Bacup Borough 1-5 Cheadle Town
If you made your way up to Bacup last night - fighting the worst the M60 has to offer on the way - and paid your dues at the gates of Bacup Borough FC for 90 minutes of football then you would have been treated to the full gamut of goal types.
The well-worked one; the speculative shot from distance; the one as a result of great anticipation; the "he didn't really mean that, did he?" worldy; the spectacular lob.
All five types scored by us and all - with only the one reply from our hosts - on a top-notch evening.
The well-worked one (2 mins)
Liam Delaney had already had a volley beaten away by the Bacup keeper when our not-quite the quickest goal of the season (Chris Sherrington's opener vs Abbey Hulton United in the First Division Trophy holds that accolade) was then netted shortly afterwards. Some neat build-up play on the edge of the area set Danny Wood free down the right and all he had to do was square it for a waiting Rick Whyatt to tap home at the far post.
The speculative shot (27 mins)
It was becoming fairly evident that the Bacup keeper was having trouble keeping a firm grip on anything that came his way. Liam Delaney picked up the ball some 30 yards out and tried his luck with a low drive, seeing his effort nestle home after the keeper had completely misjudged his own attempts to block it.
The one as a result of great anticipation (41 mins)
Joe Shaw lined up a free-kick some 30 yards out and blasted it on target. The Bacup keeper failed to hold it and first to react was Chris McGreevy to poke home the loose ball at the near post.
The "he didn't really mean that, did he?" worldy (56 mins)
Danny Jones was brought on early in the second half as Chris McGreevy had started to struggle with an injury. Being of ample height he was asked to provide the mandatory knock-ons and hold up play but on the 56th minute he found himself somewhat out of position wide on the right. The thunderous cross - or was it a shot? - he sent in caught the keeper off-guards and it sailed in over his head.
The spectacular lob (87 mins)
As Tom Ratican chased a through ball on the left the Bacup keeper came haring out of his box. Tom won the race to the ball and sent it high, so high that we thought he'd overcooked it. Not so as it ended up being the perfectly-measured lob, dropping in just underneath the crossbar to give the victory that extra layer of gloss.
Smiles all round....
As far as the match as a whole in concerned, you have to say that it was a fairly dominant performance by us.
Bacup had their spells, namely a fifteen-minute one in the first half where they had a couple of half-chances, the first five minutes or so of the second half where we had started sloppily and, of course, their goal which frustratingly denied us a clean sheet (we haven't had one of those since the end of December), coming on the 85th minute when Danny Whiting parried a shot into the path of Bellamy to stab home from close range.
We were measured, calm, and fine value for the 5-1 win. All a far cry from the disappointments of Daisy Hill away and the 3-3 draw vs Eccleshall.
Two wins in twelve matches...or is it just the one defeat in five? Depends whether your a "glass half-full" or "glass half-empty" kind of person.
Just the seven matches left now. Atherton LR are the visitors to Park Road tomorrow....
TEAM: Whiting, Nield, McLaughlin, Delaney, Shaw, Dunn, Ratican, Wood (Holt), McGreevy (Jones), Whyatt (Collinson), C Sherrington. SUBS: Collinson, Holt, Jones, Piggott (gk).
