Euxton Villa 5  Dalton United 1

It’s probably a good thing that we don’t do a ‘Man-of –the-Match’ award, because it would be an impossible task to choose between a centre forward who punctuates an all-round superb performance with three stunning goals, and a seventeen year-old winger who comes off the bench to take over from your injured keeper, and who during the course of an assured performance pulls off a string of top class saves. Both players in question, respectively David Mason and Matthew Atherton, have been waiting their chance to shine, though young Matt must have been wondering what more he had to do to get selected after his fine showing in the cup match the other evening.

Though comfortable winners in the end against a Dalton side who have struggled to find their form so far this season, things started embarrassingly badly for Villa, with much early internal bickering as they struggled to get to grips with a seemingly overly complicated system. Even Mason’s first solo rasper inside five minutes failed to settle the nerves, and the lead was held for less than three minutes before uncertain defending allowed Gareth Jones to lash home a parried shot from seven yards with the home side at sixes and sevens.

There continued to be little between the sides until, just before the half hour, keeper Shaun Gibbs received a nasty knock on the thigh when saving bravely at feet, and had to be replaced by the aforementioned Atherton. This seemed to shock the villa lads into their senses, and inspired by Atherton’s calmness under fire, they gradually began to exert authority over their opponents. Mason produced a mirror image of his first strike, this time powering in from the left, having narrowly missed minutes before after Paul Loughlin had cleverly put him in.

Dalton almost grabbed an equaliser once again deep into first half stoppage time, but two outstanding saves from Atherton kept them at bay.

Early in the second half, Sam Bolton had to look lively to head off the line from a free kick, but that just about signalled Dalton’s last realistic chance of getting something out of the game. Straight down the other end, Ryan Lilley broke into the box and had a shot turned round the post. From the resultant corner, Damien Stewart whipped the ball in, where Mason met it at full tilt to head home his and his side’s third.

Mason and Lilley were now combining regularly to cause havoc in the visitor’s defence, and both mason and Stuart Bingham had fine strikes well saved. Mid way through the half, Atherton turned a net-bound shot onto the bar, and produced yet another great stop from the corner.  Ten minutes later it was all over bar the shouting when Bolton smashed home in full stride, having been well picked out by David Heald after a powerful run into the box. Before the fat lady could get to her podium, Damien Stewart wrapped things up with a carbon copy of Bolton’s goal, this time Bingham being the provider.

A fine result in the end then, but sterner tests will follow, and any repeat of the shenanigans of the first twenty minutes will surely be punished accordingly. Certainly a day Mason and Atherton won’t forget in a hurry.

Villa Line-up: Gibbs (Atherton 27) C.Chambers, Davies, L.Chambers, Bolton, Heald (Patterson 83), Loughlin, Bingham, Stewart, Lilley, Mason.

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