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This was, in some ways, a strange game.
Fulwood could hardly get going during a first half bossed by
Villa, who played some of the most fluent attacking football
of their season so far, and yet found themselves 3-2 down at
the interval! In the second half, Fulwood were able to
largely subdue Villa’s playmakers and controlled proceedings
with a quiet efficiency, but two strikes in just over a
minute, a quarter of an hour from the end, saw the home side
grab all three points in a valuable win that looked to have
slipped away from them owing to their earlier short-comings
at the back.
Villa’s opener came early. Sam Bolton floated a long-range
free kick into the box, George Craddock nodded it down into
the path of Neil Davies, who took a touch to set himself
before crashing an unstoppable drive high into the rigging
from a tight angle.
As
the home side pressed for another, Fulwood struggled to get
their passing game going. Clearly concerned for their well
being, the ever benevolent Sam Bolton decided to give them a
bit of a leg up by heading the ball into his own net when
under no apparent pressure whatsoever. Spurred on by this
aberration, back came Villa, and Neil Davies promptly
produced a carbon copy of his first strike, Bolton again the
deliverer from a free, though this time the ball reached the
executioner via the head of a defender.
With Euxton back in front and back in control, Davies very
nearly completed a first half hat trick with yet another
copy cat strike. However, the plot was about to take an
unexpected twist. Fulwood floated a free kick from the half
way line high into the box. Defenders and keeper either got
in a muddle, or just simply left it to each other, but
whichever it was, the ball ended up in the back of the net
via an unchallenged simple header. Worse was to follow. A
corner kick a couple of minutes before the break was
routinely delivered, and whilst the Villa defence stood
rooted, Fulwood formed a queue to avail themselves of the
gifted opportunity.
Depending on which side of the fence you are on, a very
good, or a very bad time to score/concede a goal. Sure
enough the visitors emerged for the restart buoyed by the
good fortune their play scarcely merited, and it was they
who enjoyed the lion’s share of the play throughout the
greater part of the second half. That said however, whilst
they were largely able to keep their opponents from building
anything of note from open play, Ross Baxter in the Villa
net didn’t have a serious save to make and dealt comfortably
with any routine handling required.
Villa’s cause was not helped by losing the influential
Craddock early in the half, though his replacement Damien
Stuart forced a quality save with his first touch, a free
kick that very nearly found the top corner, and the nearest
thing either side had had to a goal since the turn around.
Then suddenly, fifteen minutes from time, a leisurely
clearance from deep in the Fulwood box fell kindly for
Bolton, forty-five yards from goal and in acres of space.
Not that he needed the room, for he cracked a dipping pile
driver with his trusty left which the keeper never saw till
he was picking it out of the back of his net. And whilst
the visitors were still reeling from this bolt from the,
well not the blue anyway, Villa got their noses in front
again. Michael Bromham fed David Heald down the inside left
channel, he in turn cleverly back-heeled it into the path of
Tom Whittaker, who still had plenty to do, but kept his cool
and beat both defender and keeper with quick feet and a
composed finish.
This pretty much knocked the wind out of the Fulwood sails,
and Villa were able to play out the remaining minutes in
relative comfort. Matches between these two are usually very
watchable affairs as both like to try to play football that
is pleasing to the eye, and this was no exception, spoiled
only for the home support by a couple of woeful lapses in
defence. Villa’s most notable performers on the day were
Neil Davies who pretty much ran the first half, David Heald
who had an outstanding ninety minutes, ably supported by Tom
Whittaker who showed his best form when moved inside later
on.
Villa Line-up:
Baxter, D.Davies, Dickenson, Bolton, Bromham, N.Davies,
Loughlin, Bingham (C.Chambers 68), Whittaker, Craddock
(Stewart 56), Heald (M.Conway 89)
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