Euxton Villa 1  Freckleton 1

Both sides deserve enormous credit for serving up a very entertaining and watchable match on a surface rendered far from perfect by rain that only just relented in time to allow the match to go ahead at all.

Freckleton trapped much faster than Villa, and for the first ten minutes or more had their opponents on the back foot, but without creating anything really dangerous.  Gradually, Villa settled, and the first real chance came in the sixteenth minute when Aiden Briggs broke through the inside right channel, but his shot on the run flew high. A couple of minutes later, David Heald saw a powerful header flash just wide, Sam Bolton providing a pinpoint cross having received from a Farley free kick. 

Either side of the half hour mark, the visitors enjoyed a spell of sustained pressure, producing a series of corners which kept Justin Johnston and the defenders busy, until a free kick relieved the pressure.  Down the other end, another free kick saw Villa press hard for an opening, Sam Bolton having the best opportunity, but he couldn’t quite dig the ball out from under, and the moment passed.  The half ended with honours even, Heald blasting a shot high and wide moments before Freckleton blasted one even higher and wider.

The second half saw Villa fully get to grips with their formation, and Andy Farley and Sam Bolton were more in evidence in the attacking mode. Indeed it was Farley who found the breakthrough driving into the box, but a heavy touch allowed a dispossessing tackle to thwart the opportunity.  Bolton combined well with Neil Bretherton down the left in a  series of promising moves, and Heald nearly broke the deadlock with a brave diving header from a well worked corner involving Bretherton and Farley again.

Then, with fifteen minutes left on the clock, Briggs layed on a fine ball into the path of Farley, but his powerful shot was well parried by keeper Kev Holliday, who did even better to deny Bolton on the follow up, taking a blow to the chest for his trouble. From the resulting corner, Bretherton provided the pace and flight, and Briggs provided the deft flick of the head, giving Holliday no chance this time.

Villa were in the ascendancy at this stage, and should have gone on to close out the game. Instead, the lead lasted less than five minutes, when slack concentration at the back allowed Mike Rigby an easy tap in from two yards.

Back came Villa, and Briggs fed Bretherton, but his effort found only the keepers arms. Bretherton again had a chance towards the end, but once again was foiled by the confident Holliday.  Things nearly went pear shaped in the dying moments. More slack defending saw Freckleton clean through with only Johnston to beat, but such was the unexpected nature of the chance that the forward was not switched on, and the chance was fluffed. Deep into stoppage time, another breakaway could have spelt disaster for Villa, but the shot, like so many on the day from both sides, was blasted wide.

Great entertainment, helped by an unfussy ref who was content to let things flow where appropriate. Should Villa have had all three points? On balance of play one could certainly make a case for that, but those two late chances for the visitors could easily have seen all the points head west, so if you’ll forgive the cliché, a draw probably about right.

Villa Line-up: Johnston, Farley, Davies, L.Chambers, Bolton, Heald (Atherton 75), Bingham, Loughlin (Pennington 82), MarQuis, Bretherton, Briggs (Salisbury 82)

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