Date: Wednesday 18th March 2009
Competition: VodkaT NWCFL Division 1
Venue: Valarie Park, Prescot, Merseyside
Attendance: 541
Ticket In: £5.00
Programme: £1.50
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Total: £6.50
It feels like Valarie Park is becoming my 2nd home of late with this being my 3rd visit to the grand old ground in the space of 10 days. Well with it being just down the road from where I live it’s always a logical destination to take in a football match. However this evening it is not Prescot Cables that will be playing, but the team that they now have as tenants at their ground. I’m referring to AFC Liverpool, who were formed at the beginning of this season as a supporters run club by Liverpool FC fans. However, unlike their counterparts at FC United of Manchester, AFC Liverpool have been quick to state that they wish to be associated with their Premiership namesake and for the two clubs to have a relationship. Affectionately known as AFC Pizzahut by the locals, the idea behind the club was to allow those who had trouble getting tickets or couldn’t afford the high price of the Premiership to come and support a team, as one supporter put it at their first ever match against St Helens Town “it’s all about the return of affordable football to Liverpool”. Well I’m sorry to have to inform him that affordable football in Liverpool has always been there with teams like Marine and Bootle playing in the area. The whole club comes across as a vanity exercise and the non league game is in severe danger of becoming littered with this type of club, something I’m really keen to not see happen! Unlike FC United of Manchester, who at least have a message about them if nothing else, AFC Liverpool’s formation is a pointless one. They carry no message, no statement and no individuality. They basically exist to allow the poorer Kopite a place to watch a football match, a solution that has already been in existence for now over a century. Revolution? Not a chance.
Despite this, this evening’s match has the potential of being a cracker as the opponents are Bootle. A local-ish derby then between the teams in 1st and 2nd in the North West Counties League first division. AFC Liverpool currently sit atop the division with a 6 point advantage over their opponents this evening, although Bootle have 4 games in hand. So the match this afternoon could go a long way to deciding the eventual league champions.The two teams made their way out onto the field from the tunnel, AFC Liverpool in their all red strip with Bootle in their home colours of all blue. The referee completes the pre-match formalities with the two team captains as the teams switch ends and Bootle get the match underway. Both sides had an early shout for a score in the 6th minute, the first opportunity falling to Bootle after a superb through ball allowed a shot on target to be put in but a deflection took it for a corner. AFC Liverpool’s chance came from a penalty appeal when a forward fell over Bootle keeper Mark Mawdsley after he had spilled the ball, referee M Green correctly refusing to award the spot kick. Bootle were then awarded a free kick after a reckless challenge from the AFC Liverpool winger, however the delivery of the kick was easily dealt with by the AFC Liverpool defence. The next chance would fall to the home side in the 11th minute when they themselves won a free kick after a clumsy challenge from a Bootle player. The kick was taken to the edge of the penalty area and headed back into the box where AFC Liverpool’s Andrew Olsen attempted an overhead scissors kick that went wide of its intended target.
The opening quarter of the match had been exciting with end to end football, pretty much what you would expect of a top of the league derby encounter and both sides looked like they were seriously up for it. But after this period the game settled down a little and there were few other chances of note as both teams cancelled each other out. AFC Liverpool managed to win themselves a corner just before half time, the delivery of which was cleared as far as the edge of the box where a Bootle player committed a foul that resulted in the referee awarding AFC Liverpool a free kick. The kick was drilled in low but across the face of goal and wide and the chance passed without reaping any rewards. So the half tailed off towards its conclusion after an electric start, but from the chances that have been created Bootle look the better and more aggressive of the two sides. The space that AFC Liverpool have afforded Bootle may well come back to bite them on the backside before full time. One side must surely step it up and go for it in the 2nd half.Half Time:
AFC Liverpool 0 – 0 Bootle
The 2nd half got off to a frenetic start much like the first did as both teams began to apply the pressure early. Both teams won themselves a corner in the early stages of the half, Bootle’s effort was eventually cleared by the AFC Liverpool defence after some good closing allowed the Bootle forward no space to work in.
AFC Liverpool’s corner was half cleared in the first instance by the Bootle defence, but then the forward managed to pick the ball up on the wing and skip his was past 2 Bootle defenders before warming the gloves of Bootle keeper Mark Mawdsley at his near post. Referee Green then had a bit call to make in the 51st minute as a Bootle forward hit the deck in the penalty area in close proximity to an AFC Liverpool defender. What looked like a decent shout for a penalty saw referee Green award AFC Liverpool a free kick as he adjudged that the Bootle player had dived in the penalty area, a yellow card was also produced for the forwards trouble. But the breakthrough that had been threatening to arrive for a while came in the 55th minute when Bootle won themselves a corner kick. The corner was taken short and played to Andy Fowler, who worked himself some space on the edge of the penalty area and drilled a powerful shot through the bodies in the penalty area and into the net to get the Bootle fans celebrating in the stands and silence the home supporters. However this seemed to spur AFC Liverpool on and they started to inflict some pressure on the Bootle defence themselves. The 58th minute saw an absolute scramble in the Bootle goalmouth with the ball somehow not ending up in the net and in the 62nd minute another good chance went begging as the striker blasted an effort wide of the target, but AFC Liverpool were now looking the far more dangerous of the two sides at this point. The pressure almost told in the 64th minute when Bootle had their custodian Mawdsely to thank for preserving their lead, a long ball from the wing completely evaded the Bootle defence and left the AFC Liverpool striker free to fire off a shot from the angle, Mawdsley got down brilliantly well to make the save at his near post and deflect the ball back into the penalty area where a challenge from a Bootle defender had the home fans appealing in vain for a penalty kick. Bootle thought they had doubled their lead in the 67th minute when they got the ball in the back of the net again. An initial shot from the angle on the edge of the penalty area was parried back into the penalty area by the goalkeeper and a square pass right in front of goal found the waiting player half a yard offside as he tapped it into the open net. 
The lineman’s flag went up and the visiting supporters celebrations were cut short. But the momentum had now begun to swing the way of Bootle again and this was becoming evident in their play. They were stronger in the midfield and were muscling AFC Liverpool off the ball with relative ease and although they found themselves on the back foot on occasions, they were more than adequately coping with the threats the AFC Liverpool attack threw at them. AFC Liverpool staged a mini fight back as the match drew to a close but it wasn’t enough to break down the Bootle defence and the joy on the players and supporters face when referee Green sounded the full time whistle was testimony enough, a massive win for Bootle.So as the home supporters board their busses back to the City of Liverpool, they can ponder how they were beaten by a much better side in a defeat that throws the division championship race wide open again. The gap will now be three points with Bootle having four games in hand and after the performance they turned in tonight, they must surely be considered favourites to win the league.
A game that was absolutely worth its money as the AFC Liverpool fight back towards the end nearly brought them a share of the spoils. It was largely a match of momentum swings but on the whole Bootle were deserving winners of the Derby tie. It should make for a very interesting and exciting conclusion to the Division One race this season. Congratulations to Bootle!Full Time:
AFC Liverpool 0 – 1 Bootle
