FC Village

Report: Bird in Hand 3 FCVillage 1

The Village may have been knocked out of the Regent Cup but for long periods of this game and certainly in the first half they were the better side. Ultimately some bad luck and fatigue gave their more illustrious the opponents the edge in a close and well battled encounter. With Ritchie out injured and Harper away for the weekend the Village spent Friday evening and Saturday morning trying to get a couple of extra players as they had the bare 11 and that included assistant manager Dave. However the two Mike’s, Kenny, Jason, Martin, Crozzer, Timmy, Victor and Cottier were all unavailable for various reasons and so they travelled over to Rycroft with just the eleven. This didn’t dampen their spirits however and they took to the field for this quarter final in a confident mood despite being up against the top side from the division above them.

After a nervy opening ten minutes when they had even forced some early pressure but gone a goal down they stormed in to the game and would dominate the rest of the half. That goal came after a slip in defence which allowed a home forward to get in a shot which Jay saved but when Leigh just couldn’t get to the ball to clear away another forward fired in. Far from seeing the Village collapse this actually inspired the Village to take a grip on the game as they started to attack the home goal in numbers. Their first real chance came from a breakaway as Booey sent Maggot clear down the right and he outpaced his defender, cut in and sent in a goal bound shot which the goalie did well to push away for a corner. The Village were to force a fair number of corners during this first 45 and from another one Maggot saw his header well saved again and then the next one sailed past everyone in the six yard box and just needed someone to stab out a foot. The Village were certainly in command and it looked like they equalised when Kev got a header in which according to players from both sides was over the line before the keeper punched it away and then when JJ knocked the rebound back in he scrambled it away to safety. The visitors appealed for a goal but the ref waved play on and it looked like it wasn’t going to be their day. Then from yet another corner the ball reached the unmarked Maggot inside the six yard box and he headed home to level the scores. The Village now had about 10 minutes left to push home their advantage but despite being in the ascendancy they were unable to make the most of their excellent first half display.

The Bird now held the upper hand for the second half as they had the slope in their favour and with at least 3 subs available knew they could change things if they had to. Using the long ball as their main form of attack the Bird were in to their stride the quicker of the two sides but the Village defence ably supported by the midfield played deep and dealt with most of the attacks. With the Village slowly getting back in to it, they got their best chance to take the lead when a long cross field ball found Maggot and amid the shouts for offside he ran on only to curl his shot the wrong side of the upright. Minutes later and midway through the half the same thing happened down the other end and once more the ref felt that it wasn’t offside when had there been linesmen available it too would have probably been given but he allowed a couple of the home forwards to run on and put the Bird back in to the lead. The Village now had to push forward in numbers but you could see them start to wilt as the Bird started to change things around using some fresh legs. With about fifteen minutes left the Bird got a bit of luck as they sealed the tie when from a corner a forward got in a shot which looked to be going straight to Jay but then it hit Booey and spun agonisingly wide of Jay’s outstretched arm and in to the net for 3-1. Still the Village didn’t give up and they kept going right until the end seeing Maggot have a goal ruled out for offside and when the final whistle went they knew that they have given their all and could walk off the pitch with their heads held high despite not reaching the semi final. It’s back to the League now as they attempt to secure one of the promotion places with just fives games to go.

Team Line-up

FC Village: Hill: Wilson, Whorton, Hutton, Byrne; Oldam, Leeds, Harrison, Sadler, Machin; Eaton
Subs not used:

More photos from this game click here



	Report: Bird in Hand 3 FCVillage 1 The Village may have been knocked out of the Regent Cup but for long periods of this game and certainly in the first half they were the better side. Ultimately some bad luck and fatigue gave their more illustrious the opponents the edge in a close and well battled encounter. With Ritchie out injured and Harper away for the weekend the Village spent Friday evening and Saturday morning trying to get a couple of extra players as they had the bare 11 and that included assistant manager Dave. However the two Mike’s, Kenny, Jason, Martin, Crozzer, Timmy, Victor and Cottier were all unavailable for various reasons and so they travelled over to Rycroft with just the eleven. This didn’t dampen their spirits however and they took to the field for this quarter final in a confident mood despite being up against the top side from the division above them. After a nervy opening ten minutes when they had even forced some early pressure but gone a goal down they stormed in to the game and would dominate the rest of the half. That goal came after a slip in defence which allowed a home forward to get in a shot which Jay saved but when Leigh just couldn’t get to the ball to clear away another forward fired in. Far from seeing the Village collapse this actually inspired the Village to take a grip on the game as they started to attack the home goal in numbers. Their first real chance came from a breakaway as Booey sent Maggot clear down the right and he outpaced his defender, cut in and sent in a goal bound shot which the goalie did well to push away for a corner. The Village were to force a fair number of corners during this first 45 and from another one Maggot saw his header well saved again and then the next one sailed past everyone in the six yard box and just needed someone to stab out a foot. The Village were certainly in command and it looked like they equalised when Kev got a header in which according to players from both sides was over the line before the keeper punched it away and then when JJ knocked the rebound back in he scrambled it away to safety. The visitors appealed for a goal but the ref waved play on and it looked like it wasn’t going to be their day. Then from yet another corner the ball reached the unmarked Maggot inside the six yard box and he headed home to level the scores. The Village now had about 10 minutes left to push home their advantage but despite being in the ascendancy they were unable to make the most of their excellent first half display. The Bird now held the upper hand for the second half as they had the slope in their favour and with at least 3 subs available knew they could change things if they had to. Using the long ball as their main form of attack the Bird were in to their stride the quicker of the two sides but the Village defence ably supported by the midfield played deep and dealt with most of the attacks. With the Village slowly getting back in to it, they got their best chance to take the lead when a long cross field ball found Maggot and amid the shouts for offside he ran on only to curl his shot the wrong side of the upright. Minutes later and midway through the half the same thing happened down the other end and once more the ref felt that it wasn’t offside when had there been linesmen available it too would have probably been given but he allowed a couple of the home forwards to run on and put the Bird back in to the lead. The Village now had to push forward in numbers but you could see them start to wilt as the Bird started to change things around using some fresh legs. With about fifteen minutes left the Bird got a bit of luck as they sealed the tie when from a corner a forward got in a shot which looked to be going straight to Jay but then it hit Booey and spun agonisingly wide of Jay’s outstretched arm and in to the net for 3-1. Still the Village didn’t give up and they kept going right until the end seeing Maggot have a goal ruled out for offside and when the final whistle went they knew that they have given their all and could walk off the pitch with their heads held high despite not reaching the semi final. It’s back to the League now as they attempt to secure one of the promotion places with just fives games to go. Team Line-up FC Village: Hill: Wilson, Whorton, Hutton, Byrne; Oldam, Leeds, Harrison, Sadler, Machin; Eaton Subs not used: More photos from this game click here Birkenhead & Wirral AFL Regent Cup Rycroft, Saturday 9th February Bird in Hand 3 FC Village 1 Eaton