Penwortham v Euxton Villa                  11am Kick Off        29^th October 2006

The team & entourage gathered at the Factory Lane ground after an extra hour in bed. The Winter sun shone on the faces of the crowd. After the outward bound trek to the pitch and a brief chat with the local gentry everyone got their breath back and stood in expectation as Villa had played well in the last two games and they looked forward to more of the same. Tom M wore the captain’s arm band.

1^st Half

Tom M won the toss and Villa kicked off. Within 20secs Penwortham had secured their the first corner of the game. Penwortham pushed on and were unlucky with a first class shot just passing the post after only 90secs. Villa seemed very slow to wake up but as the minutes ticked by they seemed to get more into the game. After a couple of good runs down both wings from Liam & Sam the Villa exerted more pressure and won their 1^st corner on 5mins. Jamie G lofted the ball in and it was Greg who headed home the goal.0-1.

Just as other teams had done in the past 3 or 4 games, Penwortham surged forward straight from the restart and scored the equaliser while the Villa players watched on.1-1.6mins.

Villa heads went down and Penwortham turned on the pressure winning a second corner on 8mins.After a brief scramble to get the ball clear a shot came back off the post and despite Will’s best efforts to get back, the waiting Penwortham attacker was presented with the ball at his feet, an open goal and sadly no challenges.9mins.2-1. Villa rallied a little and some good one two play between Sam & Greg showed the Penwortham back four were not that solid when they ball was at pace. Jamie G was getting stuck in but Penwortham were always first to the loose ball. Ryan M had a good run but got pushed a little too wide but again showed that when the ball was placed in front of our attackers we would do well.

The game was pretty much there for Penwortham to take, massive gaps in Villa’s midfield meant that challenges were few and far between and the Penwortham attack had a field day putting Danny & Tom G on their back foot all the time. Without the battling possession was scarce and when Villa did win it panic kicking through the middle meant they could not exploit the wings were they were having some purchase at the beginning of the game. Rob came off on 17mins and Alex went on. It was with some inevitability that Penwortham scored on 23mins.3-1, 27mins 4-1 and in time added on 32mins 5-1. Thankfully the whistle blew.

Half Time

The management whilst not at a loss for words were certainly struggling to understand what was making the Villa so leaden footed. A good one sided discussion took place. Max replaced Liam on the right as the teams resumed play.

2^nd Half

Again, Villa were slow to react when the game had started. Penwortham ran towards goal yet again. It was against the run of play when Max secured the ball on the right, passed back to a waiting Jamie G who planted a great shot in between the posts after 4mins.5-2.

The Villa could get back into this game and over the next 10mins played the best football of the game. Kyle replaced Jamie A after 9mins.On 15mins Penwortham struck the killer goal that really took the wind out of Villa’s sails.6-2.

Sam & Tom M came off after 15mins with Liam & Rob going on and with heavy hearts the supporters watched Penwortham score on 16mins.7-2 and 22mins 8-2.Jamie G came off injured after 27mins and Jamie A resumed play in the middle of the park and battled well for the remainder of the game, indeed it was one of his challenges that led to the pass for Rob to run on, then cross the ball into the box which created an own goal.8-3.

The whistle blew to end a game that had again frustrated parents and players alike.

Full Time

The management expressed the opinion that they had just witnessed the worst game ever and the result reflected this. The players were all worn out and had done a lot of running but without possession they had just been chasing the game, a lesson that they must learn. Possession and secure first touches are everything as without these their efforts are always going to go un-rewarded. Boy’s you are so much better than this.

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