Appley Bridge v Euxton Villa         11am K.O.          10^th September 2006

A glorious morning greeted the crowd & team and down at the bottom of the hill Appley waited, we were about to see who, if anyone, would lose their unbeaten record. Tom M put on the captain’s armband and rallied the team.

1^st Half

From the whistle the Villa surged forward, much to Dave & Daryl’s delight. Within a minute Sam made a run to the line cutting the ball back for a waiting Liam, a quick pass to Greg and a bit of a goal mouth scramble followed however it signalled what was about to unfold. Much of the play was down the left and it was a full 5mins before Appley ventured into the Villa half. The Villa kept up the pressure & Liam took the first “proper” shot on 6mins after another fine cut back pass.

Then, probably the “tackle of the game” (if such an award exists) from Alex on 8mins. Perfect timing. After only their second time in the Villa half and Appley had won a corner. Tense times.

The Villa defence cleared well and again pushed the ball forward. Villa’s pressure paid off 13mins with their first corner, it was cleared, it found it’s way to Greg and with great cool he planted his first of the game on 14mins.0-1.

Appley rallied from the kick off and showed what a danger they could be, strong through the middle they caught the Villa midfield napping and ran through to score the equaliser on 15mins.1-1.

Appley were buoyed by this and seemed to have the upper hand for the next 4mins getting two corners and increasing the pressure down the middle were their forwards liked to run with the ball from long passes and, it has to be said, to good effect.    Tom M & Alex covered well and when the ball did go to the flanks Rob & Tom G were there to clear it easing the pressure on Will.

Jamie G picked up the running from a fine clearance by Will, passed to a waiting Ryan M who did not miss the chance to score and slotted the ball just pass the keepers right.19mins.1-2.

Appley piled on the pressure down the middle but just couldn’t seem to get out of their half, where as when Villa cleared to the wings Jamie, Jamie G, Liam & Sam where quite happy to show the power of a passing game.

Then, 22mins with another great pass down the line from Rob, Sam played a one two with Liam ran to the line and cut back finding Greg again, and with his now customary strength banged home his second.1-3.

In the next 8mins Villa were camped in the Appley half winning three corners, grazing the post twice and on 28mins Greg took his second hat trick in 6 days (told you!).1-4. It has to be noted that the Appley keeper was very good and his save in the last minute was superb. Villa won another corner as the half time whistle blew.

Half Time

A delighted managerial foursome praised the team, warned of complacency and congratulated the efforts all round. They asked three things:

Ÿ         Watch the line better so as to play the surging Appley forwards offside.

Ÿ         Cover each other for the second tackle at the back

Ÿ         Use the wings and spread the play.

The management smiled to themselves as they sent the boys back into battle.

2^nd Half

Fantastic. The Villa carried on where they left off and planted themselves firmly in the Appley half, attack after attack. Winning the first corner of the half on 7mins. Jamie G had taken a knock and an energetic Smithy ran on to replace him. Villa kept up the pressure winning corner after a corner. Again the Appley keeper was instrumental in clearing the danger. When Appley did break they looked dangerous.

Rob & Sam came off for a well earned breather after 15mins. Danny & Max came on as direct replacements down the left. Despite the flow of the game Appley seemed to rally for the next 10mins especially after they scored on 17mins.2-4. Danny slotted in well and stopped the Appley attack on a number of occasions but really the Villa just needed another goal to break the pressure and so it was left to Greg, with a valiant solo effort displaying balance, determination and strength, to score his 4^th on 24mins.2-5.

This ,as expected, seemed to take the wind out of Appley. Sam came back on to replace Jamie down the right wing as Appley kicked off. More pressure from Villa resulted in a another great save from the Appley keeper, who, sadly for him, parried Sam’s shot into the path of an eager Smithy who took it well scoring the 6^th of the game right on full time.2-6. The whistle blew as they restarted.

Full Time

Yippee. The sun shone throughout. It didn’t rain. We are unbeaten. We have great team spirit, great passing, great shooting, great defence (yes, including you Will), great midfield, great wings, great forwards, great management, great supporters.

Great everything in fact. Isn’t life just great?

The big tests are about to come.

1^st ,Wednesday, Ladybridge, a good team ….let’s be truly great and remember to play to our great strengths and not worry about what they do.

2^nd, Sunday, Eccleston. Great teams don’t drop points against teams that they are maybe expected beat or even when they are maybe looking to top the group.

Villa, you are ………………………………........................... err …………………………..Great!!

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