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| Christian Hill opened the scoring |
With Gawthorpe still undergoing some drastic pitch improvements over the river, it appears we may have a slightly nomadic start to this season, but from a spectator point of view I’m not going to complain. Half time Bovril is not exactly commonplace at Gawthorpe after all.
The starting line-up for the Clarets gave us an opportunity to see some of the new faces this year, as well as a curious surprise appearance. With Spanish keeper Tony Aghayere apparently still awaiting international clearance the place between the sticks was bestowed upon Conor Mitchell, a graduate of last year’s crop. Conor may be used as an overage (U19) player due to the fact that he is a keeper as long as we get permission for the exception, but he was backed up on the bench by England schoolboy hopeful Connor King.
2nd year full back Waqas Azam was at right back and named as captain, but he was joined in the back four by 3 1st years. Andy Nugent has played a number of times, and I had seen Shaun Hobson line up before, but Zimbabwean Vashiko Dixon was making his initial competitive appearance for us. The midfield was more familiar with Hamam El-Fitouri – who I had seen last year - deployed in an anchor role behind Brandon Wilson, and flanked by Christian Hill and Brad Jackson. Former Man Utd forward Josh Dolling was up top partnering Ntumba Massanka and we had newcomer Lewis Norvock on the bench alongside former Cofex winger Jamal Crawford and 14 year old Mark Howarth.
The opening exchanges saw very little by way of chances. The wind was blowing down the slope towards our goal and was occasionally gusty, meaning high balls were regularly misplaced, and it took the lads some time to get a read of the conditions. Around 10 minutes in though and we took the lead in a slightly fortuitous manner. We won a throw high on the left and Massanka took it quickly to the feet of Hill. He made a little space and drifted a cross over. It looked to have been over hit but caught on the wind and the keeper misjudged the flight, leaving himself stranded and frantic as the ball floated into the top corner.
It began a good period for the Clarets and we carved out some chances through a combination of good play and indecisive goalkeeping. Firstly Massanka was played in and tried to slide the ball under the advancing keeper, but a solid touch from a trailing leg was enough to put the ball behind. Minutes later the big striker hit the bar with a cross shot from seemingly next to the corner flag on the right wing, as the keeper struggled to cope with the ball over his head. Jackson then saw a curling shot just fizz over the bar after he and Hill had switched wings.
At the other end Blackpool were creating the occasional opening of their own and had a glorious chance to equalise but a combination of Azam and Hobson snuffed out the opening. Around 40 minutes in there was a lengthy stoppage as the Blackpool forward received treatment. It was quite innocuous when it happened and it wasn’t immediately clear what the problem was, as he was sat on the pitch and wasn’t receiving treatment to any limbs. It took around 7-8 minutes until they helped him off the pitch and the rest of the half was played out in a subdued manner, while the youngster was laid pitch side being treated. During the half time break he remained prone and it was apparent that an ambulance had been called. When they finally arrived he was treated for around half an hour more before being lifted to a stretcher and taken away. The game then continued around 35 minutes later than scheduled.
We had early chances in the 2nd half as perhaps Blackpool heads were elsewhere. Dolling had two shooting opportunities with at least one of which a very good chance, but he fluffed his lines and the shot was more of a back pass. It wasn’t long though before we doubled our advantage as Massanka ran onto a through ball, did a little shimmy to round the keeper, then clipped the ball home into the back of the net.
We began to turn the screw now and had a good penalty appeal knocked back when a Jackson shot from the edge of the box hit an arm. There was also a ferocious long shot from the left side that the keeper did well to beat away. Any Blackpool breaks were getting snuffed out by the back line and we seemed quite comfortable in that respect.
For the last 20 mins we made a change with Crawford replacing Dolling. Minutes later Hill hit the bar with a looping header after he connected with a floated cross from the left. We fired in a couple more shots before the game came to an end and Wilson perhaps had the pick of those, but the scorers remained untroubled and the match ended 2-0.
So…. if anyone can tell me where the Morecambe game is being played that would be good.
Team:- Conor Mitchell, Waqas Azam, Andy Nugent, Shaun Hobson, Vashiko Dixon, Hamam El-Fitouri, Brandon Wilson, Brad Jackson, Chris Hill, Josh Dolling (Jamal Crawford), Ntumba Massanka.
Subs not used:- Connor King, Lewis Norvock, Mark Howarth.