With the pain of defeat against today’s opposition still fresh in the memory, the Reds of Thornton welcomed the opportunity of righting the wrongs from only three weeks ago. With a feast of games on the menu in the coming weeks and the leg draining exploits from only two nights ago this game  could possibly have been a turning point of an up and down season . A win would see them edge nearer to A division safety and a defeat would pile pressure on with teams in and around picking up points.

 

 A request from the coaches, to take the same belief and ‘never say die’ attitude that they had shown in most of Tuesday nights Foxhall game appeared to register as  the look in their eyes in the pre match huddle showed the desire needed to win.

 

George McCauley was welcomed back in to the starting line up fresh form his ‘Down South’ exploits and Dan Johnson resumed his position between the sticks in the absence of Ethan Rowley .Pre match concerns over the fitness of a couple of the starting XI had to be allayed as with long term casualties still in the treatment room a more or less scratch team took to the field.

 

Blackpool Rangers looked a little changed from that side that took the field 3 week ago with the noticeable absentees of Lewis Christy who tormented the Thornton back for on that easily forgettable Sunday afternoon and Ellis Jolly who also impressed.

 

Rangers won the toss and allowed Thornton to kick towards the goal with the sun setting behind it .Whilst it looked picture post card the defence and keeper would have to contend with high balls becoming lost in the glare .

 

A lively opening ensued and a couple of good early chances had Carl Purdon taking on board coach Pauls pre match words of encouragement and running down balls and finding David Sherry fleet of  foot and probing the wings to beat the blue and Whites back four . Ranger s opted for some big balls over the midfield to get the big No.22 free and it paid off early doors on more than one occasion. 

 

The midfiled trio of Jacob Wilson ,Brandon Lefley and Liam Morris which did nt have time to flourish on Tuesday due to early tactical changes showed early promise as they tried to play football and find Busky on the left flank and Carl on the right all supporting Shez in their quest for goal  .

 

 

Breaking down the other end soon after and in to the Thornton box the referee halted the game and pointed to the floor .With a look to the technical areas he announced “Dog Turd” !! . Now I for one thought at this stage the referees comments were a little harsh as it had been an entertaining enough game up to this point!  Realizing he was pointing at an offending article on the grass I am now glad I did not remonstrate with his views! I am also glad it was an away match as because it would have been my turn to pick it up if we were playing them on home soil.

 

Soon after the restart a long ball punted over the top caught the Thornton back line a little flat footed and even though moments before Daniel ‘phsycic  Johnson had shouted “ watch that No.22”  he duly crashed one in from outside the edge of the box in to the roof of the net just as he had in the home tie before a red shirt could react.

 

 

A wake up call for the Reds and just like Foxhall on Tuesday they responded well. David Sherry or Liam Morris was adjudged to be off side as the ball was put in to the back of the net after good work again down the right hand side by Carl. What was also reminiscent of the Foxhall game was the amount of times the woodwork was rattled but this time it was Thornton who were left scratching their heads as to how the ball was not going in? Josh Mc  hit a tremendous free kick form all of 25 yard out which hit the uprights and over the next 10 minutes several players followed suit with good efforts that were some how foiled .

 

The equalizer came after Dan Foster got sandwiched between two players after making sure he put both of them under enough pressure to make a mistake. In the process he won a free kick and another well aimed free kick from Josh Mc found Carl on the right wing who whipped in a teasing cross skimming along the 6 yard line towards Shez and Liam who made contact but couldn’t get the decisive touch. The keeper seemed to be the favourite to it, but under pressure Busky was ‘Johnny on the spot to ram home the ball to make the game all square going in to the break.

 

Dan Johnson continued to be alert and raced off his line on numerous occasions to clear up any balls that beat the back four and doing a great job sweeping to keep danger at bay. The Reds seemed to look the more comfortable going into the break as the wind seemed to have gone out of Rangers sails when the equalizer went in

 

 HT 1 – 1

 

More of the same please and believe that you can go on and win it was the rallying cry at half time.

 

Due to tension , pressure and excitement the exact details of the 2^nd half became some what of a blur but a summary of what happened will follow  in player by player account

 

Shezza got his name on the score sheet with a trade mark cool finish after fine work through the middle of the park from …………….?

 

Dan J continued as he had left off in the 1^st half catching what was needed and kicking well too and marshalling his defenders at every given opportunity.

 

George whilst struggling with a sore back through out kept it simple and won his tackles and played a nice ball out creating a good attacking move mid way through the 2^nd  half before coming off due to his niggle .

 

Dan Foster kept his position well and made some timely interceptions and threw himself in to challenges as he had in the 1^st, and found an extra yard with some grit and determination when he was struggling late on after a knock.

 

Josh Mc who was faultless again winning his own little battles with a double half way line tackle being the pick .He also showed his worth throughout as a dead ball specialist as well as playing some great balls out when stepping up from the back four.

 

Jack Smith was again in commanding form resembling a Rottweiler with a dolls head with some of his tackling even when not favourite to win the ball he made sure come-what may, he was having it! Not forgetting his 45 yarder ( according to Busky :) ) that rattled the stanchions. Rumour has it they are still wobbling!

 

Brandon Lefley Another fantastic performance he played some great football with his quick feet and close control probing forward when needed but not shirking his defensive duties either .

 

Jacob Wilson  did exactly what he had to do in the deeper role of the central 3 midfielders allowing Liam and Brandon to roam forward safe in the knowledge he was their to pick up the bits and try to get things going again .

 

Liam Morris  Another all action performance harrying and pressing the opposition in to mistakes and not allowing them to settle .Scored a great goal with a diving header after finding himself a yard of space in the box and guiding it expertly past the keeper and was unlucky not to have scored more on the night .

 

Carl Purdon A 1^st half that we all know he is capable of saw him picking the right pass at the right time and spreading play at will. Some cracking first time strikes certainly tested the keeper and he continued this in to the second half. No goals but more than made up for it with his assists.

 

Tom Buschini following from a good shift at left back on Tuesday, Busky continued to close down his man and put the pressure on them to make errors. A job he did well yet again. Tom was instrumental in Shezzas goal and in the right place at the right time for the 1^st goal to set his team on their way in the 1^st.

David Sherry  Another great performance from Shez as he unsettles any defence with his pace and trickery . Looking like the Shezza of old with each game he gets under his belt he took his goal with the eye of a master marksman.

 

A fine display from Conan when coming on as a sub with some timely headers and used his pace well to get away from his markers.

 

A well deserved win- and a superb performance with every single player doing what was asked. The decision for the Man of the Match award with everyone a contender was a difficult one. Liam Morris clinched it with a fantastic performance tonight but also for the quality game he had in the last match too.