Euxton Villa 4  Gregson Lane 1

After 2 hardworking performances since Christmas this match saw Euxton return to playing the kind of football we know they can play. Not that things were easy against a Gregson Lane team full of effort .

Gregson Lane started the stronger and had the better of the first 10 minutes. They forced a couple of corners which Euxton dealt with and Euxton were beginning to establish themselves when an unforced error cost a goal after 11 minutes. A corner was headed out to the outside of the box by George and we had a chance to clear our lines. Instead we got caught in possesion allowing GL to get to the bye line and cross for the No 9 to score. It was poor goal to concede because, despite the individual mistake, we still had an opportunity to clear the ball. As GL celebrated and it was clear that they were motivated to play us, standing as they were, second in the table.

The rest of the first half was competitve but in the main Euxton were on top . We were having success down both flanks , Josh and Dominic both on top of their opponents . Josh beat his man on a number of occasions and got into good positions but we did not make the most of them, sometimes shooting when a pass would have been a better option and other times being over elaborate.  Dominic was using his strength down the right well but we did not get the ball to him enough. We did have one scare when a mix up between Jack and Matty saw Matty come, then stop, then come again off his line resulting in his clearance kick hitting the GL forward and rebounding towards the goal. Thankfully it went the wrong side of the post. For the record it is the only time that Matty has misjudged a clearance in 16 games this season so he has plenty of credit in the bank.

At half time we made a couple of tactical changes. Firstly pushing George forward to pick up the No 9 who was winning a lot of goal kicks in midfield and secondly bringing on Lee who was given the instruction to "win it and give it" to Dominic.

The second half was all Euxton with Matty not making a save that I can recall. After 35 minutes Dominic made a strong run down the right and, having his route to goal blocked, came back inside to Lee and on to Steven. A good pass into Connor's feet enabled him to control the ball under pressure, turn and shoot into the bottom corner. A great team goal demonstrating some key strengths.

On 38 minutes a fantastic run down the right - from well inside his own half  - by Dominic saw the ball come back again to George who put a towering cross into the box. The keeper and defence failed to deal with it under pressure and Connor was there to pick up the spoils.

GL had a go at getting back nto the game but George was by now relishing his match aginst the number 9 and was winning everything. Jack was anticipating really well to win the ball and on the rare occasions it got past those two , James G was taking up much better positions as a sweeper. The central midfield 3 were on top of their opponents.  As I said I don't recall Matty making a save (though he will remind me if I have forgotten one).

On 50 minutes the game was wrapped up when after a good team move , this time involving Matthew C and Josh on the left the ball fell to Lewis in the box. Lewis hit a well controlled sweet shot into the corner. It was a great finish.

At this point we made 3 other changes introducing Tom , James D and Joe  All of them did well and gave us a final push for the last 10 minutes resulting in a final goal. Lewis finishing inside the box after a shot was parried by the goalkeeper.

The most pleasing thing about this game was not just the result, or the determination shown , or the fact that we didn't panic when a goal down - it was the football played. Probably the best second half performance since the BAC game. Hopefully it is a sign of things to come.

Man of the Match : Dominic