Competition: VodkaT NWCFL Reserves Div
Venue: Alder House, Atherton, Lancashire
Attendance: ???
Ticket In: Free
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Total: Free
May Day football, it certainly wasn’t supposed to be this way, the football season was supposed to be long over by this point. But with the snow and rain in the winter months causing a rather large backlog of fixtures that need to be played, it gives the more hardy football supporters a chance to extend their season. Today is the “mini derby” between the reserve sides of Atherton Collieries and Atherton LR, two teams separated by roughly 1km. Local rivalries don’t come much stronger than this, well, except for when the first teams play each other of course.
A scanning of the league tables throws up something interesting (well something I thought was interesting anyway), whilst Atherton Collieries first team have had a woeful season and have been relegated to Division One of the North West Counties League after finishing right at the bottom, their reserves have had a far better time of things in mid table. Atherton LR’s reserves currently lie at the bottom of the league whilst their first team haven enjoyed a comfortable season in mid table, which makes you wonder if Atherton Collieries might have had a better time of things if they’d fielded their reserve side in the top division a little more often. It’s overcast and rainy as most British Bank Holidays are, but being at a football ground somehow takes away the misery. Apologies for the lack of player names in this report, but possibly due to my somewhat poor observational skills I haven’t seen a teamsheet anywhere.
So in front of a larger than usual crowd the two teams emerge from the portakabin dressing rooms at the top of the ground, Atherton Collieries in their home colours of black and white with Atherton LR in their home colours of yellow and blue. No dedicated linesmen for this afternoon, that job will be completed by two men in tracksuits at the side of the pitch that barely leave the technical areas near the dugouts, so the lone referee will have to be calling the offside decisions himself. The captains shake hands and switch ends so it will be LR that kick down the hill in the first half and the match gets underway. 
The start to the game couldn’t really be described as electrifying as both teams struggled to get going straight from the kickoff, the first action of note not coming until the 7th minute when LR won themselves a corner. The delivery was to the edge of the box and cleared by the Collieries defence. Collieries were having a problem or two getting behind the LR defence and in the 13th minute, when they ran out of ideas they conceded possession and a long ball over the top set an LR winger free down the wing, but some good covering defence by a Collieries defender saw the ball deflect for a corner. The delivery of the corner wasn’t properly dealt with by the defence and an LR forward was allowed a shot on goal, but the Collieries keeper made a good save with his feet and the rebound was blasted wide from outside the penalty area to relieve the danger. There had been a limited number of chances in the half to this point and none of them had really troubled the goalkeepers, another such chance like this one came in the 22nd minute when an LR forward picked up a clearance from the Collieries keeper and from all of 45 yards tried his luck on goal, his effort going a long way wide of the target and giving the Collieries defence no concerns. Collieries then had a chance in the 29th minute when they won themselves a free kick on the left wing. The delivery into the box caused the LR defence some issues but the ball eventually took a kind deflection off a player and was gathered by the goalkeeper. Collieries then had a shot deflected for a corner kick on the half hour mark and the delivery of the corner to the back post brought a good punch out of the LR keeper to get the ball clear and send LR down the other end of the pitch on the break, the Collieries defence however was alert to the danger and dealt with the threat. Collieries finished the half off well with a late rally when the referee awarded them a free kick in the 39th minute, however the delivery of the kick wasn’t going to trouble the goalkeeper being as far over the bar as it was. Another free kick 2 minutes later after a careless and casual challenge from an LR defender saw much the same result as the delivery was a long way over the crossbar. 
The last chance of the half also fell to Collieries when a cross into the box saw both forward and keeper collide in the air, the keeper winning the battle as his punch clear reached a Collieries player just outside the penalty area and his attempt on goal hit a defender and deflected to safety. Soon after this, the referee brought the half to a close with Collieries late rally the only really meaningful action in an otherwise dull half of football. An ice cream van passing the ground playing the Match of the Day theme tune in the style that only an ice cream van can produces some amusement amongst the larger than usual crowd, the action on the pitch having not provided much (at least from the neutral point of view). There had been few chances for either side so here’s hoping that the teams will compete a little more determinedly for the bragging rights in the 2nd half.
Half Time: Atherton Collieries Reserves 0 – 0 Atherton LR Reserves
Collieries made an encouraging start to the 2nd half when the won themselves a corner in the 50th minute. A free kick from on the wing on half way was delivered to the edge of the box and headed on into the penalty area before being put behind his own goal by an LR defender. The delivery of the corner was punched clear by the LR keeper but only as far as the wing where it was crossed back into the box and a headed effort was easily gathered by the LR keeper. 
The game was now finally starting to open up as in the 51st minute both sides had a shot on goal, LR having theirs well saved before Collieries broke down the other end and saw their effort on goal go wide. Just as the game was starting to open up, LR blew the game wide open by taking the lead against the flow of play. A 54th minute free kick for Collieries was headed clear and played through to Ryan Dunne who made a brilliant run up the field before firing the ball across goal from the edge of the penalty area, beating the Collieries keeper and finding the corner of the net to give the visitors the lead. This may only have been a reserves match, but the reactions on the player’s faces showed exactly what that goal meant. With a difference in scores, the game really came to life as Collieries had to push on to get themselves back into the contest. They won themselves a free kick in the 56th minute when a rash challenge from behind floored a Collieries forward, the delivery of the free kick skimmed through the penalty area but nobody could get the required touch on it and it went for a goal kick. Collieries were now applying great amounts of pressure to the LR defence but they were able to deal with the threats they were posed. LR managed to relieve some pressure when they won themselves a corner in the 71st minute, the delivery of which was punched clear by the keeper and Collieries won the ball back. As the game wore towards its conclusion, Collieries made one last gargantuan effort to get on the score sheet. 
A fabulous tip over the crossbar and a disallowed goal for offside in 2nd half injury time were all to conspire against Collieries though as time eventually ran out on them and despite the almost great completed comeback, they had been defeated 0-1 by their local rivals.
Well a fantastic end to a match that showed little promise in the 1st half. Though I would support LR over Collieries any day of the week, I actually found myself hoping that they could equalise because of the fightback they staged. A match that needed the goal to come alive and boy did it ever. It was a thoroughly enjoyable towards the end and congratulations to Atherton LR Reserves on winning the game.
Full Time:Atherton Collieries Reserves 0 – 1 Atherton LR Reserves
View more pics at:
http://s375.photobucket.com/albums/oo198/YellowCardPhotos/Atherton%20Collieries%20Reserves%20Vs%20Atherton%20LR%20Reserv/
