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Lancashire Amateur Shield- Round 1
Birthday boy
Ryan Lilley bagged a brace to see his side through to the
next round, but really it was a case of long faces all round
at the conclusion of this ‘local Derby’ encounter in the
first round of the Shield. Croston were ‘gutted’ that
having taken the lead with just a couple of minutes of
normal time left on the watch, the victory they seemed to
have nicked was snatched from their grasp in the dying
seconds. Villa on the other hand, were not exactly over the
moon with their days work, finding themselves unable to
comfortably put to bed a tie in which they always looked to
have too much in the locker for their opponents from a
division below.
A glorious
afternoon helped swell the attendance, and the healthy
turn-out witnessed a gritty and lively affair, with
ambitious Croston rightly believing that they could prove a
tough nut for their near neighbours to crack. Telling
efforts on target were few however, and for fully eighty
eight minutes, a penalty shoot-out always looked favourite.
Villa nearly
drew early blood though, when a neat move down their left
resulted in a free kick. Noel Clarkson’s delivery didn’t
disappoint and Ian Kirkpatrick very nearly squeezed a
stooping header in at the near post. The home side
continued to enjoy the bulk of the play throughout the half,
and only a brilliant point blank save by former Villa youth
favourite Ryan White prevented David Heald firing his side
in front on the half hour. Less than five minutes later,
Matt Atherton sent Lilley clear on the right with an
exquisite pass, but cutting inside, he screwed his shot
across the face of White’s goal.
And so to the
second half, which followed a very similar pattern to the
first. Shaun Gibbs, virtually untroubled so far, was the
first of the keepers called into serious action with a
brilliant low save, and that with less than twenty minutes
of the half remaining. Then, just a minute later, Lilley
chased down a lost cause, and catching the ball just before
it crossed the bye line, picked out the supporting Heald and
presented him with a tap-in, but somehow the latter
contrived to blast over from five yards.
With the final
whistle drawing close and both sides accepting that extra
time was inevitable, suddenly a tame Croston attack found
the Villa defence flat footed, and Scurr was allowed a
surprisingly easy finish to seemingly snatch it at the
death.
Inevitably, the
couple of minutes that remained saw the Euxton side throw
the kitchen sink at the visitors, and few spectators were
heading for their cars. Then with seconds remaining, a throw
in found Lilley on the edge of the box, and picking his
spot, he drilled the ball into the corner to give his side
the life-line of extra time.
Extra time saw
yet more of the same, Villa with the momentum believing that
they could go on and win it, and Croston working hard for
each other , but looking more like being prepared to take
their chances in a shoot-out. Having settled in well on his
return to The Villa, Ryan Lilley has been as good as anyone
in an orange shirt over the last couple of matches, and
fittingly it was he who finally found the strike to end the
visitors hopes.
Villa played
well enough, but found it hard work against a well
marshalled and determined Croston side. Their reward is
another home draw against First Division opposition Slyne
with Hest, formerly known as Trimple on 3rd
October. Don’t know if that means we will be playing two
teams or three, but their league form suggests it will be
another toughie,
Villa line-Up:
Shaun Gibbs, Adam McAlister, Darren Davies, Lee Chambers.
Sam Bolton, Noel Clarkson, (Tom Whittaker 60), Matt Conway,
Ian Kirkpatrick (Paul Kirkby 74), Matt Atherton, David Heald
(John Salisbury 118), Ryan Lilley
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xz4rCqTnagc
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