Post by Kev Panther on Apr 29, 2015 18:10:16 GMT
FERNANDES LEADS THE SKELMERSDALE FIGHTBACK
SKELMERSDALE UNITED 2 STOURBRIDGE 1
By Neil Leatherbarrow
Skelmersdale United continued to finish their season on a high as they completed the season with a victory over the men from the Black Country that extends Skem’s winning run to three games and makes a nice statistic to carry over to their next competitive match, in August.
The run has seen Skelmersdale move into 7th place in the Evo-Stik Premier Division table just two places outside the play-off zone. However, the supporters left Stormy Corner with the memory of a fine performance by right-back Valtar Fernandes, the popular former Sporting Lisbon player scoring Skelmersdale’s first goal with a magnificent curling drive and then set up the winner.
Skelmersdale had a fight on their hands from an early stage. A free-kick taken by goalkeeper Lewis Solly from a fairly innocuous position in the Stourbridge half was helped on by Luke Benbow to an on the run Chris Lait who found himself clean in on goal, the Stourbridge number eleven then volleyed the bouncing ball into the Skelmersdale net from around eight yards.
It wasn’t a great start but in response Skelmersdale gradually asserted, with Scott Bakkor and Dan Mitchley creating problems for the Stourbridge defence.
In the 17th minute Bakkor set Mitchley up for a shot that Solly could only parry, the ball fell for a defender who was able to boot it clear as Aidan Kirkbride looked poised to score. Mitchley returned the favour to Bakkor in the 25th minute but this time the shot just beat the far post.
Stourbridge countered and won a corner on the half-hour, and Leon Broadhurst’s downward header bounced up and struck the crossbar on its route to safety.
Due to an anomaly in the FA rules, Skelmersdale have had use coach Andy Paxton as goalkeeper in the last two matches and he came up trumps in the 37th minute making a fine double save to deny Benbow and Brian Smikle to earn himself the Ship Inn at Lathom Skelmersdale Man of the Match award.
The breakthrough from a Skelmersdale perspective arrived in the 42nd minute and it was worth waiting for. Fernandes played the ball to Mitchley then ran into space to the right of the 18 yard box, where he got the ball back again, Mitchley ran into space and shouted for the return, but Fernandes instead ran at the Stourbridge defence and drove a shot from 18 yards that from the moment it left the outside of his boot was destined for the far bottom corner, curling low and going in off the post. Those sat in the stand at Skelmersdale were privileged to see a goal that was fit to grace any Premier League match.
The goal set Skelmersdale up well after the interval and within seconds Mitchley went close.
In the 56th minute Skelmersdale took the lead. Shaun Holden crossed from the left and the ball was headed out to the right by a defender, Fernandes latched onto the ball and sent it diagonally across the box to the far post, catching everyone out except Mitchley, who was rewarded for his judgement with a side-foot opportunity that took his total league goals for the season to 20.
The 67th minute was crucial to the outcome and it brought the bit of luck you at times need to win a match, a misunderstanding in the Skelmersdale defence presented Lait with a chance out of nothing, but he contrived to hit the post.
From that point and for the final twenty minutes the game became stretched and it certainly entertained the fans. Paxton saved from Benbow then down at the clubhouse end Mitchley was denied by a tremendous dive from keeper Solly. Later Mathew Dodd fired over the Skelmersdale crossbar and for the hosts Alan Burton had a shot blocked and Mitchley again went near.
The little end of season run will certainly do Skelmersdale good going into the summer and will have the supporters looking forward to another competitive season and with one or two additions it might just be Skelmersdale’s year.
SKELMERSDALE UNITED: Paxton, Fernandes, Holden, Wisdom, McIntosh ©, Kirkbride, Strickland, Burton, Mitchley, Woolcott, Bakkor (Tollitt, 69) Subs (not used) Mooney, Wright, Rendell, Bellew
STOURBRIDGE: Solly, Tye, Miles (Hales, 86), Richards, Williams, Canavan (Morgan-Parker, 63), Connolly (Dodd, 63), Broadhurst ©, Benbow, Smikle, Lait Subs (not used) Hill
Referee: Richard Bartlett (Altrincham) Attendance: 242
SKELMERSDALE UNITED 2 STOURBRIDGE 1
By Neil Leatherbarrow
Skelmersdale United continued to finish their season on a high as they completed the season with a victory over the men from the Black Country that extends Skem’s winning run to three games and makes a nice statistic to carry over to their next competitive match, in August.
The run has seen Skelmersdale move into 7th place in the Evo-Stik Premier Division table just two places outside the play-off zone. However, the supporters left Stormy Corner with the memory of a fine performance by right-back Valtar Fernandes, the popular former Sporting Lisbon player scoring Skelmersdale’s first goal with a magnificent curling drive and then set up the winner.
Skelmersdale had a fight on their hands from an early stage. A free-kick taken by goalkeeper Lewis Solly from a fairly innocuous position in the Stourbridge half was helped on by Luke Benbow to an on the run Chris Lait who found himself clean in on goal, the Stourbridge number eleven then volleyed the bouncing ball into the Skelmersdale net from around eight yards.
It wasn’t a great start but in response Skelmersdale gradually asserted, with Scott Bakkor and Dan Mitchley creating problems for the Stourbridge defence.
In the 17th minute Bakkor set Mitchley up for a shot that Solly could only parry, the ball fell for a defender who was able to boot it clear as Aidan Kirkbride looked poised to score. Mitchley returned the favour to Bakkor in the 25th minute but this time the shot just beat the far post.
Stourbridge countered and won a corner on the half-hour, and Leon Broadhurst’s downward header bounced up and struck the crossbar on its route to safety.
Due to an anomaly in the FA rules, Skelmersdale have had use coach Andy Paxton as goalkeeper in the last two matches and he came up trumps in the 37th minute making a fine double save to deny Benbow and Brian Smikle to earn himself the Ship Inn at Lathom Skelmersdale Man of the Match award.
The breakthrough from a Skelmersdale perspective arrived in the 42nd minute and it was worth waiting for. Fernandes played the ball to Mitchley then ran into space to the right of the 18 yard box, where he got the ball back again, Mitchley ran into space and shouted for the return, but Fernandes instead ran at the Stourbridge defence and drove a shot from 18 yards that from the moment it left the outside of his boot was destined for the far bottom corner, curling low and going in off the post. Those sat in the stand at Skelmersdale were privileged to see a goal that was fit to grace any Premier League match.
The goal set Skelmersdale up well after the interval and within seconds Mitchley went close.
In the 56th minute Skelmersdale took the lead. Shaun Holden crossed from the left and the ball was headed out to the right by a defender, Fernandes latched onto the ball and sent it diagonally across the box to the far post, catching everyone out except Mitchley, who was rewarded for his judgement with a side-foot opportunity that took his total league goals for the season to 20.
The 67th minute was crucial to the outcome and it brought the bit of luck you at times need to win a match, a misunderstanding in the Skelmersdale defence presented Lait with a chance out of nothing, but he contrived to hit the post.
From that point and for the final twenty minutes the game became stretched and it certainly entertained the fans. Paxton saved from Benbow then down at the clubhouse end Mitchley was denied by a tremendous dive from keeper Solly. Later Mathew Dodd fired over the Skelmersdale crossbar and for the hosts Alan Burton had a shot blocked and Mitchley again went near.
The little end of season run will certainly do Skelmersdale good going into the summer and will have the supporters looking forward to another competitive season and with one or two additions it might just be Skelmersdale’s year.
SKELMERSDALE UNITED: Paxton, Fernandes, Holden, Wisdom, McIntosh ©, Kirkbride, Strickland, Burton, Mitchley, Woolcott, Bakkor (Tollitt, 69) Subs (not used) Mooney, Wright, Rendell, Bellew
STOURBRIDGE: Solly, Tye, Miles (Hales, 86), Richards, Williams, Canavan (Morgan-Parker, 63), Connolly (Dodd, 63), Broadhurst ©, Benbow, Smikle, Lait Subs (not used) Hill
Referee: Richard Bartlett (Altrincham) Attendance: 242