Post by Kev Panther on Sept 7, 2014 19:06:14 GMT
McCARTHY SNAPSHOT GIVES SKELMERSDALE THE EDGE
SKELMERSDALE UNITED 1 WORKINGTON 0
By Neil Leatherbarrow
In a close game that could easily have gone either way, Skelmersdale’s teenage striker Connor McCarthy pounced on the only major defensive error of the whole afternoon in the 69th minute, and it was enough to give Skelmersdale their tenth point from the opening four games of the season and put them into second place in the Evo-Stik Premier Division table.
The game was quite open in the middle of the pitch with both sides creating threatening situations in their opponent’s penalty areas all afternoon, but the lack of goals was down to a pair of very well organised defences that smothered most of each other’s best efforts.
Skelmersdale made the first serious attack and Dan Mitchley was only kept out by a superbly timed Lee Andrews challenge, just when the centre-forward was poised to strike.
Workington then had a spell on the offensive, with number nine Martyn Coleman looking particularly dangerous. In the 12th minute Coleman shuffled around Rob McIntosh, but found Skelmersdale goalkeeper Martin Fearon a barrier too much and his shot was saved.
Andrews again came to Workington’s rescue in the 29th minute. Josh Sumner drove the ball low and powerfully into the visitors goalmouth, Andrews getting a vital connection that prevented Mitchley from having a guilt edged chance at the far post.
A minute later Coleman got free in the Skelmersdale area, but this time Fearon saved with his legs.
It was an enthralling encounter and it is fair to say that the theory that “you don’t always need goals for a game to be a ‘good un’ “is an apt description.
In the ten minutes before half-time, a Mitchley cross from the left failed to get a touch in the Workington area, then Coleman set up Anthony Wright for a shot that hit the stanchion behind the home goal. Mitchley had a shot saved by Workington keeper Jonny Jamieson then Gari Rowntree chipped the ball into the Skelmersdale goalmouth only to see Fearon save from Gavin Skelton.
By the interval I am sure both teams welcomed a rest, such was the intensity of the game.
Coleman was still a pain in the side to Skelmersdale after the break, Danny Wisdom, blocked one effort from him before he brought Fearon back into action.
The defining moment came 21 minutes from time. The ball went low into the Workington penalty area from the left and under pressure from Mitchley, Workington’s Jake Smith made a poor controlling touch on the ball, sending it about four feet in front of him, without blinking an eye McCarthy hit an instant shot into the bottom corner from around the penalty spot. It was a poacher’s goal of the highest order. It proved to be the winner too.
Surprisingly the game tightened up for a while after the goal and it was only in the last five minutes or so, that Workington really threatened again.
Rob Bodie made a brave block to keep out Workington substitute Scott Allison, before Fearon made another save after Peter Wylie cleared off the line, from Allison in added time.
After the match, Skelmersdale manager tommy Lawson said; “It was a hard won victory. But it has been a tiring weekend for the lads, eight hours on a coach on Saturday and a hard game was followed by another hard game. This made some of the players look a bit ‘leggy’ at times today, but they dug in and have reaped the rewards for their efforts.”
SKELMERSDALE UNITED: Fearon, Strickland (Wylie 68), Wisdom, McIntosh ©, Bodie, Kirkbride, Sumner, Thompson, Mitchley (Astbury, 73), McCarthy, Ince Subs (not used) Simpson M., O’Reilly, Monaghan
Workington: Jamieson, Simpson J., Rowntree, Andrews, Calvert, Skelton, Gibson, Smith (Tymon, 74), Coleman, Thomson (Allison, 72), Wright © Subs (not used) Tinnion, Hindmarch, Telfer
Referee: Chris Isherwood (Preston) Attendance: 279
SKELMERSDALE UNITED 1 WORKINGTON 0
By Neil Leatherbarrow
In a close game that could easily have gone either way, Skelmersdale’s teenage striker Connor McCarthy pounced on the only major defensive error of the whole afternoon in the 69th minute, and it was enough to give Skelmersdale their tenth point from the opening four games of the season and put them into second place in the Evo-Stik Premier Division table.
The game was quite open in the middle of the pitch with both sides creating threatening situations in their opponent’s penalty areas all afternoon, but the lack of goals was down to a pair of very well organised defences that smothered most of each other’s best efforts.
Skelmersdale made the first serious attack and Dan Mitchley was only kept out by a superbly timed Lee Andrews challenge, just when the centre-forward was poised to strike.
Workington then had a spell on the offensive, with number nine Martyn Coleman looking particularly dangerous. In the 12th minute Coleman shuffled around Rob McIntosh, but found Skelmersdale goalkeeper Martin Fearon a barrier too much and his shot was saved.
Andrews again came to Workington’s rescue in the 29th minute. Josh Sumner drove the ball low and powerfully into the visitors goalmouth, Andrews getting a vital connection that prevented Mitchley from having a guilt edged chance at the far post.
A minute later Coleman got free in the Skelmersdale area, but this time Fearon saved with his legs.
It was an enthralling encounter and it is fair to say that the theory that “you don’t always need goals for a game to be a ‘good un’ “is an apt description.
In the ten minutes before half-time, a Mitchley cross from the left failed to get a touch in the Workington area, then Coleman set up Anthony Wright for a shot that hit the stanchion behind the home goal. Mitchley had a shot saved by Workington keeper Jonny Jamieson then Gari Rowntree chipped the ball into the Skelmersdale goalmouth only to see Fearon save from Gavin Skelton.
By the interval I am sure both teams welcomed a rest, such was the intensity of the game.
Coleman was still a pain in the side to Skelmersdale after the break, Danny Wisdom, blocked one effort from him before he brought Fearon back into action.
The defining moment came 21 minutes from time. The ball went low into the Workington penalty area from the left and under pressure from Mitchley, Workington’s Jake Smith made a poor controlling touch on the ball, sending it about four feet in front of him, without blinking an eye McCarthy hit an instant shot into the bottom corner from around the penalty spot. It was a poacher’s goal of the highest order. It proved to be the winner too.
Surprisingly the game tightened up for a while after the goal and it was only in the last five minutes or so, that Workington really threatened again.
Rob Bodie made a brave block to keep out Workington substitute Scott Allison, before Fearon made another save after Peter Wylie cleared off the line, from Allison in added time.
After the match, Skelmersdale manager tommy Lawson said; “It was a hard won victory. But it has been a tiring weekend for the lads, eight hours on a coach on Saturday and a hard game was followed by another hard game. This made some of the players look a bit ‘leggy’ at times today, but they dug in and have reaped the rewards for their efforts.”
SKELMERSDALE UNITED: Fearon, Strickland (Wylie 68), Wisdom, McIntosh ©, Bodie, Kirkbride, Sumner, Thompson, Mitchley (Astbury, 73), McCarthy, Ince Subs (not used) Simpson M., O’Reilly, Monaghan
Workington: Jamieson, Simpson J., Rowntree, Andrews, Calvert, Skelton, Gibson, Smith (Tymon, 74), Coleman, Thomson (Allison, 72), Wright © Subs (not used) Tinnion, Hindmarch, Telfer
Referee: Chris Isherwood (Preston) Attendance: 279