FC Village 2-1 Wirral Wanderers
12/04/07 - League

The Village back on home soil for the first time since January enjoyed a rare win of late which was far more comfortable than the final score line may suggest. Amazingly after all the problems of getting eleven players on some of the previous Saturday afternoons there was no problem for this first of two evening games as virtually the whole squad was there and manager Steve had the luxury of picking from 5 subs. The side were really up for this match as they were playing old rivals Wirral Wanderers and on a warm April evening they turned in a good performance that should have seen them win by a bigger margin. In fact they could have scored inside the first minute as Muzza was put through but he lashed his shot wide. Certainly the Village had the upper hand in the opening exchanges and despite getting caught offside numerous times they still had the chances to score. Colin was clean through on goal but the goalie stood firm and saved his effort and then Sweeney burst though only to see the Wirral keeper keep out his goal bound effort with a smart save. Then midway through the half and against the run of play the visitors opened the scoring when Booey got caught in a tackle and went down injured but the ref refused to stop play and they went on to score with a well taken lob from the edge of the area. The Village were somewhat upset that play hadn’t been stopped but it wasn’t a head injury and so the ref was right to have played on. Still the Village kept plugging away and they were rewarded just before half time with the equaliser as this Les broke free down the right and as he came in to the box he drilled his shot in to the bottom corner. The second half started with a long ball down the left wing which Muzza chased and his effort was rewarded when a Wirral defender conceded a corner. The corner came over and the ball bounced around the area before falling to Booey who slammed it home to put the home side in front. Once again the Village dominated the half with the visitors relying on the odd breakaway but they never really troubled Jay and the outstanding Leigh in the home defence. As for the Village they seemed to create chance after chance but the ball just wouldn’t go in to the net. Ritchie had a goal bound header cleared off the line, Colin headed just wide, Les volleyed wide when put through after a great move and Sweeney saw the keeper deny him a second time when clean through. The Village gave run outs to Nic and Maggot and then just under 10 minutes from the end Mike R came on and just before the final whistle he thought he had scored a third. Sweeney once more broke free out on the left and as he entered the box he pulled the ball back for the on coming Mike to rifle under the keeper. All the players celebrated but for some reason the ref brought it back for a strange offside decision to say the least. The Village held on for a nervy last couple of minutes but when the final whistle went they were worthy winners as once again they had come out on top against the old enemy.