FC Village

Report: FC Village 2 The Crown 2

For the third game in a row the Village let a half time lead slip but this time they at least put a halt to their losing streak as they gained a point in the draw with The Crown. The Village were forced in to several changes as Nick was away on holiday and Booey; Fordy & Crozzer were all out injured. Paul replaced Nick with Colin, Beattie and Andy respectively coming in for the injured trio and the returning Stewy McIvor joined Matty Smith and Spud on the bench.

Back down at Levers on a half decent playing surface the Village nearly opened the scoring in the very first minute when Maggot tried an audacious over head kick from outside the box only to see it bounce off the bar and in to the keepers arms. Then minutes later they were trailing as the Crown scored the opening goal when once again it was more down to the Village making a mistake rather than the other side creating a chance themselves. However with both Mikey and Buntzy dominating the wings the Village were soon level when a great cross field ball from Maggot saw Buntzy in the clear and he raced through to clip his shot wide of the keeper for the equaliser. Almost immediately Buntzy repeated the act when this time Colin sent him free and once again he coolly slipped his shot wide of the keeper for his and the teams second. Then came probably the defining moment of the game as yet another cross field pass found Maggot this time and he raced clear but saw his shot come cross just miss the far post and evade the lunging Rutter.

So the Village still led by that one goal at the interval and yet again their second half performance didn’t match that of the first 45 minutes. Soon after the restart they were forced in to a substitution when the injured Stewy Morrell was replaced by Stewy McIvor and this meant a reshuffle as Beattie moved out to left back, Danny went to centre back with McIvor taking his place in midfield. However this didn’t really affect the Village as they still dominated creating the chances as well. However that third and decisive goal would never arrive and with the Crown always threatening they couldn’t afford to let up. Then midway through the half the ref gave the visitors a mysterious free kick which resulted in a shot being deflected for a corner. From the resulting cross a Crown forward got in a shot which was well saved by Andy but when the Village failed to clear another forward got a shot which as stopped by Paul on the line but the ball hit the far post and crept over the line before it could be hacked away for the equaliser. Both sides now went for the winner with the best chance falling to Maggot but his effort when well placed curled the wrong side of the post. With Matty on for his debut and then Spud the Village tried to pep up their forward line but neither side was able to break the deadlock and the game petered out to a draw. At least the Village had stopped their run of defeats but they were still disappointed not to have won.

Team Line-up

FC Village: Davies: Saunders, Beattie, Stewart, Morrell(McIvor); Brennan Jones, Williams, Kearney; Rutter(Smith), Eaton(Greenfield)
Subs not used:

More photos from this game click here



	Report: FC Village 2 The Crown 2 For the third game in a row the Village let a half time lead slip but this time they at least put a halt to their losing streak as they gained a point in the draw with The Crown. The Village were forced in to several changes as Nick was away on holiday and Booey; Fordy & Crozzer were all out injured. Paul replaced Nick with Colin, Beattie and Andy respectively coming in for the injured trio and the returning Stewy McIvor joined Matty Smith and Spud on the bench. Back down at Levers on a half decent playing surface the Village nearly opened the scoring in the very first minute when Maggot tried an audacious over head kick from outside the box only to see it bounce off the bar and in to the keepers arms. Then minutes later they were trailing as the Crown scored the opening goal when once again it was more down to the Village making a mistake rather than the other side creating a chance themselves. However with both Mikey and Buntzy dominating the wings the Village were soon level when a great cross field ball from Maggot saw Buntzy in the clear and he raced through to clip his shot wide of the keeper for the equaliser. Almost immediately Buntzy repeated the act when this time Colin sent him free and once again he coolly slipped his shot wide of the keeper for his and the teams second. Then came probably the defining moment of the game as yet another cross field pass found Maggot this time and he raced clear but saw his shot come cross just miss the far post and evade the lunging Rutter. So the Village still led by that one goal at the interval and yet again their second half performance didn’t match that of the first 45 minutes. Soon after the restart they were forced in to a substitution when the injured Stewy Morrell was replaced by Stewy McIvor and this meant a reshuffle as Beattie moved out to left back, Danny went to centre back with McIvor taking his place in midfield. However this didn’t really affect the Village as they still dominated creating the chances as well. However that third and decisive goal would never arrive and with the Crown always threatening they couldn’t afford to let up. Then midway through the half the ref gave the visitors a mysterious free kick which resulted in a shot being deflected for a corner. From the resulting cross a Crown forward got in a shot which was well saved by Andy but when the Village failed to clear another forward got a shot which as stopped by Paul on the line but the ball hit the far post and crept over the line before it could be hacked away for the equaliser. Both sides now went for the winner with the best chance falling to Maggot but his effort when well placed curled the wrong side of the post. With Matty on for his debut and then Spud the Village tried to pep up their forward line but neither side was able to break the deadlock and the game petered out to a draw. At least the Village had stopped their run of defeats but they were still disappointed not to have won. Team Line-up FC Village: Davies: Saunders, Beattie, Stewart, Morrell(McIvor); Brennan Jones, Williams, Kearney; Rutter(Smith), Eaton(Greenfield) Subs not used: More photos from this game click here Birkenhead & Wirral AFL Div 1 Levers, Saturday 21st March FC Village 2 Brennan(2) The Crown 2