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Amateur Shield Round 2
Following a
protracted fiasco that was none of their own making, Villa
were finally able to play this second round tie, and eased
their way into the next round thanks to a hat trick from
Matt Atherton, and a well placed free kick from Gavin
Cooper. Trinity passed the ball well, and only David Heald
was able to trouble their big defenders in the air. Villa,
however always looked fitter and faster, and in the end the
scoreline was probably a fair reflection of the balance of
play. The visitors felt harshly treated by the referee, but
the consensus amongst the home support was that he was one
of the better refs we’ve had recently, kept up with play,
demonstrated good positional sense, and most importantly, in
the end got all the big decisions right.
Kicking into the
wind in the first half, the home side couldn’t have asked
for a better start. Rhenden Pillay was fouled whilst
powering towards the box, and from twenty five yards, Cooper
bent the ball round the wall and in off the post inside two
minutes. Thus buoyed, Villa looked in the mood to go
searching for more, but a series of off side decisions
frustrated the home bench, as with clearly the pace to run
past their markers, there was no need for the forwards to be
playing it so tight. The only other real chance of the half
came when Elliot Dunn headed inches wide from an Atherton
cross from the left corner.
IIf the first half
had seen a dream start for the Villa faithful, then the
second began with a nightmare! A harmless shot from outside
the box was drifting wide, but for some reason Shaun Gibbs,
perhaps because he had had little to do so far, tried to
stop it, but succeeded only in patting it behind. From the
resultant corner, Ennis rose unchallenged to head the
equaliser before the half was a minute old.
That was about as
good as it got for the visitors though, and for the rest of
the match their goal at times resembled Rorke’s Drift, as
the Euxton side threw wave after wave of bodies forward, but
with the Trinity defenders refusing to capitulate in the
face of the onslaught. Then, during one of the many
goalmouth scrambles, a snap shot was heading for the top
corner, and instinctively a defender stuck out a hand to
stop it going in. A clear penalty, and unfortunately, as the
law stands, the referee had no choice but to show the red
card. Atherton despatched the spot kick with aplomb.
This further
increased the pressure on the visitors, and five minutes
later another of the many attacks saw the ball land at the
feet of Atherton in a crowded box. His instant shot cannoned
off an outstretched leg and looped over everybody to make it
three. Thereafter it was all over bar the shouting, and
Villa added a fourth a couple of minutes from time, when
Ryan Lilley sprinted clear with the ball and was felled in
the box by a push from behind. Atherton again stepped up to
complete his hat-trick.
Trinity were no
push-over, but the win was reasonably comfortable in the
end, and certainly not the result of any decision making on
the part of the officials. Amongst the plus points for
Villa were the ongoing good form of David Heald and Adam
McAlistair, and Elliot Dunn continues to ooze class. Matt
Plano slotted seamlessly into midfield where his calm and
assured distribution helped give the whole side confidence.
Next week it’s The Shield again, with Norcross and Warbreck
visiting in round three in another 1.30 kick off.
Villa : Shaun Gibbs, Adam McAlistair, Darren Davies, Lee
Chambers, Mark Swift (Sam Bolton 80), Matt Plano, David
Heald, Elliot Dunn, Matt Atherton, Gavin Cooper (TomWhittaker
60),Rhenden Pillay (Ryan Lilley55
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