Date: Tuesday 20th January 2009
Competition: Unibond League Premier Divsion
Venue: Valarie Park, Prescot, Merseyside
Attendance: 196
Ticket In: £7.00
Programme: £1.50
Raffle: £1.00
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Total: £9.50
A rivalry of an evening, what a mouth watering prospect! Especially when you consider that this match counts as a relegation dogfight, just to add a little bit of spice to the occasion. Prescot Cables, named after the towns most famous industry, play their home matches at Valarie Park or as its more affectionately known to its supporters, Hope Street. An age old ground that Cables have called home for over a century. Formed in 1884, football in Prescot has always been a feature and with some successes. After three seasons of being runners up, Cables won the Lancashire Combination in 1957. Other successes include the winning of the league cup in 2002. Recent seasons have seen Cables face struggles on the field though as going into this match they find themselves at the bottom of the league. Last season saw Cables struggle equally as much, having to win their last two games of the season against Whitby Town and Lincoln United to survive, they managed it! Their opponents tonight are Leigh Genesis, a team you could argue are paying their first season after changing their name from Leigh RMI at the start of the season. Hailing the change as “A New Beginning”, things haven’t gone quite so well as they could have done for Genesis as they too find themselves in the relegation zone, although they do have a considerable number of games in hand on their close rivals.
Off the field, things took a downward turn for Genesis as they found themselves without a home ground when Hilton Park became condemned and they struggled to meet the financial demands of playing at the newly constructed Leigh Sports Village. But after awhile of playing at the home ground of Radcliffe Borough Stainton Park, they hope to be playing in the Leigh Sports Village a week from today when they host FC United of Manchester in the league.
There really is a lot to be said for the durability of Prescot’s pitch as after recent bad weather and the fact that a 2nd team uses it in AFC Livepoool (or AFC Pizzahut as they are affectionately known amongst supporters), tonight’s match still goes ahead whilst others are postponed. Valarie Park is a ground that would be considered rubbish by those of today who are used to modern superdromes, but for a non league supporter it’s a fine ground, filled with tradition and a century’s worth of football. The main stand down one side of the pitch, the grass verges that sadly the health and safety people have erected signs saying you can’t stand on them anymore, a somewhat sad sign of the times. But you can still get right up close to the action and feel part of the game, something Valarie Park does very well indeed.
Approaching kickoff time, the weather takes a nasty turn for the worse and rain starts to fall as the teams make their way from the dressing rooms onto the pitch. Prescot Cables in their home strip of amber and black, Leigh Genesis in blue and white. The first chance of the match fell to Leigh Genesis when in the 6th minute, an attempted Prescot clearance took a deflection off a Leigh forward and it needed an alert stop from the Prescot keeper to tip the ball away for a Leigh corner.
The resultant corner was dealt with by the Prescot defence without any dramas. Leigh had another chance in the 10th minute when the won a free kick from out wide on the wing, the delivery from which was headed just over the crossbar and the Prescot goal survived again. Cables won themselves a free kick in the 13th minute when a Cables player was barged off the ball in an illegal fashion in the opinion of referee Mr B.J. Robinson. The delivery was a direct attempt on goal but straight at Danny Morton in the Leigh Genesis goal who made a comfortable save. By the 20th minute, it was Leigh Geneis that were looking the slightly more creative of the two sides but without really creating any major threats on their opponents goal. Prescot then tried their luck from range in the 27th minute but the effort produced failed to seriously trouble the Leigh keeper, who gathered the daisy cutter with ease. Leigh had the best chance in the game so far in the 34th minute when a long ball was played over the top and evaded the Prescot defence with the Leigh forward in hot pursuit of the ball. The advancing Prescot keeper just beat the forward to the ball and pulled off an impressive save to remove the danger and clear the ball. Leigh got the ball back from the clearance and put the pressure back on again with a quick run down the wing where they were awarded a free kick after a clumsy challenge from a Prescot defender. This free kick quickly turned into a corner, the delivery of which was headed half clear by the defence before falling to Scott Sephton, whose shot on the turn just evaded the left hand post with the keeper beaten. Leigh were then nearly punished for a defensive lapse when they carelessly gave the ball away on the edge of their own box, but the Cables forward showed no composure and blasted the ball wide of the target. But in the 42nd minute Prescot Cables did take the lead, but that’s all I can tell you.
Sadly when the goal was scored I was attending to a call of nature and didn’t see it. But from all accounts it was a 30 yard screamer that beat the keeper into the top corner of the net. That’ll teach me to have an extra pint before kickoff if I miss goals like that, well, until next week anyway. So Cables entered the half time break in the lead in a match where neither keeper had been overly busy. Incredibly frustrated that I missed the goal, especially when you consider that the first half didn’t really look like producing many and that might be the only one that goes in all game. Still, Prescot Cables won’t be complaining if that turns out to be the case. Here’s hoping I can get somebody dry and that the 2nd half holds more entertainment.
Half Time:
Prescot Cables 1 – 0 Leigh Genesis
The 2nd half started with Prescot extending their lead when a Leigh Genesis defender left his leg out in a challenge and caught Prescot player Mick O’Donnell in the penalty area, Referee Robinson awarding the home side a penalty kick. Prescot’s Karl Bell accepted the responsibility and drilled the ball down the middle of the goal. Leigh keeper Danny Morton managed to get a hand on the ball but could only palm the ball into the roof of the net and Prescot’s lead was doubled. Leigh now had their backs to the wall and needed to start pushing forward in an attempt to get themselves back into the game. In the 56th minute they won a corner which eventually resulted in a shot from long range by the Leigh winger.
His effort constantly dipping and Cables keeper Zak Hibbert was forced into a save to tip the ball over the crossbar for another Leigh corner. The delivery of this corner was headed over the crossbar by a Cables defender for another Leigh corner as they kept up their spell of pressure on the Prescot goal. The corner that resulted from this was eventually gathered by the keeper to relieve the pressure. After this little spell, Leigh never really threatened with any amount of sustained pressure and often found themselves on the back foot, their breaks forward producing little in the way of serious threat. The game somewhat petered out from a neutrals point of view until the last 10 minutes when Prescot attempted to further extend their lead. They won themselves a corner in the 84th minute when Muktar Mahama put in some great shielding work down the wing. The resultant delivery was met by the head of a forward at the near post and just glanced wide of the far post. Into injury time and Prescot had another good chance to score from a low cross when there was an open net to aim for, but a Leigh defender was alert enough to just turn it behind for a corner. The final whistle came not long after and Prescot Cables had picked up three very valuable points.
My honest sum up, I’m a little disappointed in the match I just watched. Considering that both teams were desperate for the points and bragging rights from a local rivalry were at stake, I expected a little bit more bite and passion from the match.
But I suppose the conditions and the slightly uneven pitch didn’t really allow for and passing styles of play to be executed with any ease. Leigh Genesis were disappointing in the 2nd half and this view was expressed by their manager after the match as he kept his side on the pitch after the final whistle for a very public tongue lashing, but Prescot Cables did the job that needed to be done and cancelled Leigh out well with the mediocre threat they posed, although I can only remember Hibbert in the Prescot goal having to make 2 saves in the match. Prescot rise from the bottom of the league to 19th position, above Leigh Genesis who fall to 21st position, and will go into their next match against Ashton United with renewed confidence after securing the rivalry bragging rights this evening. Congratulations to Prescot Cables.
Full Time:
Prescot Cables 2 – 0 Leigh Genesis
Off the field, things took a downward turn for Genesis as they found themselves without a home ground when Hilton Park became condemned and they struggled to meet the financial demands of playing at the newly constructed Leigh Sports Village. But after awhile of playing at the home ground of Radcliffe Borough Stainton Park, they hope to be playing in the Leigh Sports Village a week from today when they host FC United of Manchester in the league.There really is a lot to be said for the durability of Prescot’s pitch as after recent bad weather and the fact that a 2nd team uses it in AFC Livepoool (or AFC Pizzahut as they are affectionately known amongst supporters), tonight’s match still goes ahead whilst others are postponed. Valarie Park is a ground that would be considered rubbish by those of today who are used to modern superdromes, but for a non league supporter it’s a fine ground, filled with tradition and a century’s worth of football. The main stand down one side of the pitch, the grass verges that sadly the health and safety people have erected signs saying you can’t stand on them anymore, a somewhat sad sign of the times. But you can still get right up close to the action and feel part of the game, something Valarie Park does very well indeed.
Approaching kickoff time, the weather takes a nasty turn for the worse and rain starts to fall as the teams make their way from the dressing rooms onto the pitch. Prescot Cables in their home strip of amber and black, Leigh Genesis in blue and white. The first chance of the match fell to Leigh Genesis when in the 6th minute, an attempted Prescot clearance took a deflection off a Leigh forward and it needed an alert stop from the Prescot keeper to tip the ball away for a Leigh corner.
The resultant corner was dealt with by the Prescot defence without any dramas. Leigh had another chance in the 10th minute when the won a free kick from out wide on the wing, the delivery from which was headed just over the crossbar and the Prescot goal survived again. Cables won themselves a free kick in the 13th minute when a Cables player was barged off the ball in an illegal fashion in the opinion of referee Mr B.J. Robinson. The delivery was a direct attempt on goal but straight at Danny Morton in the Leigh Genesis goal who made a comfortable save. By the 20th minute, it was Leigh Geneis that were looking the slightly more creative of the two sides but without really creating any major threats on their opponents goal. Prescot then tried their luck from range in the 27th minute but the effort produced failed to seriously trouble the Leigh keeper, who gathered the daisy cutter with ease. Leigh had the best chance in the game so far in the 34th minute when a long ball was played over the top and evaded the Prescot defence with the Leigh forward in hot pursuit of the ball. The advancing Prescot keeper just beat the forward to the ball and pulled off an impressive save to remove the danger and clear the ball. Leigh got the ball back from the clearance and put the pressure back on again with a quick run down the wing where they were awarded a free kick after a clumsy challenge from a Prescot defender. This free kick quickly turned into a corner, the delivery of which was headed half clear by the defence before falling to Scott Sephton, whose shot on the turn just evaded the left hand post with the keeper beaten. Leigh were then nearly punished for a defensive lapse when they carelessly gave the ball away on the edge of their own box, but the Cables forward showed no composure and blasted the ball wide of the target. But in the 42nd minute Prescot Cables did take the lead, but that’s all I can tell you. Sadly when the goal was scored I was attending to a call of nature and didn’t see it. But from all accounts it was a 30 yard screamer that beat the keeper into the top corner of the net. That’ll teach me to have an extra pint before kickoff if I miss goals like that, well, until next week anyway. So Cables entered the half time break in the lead in a match where neither keeper had been overly busy. Incredibly frustrated that I missed the goal, especially when you consider that the first half didn’t really look like producing many and that might be the only one that goes in all game. Still, Prescot Cables won’t be complaining if that turns out to be the case. Here’s hoping I can get somebody dry and that the 2nd half holds more entertainment.Half Time:
Prescot Cables 1 – 0 Leigh Genesis
The 2nd half started with Prescot extending their lead when a Leigh Genesis defender left his leg out in a challenge and caught Prescot player Mick O’Donnell in the penalty area, Referee Robinson awarding the home side a penalty kick. Prescot’s Karl Bell accepted the responsibility and drilled the ball down the middle of the goal. Leigh keeper Danny Morton managed to get a hand on the ball but could only palm the ball into the roof of the net and Prescot’s lead was doubled. Leigh now had their backs to the wall and needed to start pushing forward in an attempt to get themselves back into the game. In the 56th minute they won a corner which eventually resulted in a shot from long range by the Leigh winger.
His effort constantly dipping and Cables keeper Zak Hibbert was forced into a save to tip the ball over the crossbar for another Leigh corner. The delivery of this corner was headed over the crossbar by a Cables defender for another Leigh corner as they kept up their spell of pressure on the Prescot goal. The corner that resulted from this was eventually gathered by the keeper to relieve the pressure. After this little spell, Leigh never really threatened with any amount of sustained pressure and often found themselves on the back foot, their breaks forward producing little in the way of serious threat. The game somewhat petered out from a neutrals point of view until the last 10 minutes when Prescot attempted to further extend their lead. They won themselves a corner in the 84th minute when Muktar Mahama put in some great shielding work down the wing. The resultant delivery was met by the head of a forward at the near post and just glanced wide of the far post. Into injury time and Prescot had another good chance to score from a low cross when there was an open net to aim for, but a Leigh defender was alert enough to just turn it behind for a corner. The final whistle came not long after and Prescot Cables had picked up three very valuable points.My honest sum up, I’m a little disappointed in the match I just watched. Considering that both teams were desperate for the points and bragging rights from a local rivalry were at stake, I expected a little bit more bite and passion from the match.
But I suppose the conditions and the slightly uneven pitch didn’t really allow for and passing styles of play to be executed with any ease. Leigh Genesis were disappointing in the 2nd half and this view was expressed by their manager after the match as he kept his side on the pitch after the final whistle for a very public tongue lashing, but Prescot Cables did the job that needed to be done and cancelled Leigh out well with the mediocre threat they posed, although I can only remember Hibbert in the Prescot goal having to make 2 saves in the match. Prescot rise from the bottom of the league to 19th position, above Leigh Genesis who fall to 21st position, and will go into their next match against Ashton United with renewed confidence after securing the rivalry bragging rights this evening. Congratulations to Prescot Cables.Full Time:
Prescot Cables 2 – 0 Leigh Genesis
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