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Not really my place
to second guess the managers inner thoughts, but following
last week’s excellent performance on their travels, Mark
McDonnell must have been minded to send out the same
starting line-up for this important fixture against fellow
under performers St Mary’s. However, such are the vagaries
of amateur football that work and family commitments robbed
him of three key contributors to that success, though the
players drafted in were more than capable replacements for
their absent colleagues. Whilst the healthy crowd enjoyed a
lively and good spirited encounter, draw specialists Villa
were left once again ruing missed opportunities to
capitalise on their superior territorial advantage, and
though the home side certainly had the more numerous
chances, at the other end it needed a couple of top drawer
saves from Ross Baxter to stop the visitors nicking all
three points.
The home side got
into their stride the quicker, and immediately put pressure
on the visiting defence, but six minutes in it was in fact
Haslingden who had the first shot on target, though easily
dealt with by Baxter. However, three minutes later, a
routine cross found Chris Scott unmarked on the edge of the
six yard line, and he had little trouble heading the
visitors into an early lead.
Having something to
defend gave St Mary’s an extra lift, and indeed they had to
be on their metal as Villa were determined to redress the
early setback, with Gavin Cooper and Elliot Dunn at the
heart of most that was positive. Danial Hogg’s pace was
causing consternation amongst the visiting defenders, but if
anything Villa were over inclined to rely on that as a
tactic, and the four big defenders gave him little change
from anything launched in their direction. Villa began to
get more support up however, and their first real chance
came on the end of an intense team move involving Cooper,
Dunn and Hogg, and culminating in point blank blast from
Stuart Bingham, but somehow a combination of keeper and
defender contrived to thwart his effort. The same three
combined again shortly after, but again the defence got
vital blocks in, and when a ricochet fell kindly for Tom
Whittaker, he calmly cut the ball back for Matt Plano, who
saw his half volley rebound off the bar.
Then, a couple of
minutes from the interval, Hogg’s pace enabled him to latch
on to a ball over the top, but having touched the ball round
the keeper, he suddenly found himself spread-eagled on the
ground. Just outside the box, and cynical enough only to
warrant a yellow, deemed the ref. Cooper would have exacted
the ultimate recompense had said keeper not been on hand to
get fingertips to his well placed free kick.
With the interval
looming large, Villa won a series of corners, from which
Ross Dickinson and Dunn again went close, till finally Sam
Bolton found the deserved equaliser with a majestic leap and
header which had the power and precision to give keeper and
far post defender no chance.
Euxton began the
second half in the same determined fashion with which they
finished the first, and another plethora of corners ensued,
from which both Dickinson and Bolton again had headers go
very close, and Hogg had a close range volley touched over.
And less than ten minutes in, Hogg again burst clear, but
his shot across the advancing keeper screwed just wide. At
this juncture it was all Villa, but there was always the
threat of the breakaway, and Baxter was called on to bail
his colleagues out with a fine stop from a powerful shot on
the run. Back came Villa though, and Whittaker and Cooper
carved out a chance which Bingham did well to get a toe on,
but he found only the side netting. Then, with fifteen
minutes left on the watch, the home crowd thought the
breakthrough had come when Dickinson again got his head to a
dead ball, but his bullet header crashed down off the
underside of the bar and bounced up off the line before
being scrambled away to the further frustration of everyone
in orange. More and more pressure was heaped on the
visitors, but the winner was not to come, and indeed Baxter
again had to be at his very best to turn over a thunderbolt
a couple of minutes from time to prevent Haslingden pulling
off an unlikely smash and grab.
On a perfect
afternoon for football, neutrals were treated to an action
packed and thrilling encounter, with both sides giving it
everything in what was a very important match for both
sides, though each having won last week meant that it
probably stopped just short of being a proverbial ‘six
pointer’. Mark McDonnell could not have asked any more of
his charges in another fine team effort. Matt Conway had an
excellent game deputising in an unfamiliar right-back,
matched by his opposite number Sam Bolton on the left,
though Ross Dickinson would just about get the nod as man of
the match on the end of an energetic and near faultless
performance. However, a glance at the league table confirms
that failing to turn excellent build-up play into goals
remains the worry.
Villa line-Up: Ross Baxter, Matt Conway, Darren Davies, Ross
Dickinson, Sam Bolton, Matt Plano, Tom Whittaker (Dave
Warburton 75), Elliot Dunn, Gavin Cooper (Michael Clitheroe
86), Stuart Bingham (John Salisbury 78), Danial Hogg
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