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| Jamie Frost scored our equaliser |
There was a return for Captain Alex Whitmore at the back, while Luke Daly and Kevin Ly were rotated into the centre of midfield. Evan Galvin and Brad Jackson also came in onto the wings. The bench was full of scholars too, with no schoolboys present and only broken foot victim Andreas Bianga absent.
We started on the front foot as Ly picked up the ball and fired in a long range effort that drew a full length save from the keeper. It was palmed away and Jamie Frost was first to the rebound but his effort cannoned off the post and wide. After that initial scare the Stanley backline set itself and worked diligently to keep us at bay. We were limited to a couple of tame shots from outside the box that the keeper easily gathered.
Around 20 minutes in Waqas Azam advanced into the box on the left side. Clever play saw Frost fed and his shot was spilled by the keeper into the path of Jackson. He turned home, but joy was short lived as the linesman’s flag was raised and the goal disallowed. The pressure was building and the flagman once again pulled us up when Galvin was released and sure to score.
The keeper then made a good save when a right footed left wing cross from Galvin was left by everyone and seen late as it looked to sneak in. The loose ball in the box couldn’t be forced home by either Frost or Jackson, lurking near the far post.
It had been virtually all Burnley as the half drew to a close, but from nothing Stanley got into the box and the striker was felled by a Whitmore challenge. It looked a fair call from our vantage point and the spot kick was duly dispatched past the outstretched hand of Conor Mitchell by former claret schoolboy Dalian Barker.
The 2nd half began in direct contrast to the 1st. Mitchell had to make a flying full length stretch to tip a long range effort round the post. We looked very sluggish all of a sudden and another effort from Stanley was easily gathered by the big Portrush stopper.
We then had a bizarre break in play as an enthusiastic runner joined proceedings. I thought someone had subbed on Martin Paterson but it was an actual dog chasing the ball, escaped from its owner in the woods to the north and attracted by the whistle. It took some time to coax it off the pitch with a spare ball and we attempted to continue. It soon returned though taking out Galvin with a cynical challenge from behind. The owner finally arrived from the woods and, after getting a roasting from the Stanley coach, got the pooch on the lead and we continued.
The break had broken any momentum that Stanley were building and we shaded play once more after the interruption. We twice attacked up the right wing and put cut backs into the mixer, but both times we couldn’t find a killer touch. Then we finally came up with some real quality. Outside the box Ntumba Massanka took the ball into feet and flicked on to Galvin. He fed Frost who did a shimmy, dropped his shoulder to make space and calmly slotted past the keeper into the bottom corner.
We made a double change with 15 to go as Massanka and Frost were replaced by Lewis Nuttall and Christian Hill. We started to build pressure as we chased the winner. A cracking cross from the right by Hill was met by the head of Whitmore but it just curled the wrong side of the post. Charlie Holt on the overlap then put over a drifting cross that the keeper got under and the face of the bar was struck. Ly then clipped a left wing cross over and Nuttall power a header against the bar.
It seemed like only a matter of time before we got the goal our pressure deserved. Hill screwed a left foot shot wide of the post from the edge of the area. Nuttall then saw a shot smack the woodwork once more, this time crashing a shot against the right hand post. The ball was cleared to Azam who saw his shot deflect and loop over.
The ref called a halt to proceedings deep into stoppage time after the ball broke from a scramble in the Stanley box, ending the game with an unfortunate point our only reward.
Team:- Conor Mitchell, Charlie Holt, Waqas Azam, Callum Richardson, Luke Daly, Kevin Ly, Brad Jackson, Evan Galvin, Jamie Frost (Lewis Nuttall), Ntumba Massanka (Christian Hill)
Subs not used:- Nathan Lowe, Callum Jakovlevs, Brandon Wilson