First Team

Euxton Villa 0   Blackpool Wren Rovers 0

A game that promised so much on paper in fact delivered very little in the way of incident, excitement or goalmouth incident.  However, on a bright, sunny afternoon it was a watch able enough affair, with both sides trying to play football in a fluent , passing style, but lacking the cutting edge that might have converted one point to three for either.  The vastly improved young Blackpool side have climbed to mid table and should be safe, and with Villa already assured of that, well perhaps both were content not to concede.  

With both regular centre backs Darren Davies and Lee Chambers out injured, and skipper Paul Loughlin missing through illness, manager Mark McDonnell handed the number four shirt to second team stalwart Rhys Crombie and recalled Ryan Lilley to add his pace up front.

Fully twenty five minutes elapsed, with the teams sparring at arm’s length, before any semblance of a chance occurred. Then during a ten minute spell of ‘excitement’, both sides had good shouts for a penalty waved away, Justin Johnston had to be at his best to turn round a well struck thirty yard free kick, and Ryan Lilley turned cleverly on the edge of the box to leave his marker flummoxed, but his snap shot found only the side netting.

The second half was virtually a carbon copy of the first. Alf Gutteridge swung over a well weighted cross on nine minutes, right into Lilley’s path, but he couldn’t quite extend the neck muscles enough, (actually he seemed to duck under it!)

Very little else of consequence happened until the last five minutes, when both sides could have nicked it. A burst of activity around the Villa goal saw first a header and then a shot sail narrowly over. Then with virtually the last incident of the game, David Heald was upended just outside the Wren box, Damien Stewart delivered with whip, and Sam Bolton only just missed the mark with a powerful header.

Referee Anthony Parkinson handled the game with his usual cool authority, though in truth he will rarely get an easier game to ref at any level!

A glance at the table suggests that Villa have been something of a ‘draw specialist’ this season, and behind the stats are several tales of what might have been.  Villa have played more matches than anyone else, (through a combination of excellent groundsmanship and Mark McDonnell’s tactic of not competing in any cup competitions beyond the early rounds), and will no doubt find themselves overhauled by several as the others catch up. Expectations have been raised at The Villa however, and whatever the final position, there is a tremendous opportunity to push on from this seasons improvement.

Villa Line-Up: Johnston, Farley, Crombie, Bolton, Marquis, Salisbury (Curwen 61), Heald, Bingham, Bretherton, Gutteridge (Briggs 82), Lilley (Stewart 68)

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