Match Report U12s vs Accrington Stanley   LFA Cup Semi Final   14^th January

 Fresh from the good win last week Euxton faced Accrington Stanley in the semi final of the LFA cup. Despite poor weather all week the pitch was in remarkably good condition though a little heavy in the central areas.

 Accrington are a good side riding high in their league, but we had every confidence of beating them. We have shown a number of times this season that we are capable of beating anyone at this age group.

 Boosted by a good support from the club the boys were fired up and needed a good start. They got a dream one when after good work from Josh, we won a corner on the left. Craggy hit a great corner and George got in front of his marker to head into the bottom corner. 2 minutes gone and we were ahead.

 On 7 minutes Josh got ahead of his marker and ran at goal, as the defender closed him down he hit a good shot which beat the keeper but went just the wrong side of the post.

 3 minutes later and Accrington got back on level terms. After a spell of pressure George headed a dangerous cross out of the box. Euxton were slow to pick up the pieces and allowed the AS player to hit a shot which dipped and came off the post. The AS forward prodded home despite the calls from the Euxton support that he was offside when the shot was struck. The goal stood and it was game on.

 The rest of the half was fairly even with both teams playing good competitive football. It was a hard but fair game and was a pleasure to watch. Euxton had a couple of chances for Connor and Lewis but to be fair Accrington had a couple of chances that we did well to block at the other end.

 It was nevertheless a little frustrating to be 1 –1 at half time because we had started so well.

 The second half started like the first with Euxton doing most of the pressing. 5 minutes into the half Euxton attacked down the right. It looked like the attack had failed, as the ball seemed to be going out of play for a goal kick. However Lewis did well to retrieve it and knock it back to Connor, who was well placed on the edge of the box and hit a superb shot over the keeper to give us the lead. It was his 20^th goal of the season.

 Both teams continued to press but it seemed that Euxton might have the edge. After 12 minutes Josh beat the offside trap and was through on the keeper. He hit a firm shot on target but the keeper pulled off a fine save and the Accrington defence were first to the rebound to clear. If only, if only.

 At this point it looked like Euxton were going to the final but credit to Accrington they kept pressing and their overall play and the way they held their shape was impressive. They equalized due a stroke of fortune when the striker pounced on a ball that slipped from Matty’s hands and put it into the empty net. It was hard on a lad who has given outstanding performances all season.

 Accrington got a great boost from the goal and to be fair, pressed us back for most of the rest of the game. Matty made a couple of good saves and came to collect one difficult cross, which says a lot about his character. For the last 20 minutes AS were on top and whilst Euxton worked hard the pendulum had swung towards the visitors.

 It looked like extra time but with 5 minutes added on time played, the Accrington central midfield player picked the ball up on the edge of our box, turned inside to beat his marker and hit a fantastic shot into the top corner. It was a great goal but a desperately disappointing time to concede.

 The Euxton players proved in this game that they are a match for anyone. Accrington are a very good side but we matched them for most of the match. It was disappointing to concede 2 soft goals having had 5 consecutive clean sheets in the matches before, and for a while it looked like it was our day. I guess it was just not to meant to be.

 The AS management were very complimentary about our performance and conceded that we had them very worried.

Discuss this game in the Villa Room!!