Report

Thornton Cleveleys v Layton Blues
Once again another fixture severley affected by the weather. A bitterly cold wind blowing straight down the pitch had a massive influence on the type of football both teams could play. Within 15 seconds of kick off the windy conditions carried an innocuous through ball into no mans land between defender and keeper, George, running back towards goal miscued his clearance past a helpless Liam. 0-1.
The signs weren't good as we struggled to recover from the early set back. On many occasions with the wind in our faces we had to resort to just clearing our lines as best we could. There was 10 minutes on the clock before we managed to play any decent football. Jaydan, Jack Webster and Brent linked up well but we failed to hit the target. Every time we lost possession our defence was put under immediate pressure but fortunately TC over hit many passes and Liam was able to sweep up behind them. As the half wore on we began to dominate more in the middle with Luke B and Kieran breaking up play. Jaydan had a shot blocked and from thr reukting corner George calmly volleyed home from close range. 1-1.
Our defence had to be on top form to repel TC attacks and on the rare times they were beaten Liam was once again in fine form making a couple of excellent saves. One in particular at his near post after an excellent TC attack is worthy of high praise. JT, Andy, George and Alan deserve praise also for their dogged defending in the face of the storm.
Half time came as a relief and the 1-1 score line bore testament to how well we had battled against the wind. During the half time break we told the lads how important it was to try and keep the ball down and learn from TCs mistakes by not over hitting the ball.
In the second half it was our turn to strike early as George completed a 'hat trick' of sorts by heading home from inside the 6 yard box. The referee was well positioned to see that the ball had crossed the line. 2-1.
5 minutes later we scored again as Kieran hooked a shot into the top corner following a great save from their keeper. 3-1. For the next 20 minutes we pushed forward and created numerous chances. Jaydan shot wide when well placed, Brent was denied acouple of times and Jenson fired a shot just over the bar.
Our defending remained strong but 10 minutes from time TC pulled a goal back when their forward headed home past Liam who was very unlucky having just made a fine save. 3-2. We continued to push forward. Jaydan and Jack Wrigley worked well together on the left, but we just struggled to make the killer ball. On another day with slightly better decision making in the last third we would have won by a larger margin. As it was we were glad to hear the final whistle but thoroughly deserved our victory.
Credit must be given to the teams for their efforts in horrible conditions. Both teams did manage to play some good football in patches but I am sure everyone is hoping for an improvement in the weather as soon as possible.

Well done to all the lads and thank you to all the parents who braved the conditions to watch.
As always MotM awards were difficult. Jack Wrigley won the parents and JT the managers.

PS Was good to see a slight improvement in the fitness of our linesman today. Keep working hard Pete and Im sure you'll get your pace back soon enough!!! Picture below clearly shows Pete also needs to  work on body strength as the effects of the wind can be clearly seen at a game earlier this season. Thanks Pete.

Photos