76), Whittaker, Woodman (M.Conway 64), Bingham, Bretherton (Briggs 51), Craddock, Stewart.