Date: Saturday 20th March 2010
Competition: Vodkat NWCFL Premier Div
Venue: Delta Taxis Stadium
Attendance: 103
Cloudy skies, wet weather and a bitter cold greet the gathering that converge upon the Delta Taxis Stadium for this top of the table six pointer, some might argue that these are seasonal conditions for the time of year and region, others just wish it was warmer. Visiting Maine Road are currently having a fine season and occupy fourth spot in the league, two places above The Bucks before this afternoons games, a tough examination then is surely ahead.
The two sides are not strangers to each other as they contested the 2007/08 League Challenge Cup final when Bootle were a First Division side, forcing their Premier Division opponents all the way to penalties before succumbing in the spot kick competition. A chance this afternoon to put this even further behind them perhaps?
Still struggling with some injury problems, the opening stages of the game were frustrating ones for The Bucks as a lot of close decisions were seeming to go against them from the match officials, their first real moment of threat not coming until the tenth minute of the match. A ball into the box from Daniel O’Connor took a deflection off a Maine Road defender and looped up into the air before defender Stephen Mason headed behind his own goal for a corner kick to the hosts. This corner was taken into the area where Bootle’s Daniel O’Connor and Maine Road’s Chris Crooks both went up for a header and missed it completely, before Anthony Miley attempted a shot that took a deflection off a defender for another Bootle corner. Mark Kilroy took this corner to the back post where Anthony Miley returned it into the middle via a header, but Maine Road keeper Andrew Jones read it well and was able to gather it rather comfortably. The 14th and 15th minutes of the contest would see both sides go equally close to opening the scoring but neither would accomplish it, Maine Road went first in the 14th minute when a cross into the box from Chris Crooks was headed onto the crossbar from close range with keeper Mark Mawdsley completely beaten. The 15th minute saw Bootle awarded a free kick in an attacking position when the referee adjudged that Stephen Cheetham had fouled Mark Kilroy. Chris Tyson stepped up to take the set piece and managed to beat the Maine Road defensive wall and keeper, but he couldn’t beat the frame of the goal as the ball rebounded back into play from the crossbar and the Maine Road defence cleared the danger. Bootle was then awarded another free kick in the 15th minute when Chris Hirst was rather harshly adjudged to have handled the ball. This free kick was taken to the edge of the penalty area where Andy Fowler attempted to lob Jones in the Maine Road goal but couldn’t keep his effort on target.
The opening 20 minutes of the match had been a very even affair with both teams matching each other well and cancelling each other out, work rates were high on both sides and the defensive play was of a high standard. It would be Maine Road though that would go close next in the 23rd minute, a ball from captain Alex Jay found Edward Moran and he stranded the Bootle defence with a neat touch before advancing to cross the ball into the penalty area. His cross was met by a diving header from a Maine Road forward but it was glanced wide of the goal, a bit more direction would almost certainly have seen the visitors take the lead, Bootle could breathe a sigh of relief. Maine Road kept up their pressure though and won themselves another free kick in the 36th minute, James Rothel struck the ball powerfully but Carl Dale got a foot in the way to deflect it towards the edge of the penalty area. Stephen Cheetham recovered the ball from this block and struck a powerful effort towards goal that looked on target that was until Kevin Black jumped in front of the ball and appeared to block it with his arm. The Maine Road players to a man appealed for a penalty but the referee waved away their claim; this must have been frustrating for the visitors as they had a much softer looking handball decision go against them earlier in the match. Another chance for the visitors came in the 38th minute when a pass from Daniel Self found Chris Crooks on the wing, Crooks then sent in a low square cross that Mark Mawdsley got down well to block. However, the keeper couldn’t hold the ball and Daniel Self was poised to pounce on the spills, but Michael Carberry made a vital challenge on the ball and allowed Carl Dale to clear the ball away from danger. 
Neil McQueen then had his name taken by the referee in the 39th minute after a slightly late challenge and from the resultant free kick Maine Road won themselves a corner which was taken short but the eventual cross into the box hit the side netting and created no danger. Bootle got back onto the offensive themselves in the 42nd minute and after a shot had been cleared off the line, a cross into the box was picked up by Josh Inyang and after taking a touch to control it, struck a powerful volley with his right foot but couldn’t keep it down and it sailed over the crossbar. Half time followed not long after and there it very little to choose between the two sides at the break, it’s a very even contest indeed. You can’t even split the sides in the hit woodwork statistic. The match is anybodies for the taking in the 2nd half and it might only take a moment of brilliance or calamity to decide it.
Half Time:
Bootle 0 – 0 Maine Road
The 2nd half got underway with Maine Road having another appeal for a handball in the penalty area waved away by the referee. Daniel Self drilled the ball towards goal and it hit Michael Carberry in the chest from point blank range and the ball deflected away. The Maine Road appeals went up again and again the referee waved them away, probably more rightly in this case than the last one. In the ‘how many yellow cards can one referee administer in one match competition’, this afternoons official made another stride towards the title in the 56th minute, when Maine Road’s Daniel Self had his name taken when he floored Carl Dale with a late challenge, the card count was rising steadily. Maine Road was then penalised for another soft handball on the hour mark that gave Bootle a free kick in an attacking position, much to the understandable frustrations of their players. Andy Fowler drilled a low effort from the set piece that evaded the Maine Road defensive wall and had keeper Jones scrambling to his left, but the shot was just wide of the right hand post and went agonisingly wide.
But Bootle forged another good opportunity in the 64th minute when Daniel O’Connor found a teammate on the wing and he crossed it into the penalty area. The ball was allowed to travel to the other side of the penalty area untouched and Andy Fowler picked it up and in an attempt to side-foot it into the top corner of the net, sent it over the bar and Maine Road survived again. Another chance for the home side came a minute later when a square pass from the wing was picked up by Jamie Hay. Hay took a neat touch to strand his marker and hit a powerful left footed shot on target, but keeper Jones saw it all the way and made a fine save to cling on to the ball and prevent the deadlock being broken. Both sides then had chances to take the lead in the 70th minute, Maine Road’s opportunity coming from a Chris Crooks shot from the edge of the penalty area that keeper Mark Mawdsley got down well to his left to save. Bootle’s chance came when Andy Fowler picked the ball up on the wing and turned infield before finding Ian Johnson with a pass to the edge of the penalty area. Johnson tried a shot on goal that took a deflection off a Maine Road defender and into the path of Kevin Black. Black hit a first time shot with the goal at his mercy but skied it over the crossbar and still the deadlock remained. But the inevitable happened in the 74th minute when the referee’s card habit caught up with Steven Cheetham, he cynically brought down Kevin Black on the wing and having been booked earlier in the game, the referee dismissed him from the field and Maine Road would have to see out the rest of the game with ten men. The resultant free kick was delivered into the penalty area but it was headed clear by Chris Crooks. Bootle were using their man advantage well and created another opportunity to take the lead in the 79th minute, Josh Inyang inadvertently played the ball to Daniel O’Connor and he hit a shot that was deflected behind goal by defender Edward Moran, the Maine Road defence dealt well with the resultant corner. Bootle then had a handball appeal of their own turned down in the 82nd minute when Tom Obasi managed to shake off his defenders and cut the ball back from the goal line. Jamie Hay received the ball and struck a shot towards goal that hit the hand of Richard Gresty before keeper Jones gathered it in, the appeals were waved away by the referee once again despite the fact that very similar offences were being penalised when they were being committed outside of the penalty area. 
But Bootle would soon forget this as a minute later; they would take the lead in the match and score what would prove to be the decisive goal. Jamie Hay flicked on a deflection to Ian Johnson in the penalty area, who in turn flicked the ball centrally for Daniel O’Connor who’s first time volley beat the keeper and hit the back of the net to give The Bucks the lead with only seven minutes remaining on the clock. There was still time enough though for the referee to award yet another yellow card, this time to Maine Road’s Edward Moran for flooring Daniel O’Connor. Bootle were able to hold on for the remaining time though and collect a very hard earned three points to close the gap on Maine Road in the league standings.
I suppose a draw would probably have been a fair result, Maine Road were far from outdone in the contest and the game was very even on the whole.
However, Bootle took the chance when it was presented to them and this turned out to be the only deciding factor. Not the most exciting game ever seen, but a good contest played by two teams that showed a high level of technical football.
Full Time:
Bootle 1 – 0 Maine Road
Attendance: 103
Cloudy skies, wet weather and a bitter cold greet the gathering that converge upon the Delta Taxis Stadium for this top of the table six pointer, some might argue that these are seasonal conditions for the time of year and region, others just wish it was warmer. Visiting Maine Road are currently having a fine season and occupy fourth spot in the league, two places above The Bucks before this afternoons games, a tough examination then is surely ahead.
The two sides are not strangers to each other as they contested the 2007/08 League Challenge Cup final when Bootle were a First Division side, forcing their Premier Division opponents all the way to penalties before succumbing in the spot kick competition. A chance this afternoon to put this even further behind them perhaps?Still struggling with some injury problems, the opening stages of the game were frustrating ones for The Bucks as a lot of close decisions were seeming to go against them from the match officials, their first real moment of threat not coming until the tenth minute of the match. A ball into the box from Daniel O’Connor took a deflection off a Maine Road defender and looped up into the air before defender Stephen Mason headed behind his own goal for a corner kick to the hosts. This corner was taken into the area where Bootle’s Daniel O’Connor and Maine Road’s Chris Crooks both went up for a header and missed it completely, before Anthony Miley attempted a shot that took a deflection off a defender for another Bootle corner. Mark Kilroy took this corner to the back post where Anthony Miley returned it into the middle via a header, but Maine Road keeper Andrew Jones read it well and was able to gather it rather comfortably. The 14th and 15th minutes of the contest would see both sides go equally close to opening the scoring but neither would accomplish it, Maine Road went first in the 14th minute when a cross into the box from Chris Crooks was headed onto the crossbar from close range with keeper Mark Mawdsley completely beaten. The 15th minute saw Bootle awarded a free kick in an attacking position when the referee adjudged that Stephen Cheetham had fouled Mark Kilroy. Chris Tyson stepped up to take the set piece and managed to beat the Maine Road defensive wall and keeper, but he couldn’t beat the frame of the goal as the ball rebounded back into play from the crossbar and the Maine Road defence cleared the danger. Bootle was then awarded another free kick in the 15th minute when Chris Hirst was rather harshly adjudged to have handled the ball. This free kick was taken to the edge of the penalty area where Andy Fowler attempted to lob Jones in the Maine Road goal but couldn’t keep his effort on target.
The opening 20 minutes of the match had been a very even affair with both teams matching each other well and cancelling each other out, work rates were high on both sides and the defensive play was of a high standard. It would be Maine Road though that would go close next in the 23rd minute, a ball from captain Alex Jay found Edward Moran and he stranded the Bootle defence with a neat touch before advancing to cross the ball into the penalty area. His cross was met by a diving header from a Maine Road forward but it was glanced wide of the goal, a bit more direction would almost certainly have seen the visitors take the lead, Bootle could breathe a sigh of relief. Maine Road kept up their pressure though and won themselves another free kick in the 36th minute, James Rothel struck the ball powerfully but Carl Dale got a foot in the way to deflect it towards the edge of the penalty area. Stephen Cheetham recovered the ball from this block and struck a powerful effort towards goal that looked on target that was until Kevin Black jumped in front of the ball and appeared to block it with his arm. The Maine Road players to a man appealed for a penalty but the referee waved away their claim; this must have been frustrating for the visitors as they had a much softer looking handball decision go against them earlier in the match. Another chance for the visitors came in the 38th minute when a pass from Daniel Self found Chris Crooks on the wing, Crooks then sent in a low square cross that Mark Mawdsley got down well to block. However, the keeper couldn’t hold the ball and Daniel Self was poised to pounce on the spills, but Michael Carberry made a vital challenge on the ball and allowed Carl Dale to clear the ball away from danger. 
Neil McQueen then had his name taken by the referee in the 39th minute after a slightly late challenge and from the resultant free kick Maine Road won themselves a corner which was taken short but the eventual cross into the box hit the side netting and created no danger. Bootle got back onto the offensive themselves in the 42nd minute and after a shot had been cleared off the line, a cross into the box was picked up by Josh Inyang and after taking a touch to control it, struck a powerful volley with his right foot but couldn’t keep it down and it sailed over the crossbar. Half time followed not long after and there it very little to choose between the two sides at the break, it’s a very even contest indeed. You can’t even split the sides in the hit woodwork statistic. The match is anybodies for the taking in the 2nd half and it might only take a moment of brilliance or calamity to decide it.Half Time:
Bootle 0 – 0 Maine Road
The 2nd half got underway with Maine Road having another appeal for a handball in the penalty area waved away by the referee. Daniel Self drilled the ball towards goal and it hit Michael Carberry in the chest from point blank range and the ball deflected away. The Maine Road appeals went up again and again the referee waved them away, probably more rightly in this case than the last one. In the ‘how many yellow cards can one referee administer in one match competition’, this afternoons official made another stride towards the title in the 56th minute, when Maine Road’s Daniel Self had his name taken when he floored Carl Dale with a late challenge, the card count was rising steadily. Maine Road was then penalised for another soft handball on the hour mark that gave Bootle a free kick in an attacking position, much to the understandable frustrations of their players. Andy Fowler drilled a low effort from the set piece that evaded the Maine Road defensive wall and had keeper Jones scrambling to his left, but the shot was just wide of the right hand post and went agonisingly wide.
But Bootle forged another good opportunity in the 64th minute when Daniel O’Connor found a teammate on the wing and he crossed it into the penalty area. The ball was allowed to travel to the other side of the penalty area untouched and Andy Fowler picked it up and in an attempt to side-foot it into the top corner of the net, sent it over the bar and Maine Road survived again. Another chance for the home side came a minute later when a square pass from the wing was picked up by Jamie Hay. Hay took a neat touch to strand his marker and hit a powerful left footed shot on target, but keeper Jones saw it all the way and made a fine save to cling on to the ball and prevent the deadlock being broken. Both sides then had chances to take the lead in the 70th minute, Maine Road’s opportunity coming from a Chris Crooks shot from the edge of the penalty area that keeper Mark Mawdsley got down well to his left to save. Bootle’s chance came when Andy Fowler picked the ball up on the wing and turned infield before finding Ian Johnson with a pass to the edge of the penalty area. Johnson tried a shot on goal that took a deflection off a Maine Road defender and into the path of Kevin Black. Black hit a first time shot with the goal at his mercy but skied it over the crossbar and still the deadlock remained. But the inevitable happened in the 74th minute when the referee’s card habit caught up with Steven Cheetham, he cynically brought down Kevin Black on the wing and having been booked earlier in the game, the referee dismissed him from the field and Maine Road would have to see out the rest of the game with ten men. The resultant free kick was delivered into the penalty area but it was headed clear by Chris Crooks. Bootle were using their man advantage well and created another opportunity to take the lead in the 79th minute, Josh Inyang inadvertently played the ball to Daniel O’Connor and he hit a shot that was deflected behind goal by defender Edward Moran, the Maine Road defence dealt well with the resultant corner. Bootle then had a handball appeal of their own turned down in the 82nd minute when Tom Obasi managed to shake off his defenders and cut the ball back from the goal line. Jamie Hay received the ball and struck a shot towards goal that hit the hand of Richard Gresty before keeper Jones gathered it in, the appeals were waved away by the referee once again despite the fact that very similar offences were being penalised when they were being committed outside of the penalty area. 
But Bootle would soon forget this as a minute later; they would take the lead in the match and score what would prove to be the decisive goal. Jamie Hay flicked on a deflection to Ian Johnson in the penalty area, who in turn flicked the ball centrally for Daniel O’Connor who’s first time volley beat the keeper and hit the back of the net to give The Bucks the lead with only seven minutes remaining on the clock. There was still time enough though for the referee to award yet another yellow card, this time to Maine Road’s Edward Moran for flooring Daniel O’Connor. Bootle were able to hold on for the remaining time though and collect a very hard earned three points to close the gap on Maine Road in the league standings.I suppose a draw would probably have been a fair result, Maine Road were far from outdone in the contest and the game was very even on the whole.
However, Bootle took the chance when it was presented to them and this turned out to be the only deciding factor. Not the most exciting game ever seen, but a good contest played by two teams that showed a high level of technical football.Full Time:
Bootle 1 – 0 Maine Road
