Blackrod 3 Euxton Villa 0
With all due respect to Blackrod, who will certainly be
delighted with another three points safely banked, they
didn’t so much win this game as Villa gift wrapped it, tied
it up with ribbons, and handed it to them on a silver
platter. Territorially Villa had by far the lion’s share of
the play, struck woodwork on three occasions, but gave away
three ridiculously soft goals, including yet another two
from set pieces.
The cold windy conditions served to reinforce the general
pre-match view that today would be a day for rolling the
sleeves up and grinding out a result, rather than for pretty
boy football. Although Villa began with the wind at their
backs, they found themselves playing catch-up from as early
as ten minutes. A routine free kick from forty yards out was
floated into the box, where Hampson duly lobbed an
unchallenged header over the out of position Johnston.
Nevertheless, the visitors went on to dominate first half
possession and forced a plethora of corners, and new signing
Darren Davis rattled the bar with a powerful header from one
of those. Other than that though, home keeper Mark
Billington dealt confidently with the rest, punching to good
effect when catching was not an option.
Justin Johnston redeemed himself from any culpability at the
first with an outstanding save low to his left after
Pennington slipped and lost possession. Right on half time,
Alf Gutteridge’s gamble saw him through on goal, but again
Billington saved well from close range.
Early in the second half, Ian Curwen was asked to ad his
physical presence up front, though surprisingly it was the
tenacious Ryan Lilley who received the hook. Almost
immediately, Curwen combined with Stewart to put Gutteridge
in, but again the keeper stood firm. Then down the other
end, another set piece, this time a throw-in, another free
header, this time for Collier, and suddenly 2-0 looked like
a whole new ball game.
Villa continued to battle, but you felt the belief had gone,
and when Weigh had an easy tap-in for his side’s third,
there was no way back, even though David Heald crashed a
powerful drive against the post and Curwen headed onto the
top of the bar when trying to loop one over the keeper.
Brad Dowling and Jon Salisbury, both unlucky not to start
given the nature of the game, were introduced with fifteen
minutes to go, but although both worked hard to try to make
an impact, it was effectively all over by this time.
On a very disappointing day for the Euxton side, only the
consistent Alf Gutteridge and the hard working and stylish
Andy Farley emerge with any real credit. Spectators were
left wondering, not for the first time, if defending set
pieces ever forms part of the training regime.
Villa Line-up:
Johnston, Farley, Davis, Bolton, Pennington (Dowling 74),
Gutteridge, Heald (Salisbury 74), Loughlin, Swift, Steweart,
Lilley (Curwen 63)
