The most one sided one-niler I've ever seen

Last updated : 27 September 2008 By Andy Ashworth
Wes Fletcher - scored the winner
If only the scoreline could reflect it. Sure they'll settle for the three points and will be happy to have kept a clean sheet to boot. The fact is though that it could have been ten had it not been for 'one of them displays' from the Blackpool keeper.

We lined up with a strong side and eight of our eleven second year apprentices started, with one more on the bench. Wes Fletcher was up front looking to continue his hot streak in front of goal, partnered by Dom Knowles. They were supported by the rock solid pairings of Nik Kudiersky and Chris Lynch at the back and Chris Anderson alongside Alex-Ray Harvey in the middle.

The first chance of the game fell to us as James Craggs, deployed on the right wing, cut inside and hit a curling shot towards the far corner. The keeper looked worried but the ball went past the wrong side of the post. We were then perhaps fortunate to keep our full compliment on the pitch as Harvey made a crude challenge on his midfield opponent. It was hard, a little late and looked like it hurt. He picked up a booking though and no lasting damage was caused.

Fletcher was the next one to open up the visitors as he worked the ball well only to see his shot blocked by a backtracking defender. Shortly after the first change had to be made in the game as the matchball was forced off the field after exploding when Craggs flew into a 50:50 challenge. The ref stopped the game even though the ricochet had played Knowles clean through. That in itself was not a problem but the resulting drop ball restart was ordered to be uncontested by the man in black which enraged our coaching staff.

The new ball must have been rounder and easier to control as from the moment it came into play we became an almost unstoppable attacking force. We had a number of chances with Fletcher coming closest with a drive into the side netting. A Blackpool player was then forced off the field after sustaining a head injury during an aerial clash in the Pool box. It isn't clear exactly what happened and you can be sure the lad himself will be telling no-one as he left the field on jelly-legs, clearly concussed.

Kudiersky was booked for a hard challenge on the visiting full back but I'll have to take the Wenger road and say I didn't really see whether it was a fair yellow or not. The resultant free kick was repelled and Anderson took up possession on the half way line and surged forward. He fed Fletcher on the edge of the box and the striker took a touch, turned and fired left footed into the top corner of the net. It could have been two goals in two minutes but Knowles saw his thunderous shot tipped over the bar and so the half finished 1-0.

The second half was like a procession. Our forwards rained shots in on the goal on a regular basis. Knowles shot over, Michael King had an effort tipped wide and Fletcher had his attempt deflected wide by a defender. Craggs had a howitzer palmed onto the bar when the keeper looked beaten. The young custodian was having a blinder.

Blackpool were then reduced to ten men as Anderson was chopped down from behind by a Pool sub. It was a bad, late challenge but the prior leniency of the ref could have continued here with no complaint from me. Craggs and Fletcher were then replaced by Liam Newman and Dil Chaggar and, in all fairness, the substitutions disrupted our flowing football.

We were forced to make another substitution as the match wound down. Harvey was caught full in the face by a Blackpool hand. It looked deliberate and could have been payback for the early challenge. With the fiery nature of the midfielder it was perhaps deemed prudent to replace him with Oliver Devenney before he did something rash and deprived our engine room of his services for a few games.

The last kick of the game came at the end of a break in which Newman streaked forward. He played a one-two with King and shot against the base of the post with the keeper well beaten. The ref immediately blew the final whistle as he may have realised there would be no more scoring no matter what.

Team :- Stef Ritchie, Dan Brown, Jake McEneaney, Nik Kudiersky, Chris Lynch, Michael King, Chris Anderson, Alex-Ray Harvey (Oliver Devenney), James Craggs (Dil Chaggar), Dom Knowles, Wes Fletcher (Liam Newman).
Not used :- Dan McDonald