2nd home fixture of the new season, down on the little pitch, the weather at Southlands was kind …for once (and for only 70mins before the shower came). With the wind in their faces the Villa started the game.

1st Half
A good start by Villa with neither side really getting a grip on the game for the first 5mins, then on 6mins Jnrs got their first of two back to back corners. Then on 9mins the Jnrs gave Euxton a glimpse of why they are top of the league with the first proper shot of the game. Alex & Tom G had stood firm and Danny clearing to Sam who passed to Greg created Villas first corner on 10mins. Then on 13mnins the inevitable happened despite stout & brave tackling from Jamie A.
0-1. Heads down but good battling meant that Jnrs had to wait another 7mins to make it 0-2 on 20mins. Tom G took a knock in the face and had to come off with a bloody nose. Sam went left back, Danny in the middle and Will came onto the right wing & Smithy over to the left. This seemed to work for a while with Jamie G and Tom M now getting forward a little more bringing Smithy, Charlie & Greg into the game. A few shots could have been successful given a little luck. Burscough pushed on though and the pressure resulted in a third goal on 29mins. 0-3.
Then Danny passed to Sam who in turn passed to Tom M who found Smithy and onto Greg who shot and scored ….but it was given as offside. Shame as this was the best move of the Villa game and should have been rewarded. The whistle went on 38mins.

Half Time 0-3
“The management praised the boys for the effort but chastised the team & warned of poor attitude being shown towards each other” is what I wrote last week and sadly they had to do the same again this week. 0-3 wasn’t a disaster but they had to play as a team. They had the wind at their backs now and hopefully would use this to put Jnrs under pressure.

2nd Half
Tom G came back on for the start. Villa played with great gusto and put Jnrs under pressure winning a corner on 1min. After the ball was cleared in was Jamie A who ran it back, crossed and the Jnrs player clearly handballed in the area. This was deemed to be a corner. Taken and cleared it was Alex to Danny who passed to Sam who was fouled. Sam took the free kick after some touchline discussions. Launched in form the left it found Charlie’s head, Charlie found the net. 1-3. On 5mins. The boys rallied. Ryan made a great save on 6mins to keep the scoreline the same but the next goal came from a corner and it was to Jnrs. 1-4 on 12mins. Jamie G took a great shot on 13mins and just missed but Jnrs replied with another goal on 16mins.1-5. Smithy came off after 18mins with Jamie A pushing forward and Kyle taking the right back position. Alex did fantastic to clear off the line on 23mins. Sam came off on 23mins with Will taking the place. Villa won a corner on 27mins and Jamie A came off on 30mins being replaced by Steven. On 30mins Jnrs were awarded a penalty for “hand ball in the area”. It was taken well and the scoreline read 1-6 and stayed that way until a relived referee blew dead on 35mins. The scoreline didn’t reflect the effort the boys had made.

Full Time 1-6.
Everything was against the Villa today but they didn’t need to be against each other as well. A bad tempered game with little in the way of decision making being shown. The boys battled very well at times and given some shape and more determination for the whole 70mins could have possibly scraped a something of a result. Times they are a changing. 2 week break now for the boys to get back some team spirit.