Euxton Villa 3  Fleetwood Hesketh 3

There we were, in full control and cruising to a comfortable 3 – 1 win with seven minutes left on the clock, having indulged in the luxury of having withdrawn three of the day’s most effective players, when bang! - a defensive mix up and a corner from our left, and there you go – three apiece!

Perhaps it’s my fault. It could be that the Villa players are the only people who read this page, and perhaps they have read so often about corners from our left that they now assume that they have to let the opposition score every time one is awarded! 

Everybody has an opinion, if they didn’t have they wouldn’t bother going to the matches. In an effort to achieve a balanced and readable report, perhaps my opinions are too often evident. From now on I will only report events in chronological order, with praise where it is due, but without comment where it is not, unless my email inbox is inundated with pleas to the contrary.

Before I leave off offering opinions for good however, I would like to venture the following: Football is a simple game. The more you complicate it, the more there is to go wrong, especially if you do not have the confidence generated by a long winning run. Two banks of four, make yourselves hard to break down, with enough mobility within the middle four to support two hard working front men who complement each other’s strengths.  Easy, everybody knows their role and doesn’t need thirty minutes running round like a headless chicken till the penny drops.

Anyway – to the game, and remember, this will be the format from now on.

22 minutes. Neil Bretherton breaks down the right, gets to the bye-line, cuts the ball back into the path of the supporting Ryan Lilley. In a desperate attempt to cut it out, Chris lock turns the ball into his own net. Lilley would have scored anyway. 1-0

35 minutes. Mark Swift and David Heald get in an attacking muddle and lose the ball. Fleetwood Hesketh break away and Jamie Pennington concedes one of the clearest cut penalties you will ever see. Mike Love despatches, though Justin Johnston nearly saves. 1-1

Second half: 47 minutes Ref allows Sam Bolton a good advantage, Lilley shoots just over from his through ball.

48 mins. Lilley again just wide , this time from a Heald cut-back

53 mins. Lilley goes on a powerful run down the right, looks up and picks out Bretherton who finishes with aplomb. 2-1

62 mins. Paul Loughlin, having an all round good game, finds Bretherton at the end of a fine team build-up, shoots wide.

64 mins. Lilley smartly beats the off-side trap to nip in behind and grab his side’s third. 3-1

69 mins. Swift quality corner finds Lee Chambers, but he executes a’ pound of bacon’ shot . (lean back)

71 mins. Lilley clean thru one-on-one, fluffs his lines.

72 mins. Lilley shoots wide. 73 mins. Lilley’s persistence earns him a half-chance, just fails to get the luck of the bounce.

77 mins. Lilley has a point blank shot well saved by Harrison, who also thwarts Briggs from the follow-up.

80 mins, Lilley, having a stormer, gets taken off.

83 mins. Fleetwood Hesketh decide to attack, defensive cock-up, 3-2. Garry Lawson

89 mins. Corner from Villa left. 3-3 Neil Story.  – end of Story.

Villa line up: Johnston, Bolton Davies, L.Chambers (Marquis 72) Pennington, Heald, Loughlin, Farley, swift, Bretherton (Briggs 65), Lilley (McFarlane 80)