Sunday 2 November 2014

 

Village Manchester grabbed their first league point of the season on as they drew 2-2 with EYN at Wright Robinson.

 

Assistant Manager Toland made his first competitive start for the club for 18 months as he returned in goal following a long term injury. Fish, Orrock, McPherson and West made up the defence with Wain sitting just in front of them as a defensive midfielder. Player of the month Kidd found himself in central midfield with Cookson and Golds just to each side of him. Bracken was charged with supporting Holmes upfront.

 

The team were able to boast a full squad as Browning, the brothers Jones, Ampeh and Connell made up the substitutes bench.

 

Village started off the game the better of the two teams and they sensed that they might be able to get their first victory of the season. Captain Holmes was looking dangerous upfront and his tireless runs opened up space in the EYN defence. Golds and Cookson were providing a lot of energy as they tried to support him and Kidd and Wain did a good job in supporting the defence to keep the opposition at bay.

 

It was EYN who would open the scoring as they found the goal against the run of play. Village looked to be in control of the game but an EYN attacker found some space, and the ball, towards the right of the goal and he shot across the diving Toland to find the far side of the goal. 0-1

 

Earlier in the season Village would have let their head drop but the team have more belief now and they used this belief and skill to bring themselves back into the game and take the lead.

 

They got themselves on level terms as Bracken outmuscled his marker and headed on a free kick that found Holmes free towards the right hand side of the D. The striker let the ball bounce then lobbed the onrushing keeper to find the back of the net. 1-1

 

Village’s second goal started from the back as West found Holmes on the wing. The Liverpool fan then exchanged passes with Golds a couple of times and Golds took the ball close to the byline before crossing the ball in. Bracken missed the first attempt but the ball found Cookson whose shot deflected off Bracken to Holmes’ feet. The striker, who was just on the edge of the box to the right hand side, slotted the ball between a defender and the diving keeper with his left foot to put Village into the lead. 2-1 

 

Village soon made their first substitute as Ampeh came on for his first league game. 

 

Village did really well to put themselves ahead in the game but it was a horrendous mistake that let the opposition back in for their own equaliser. A ball over the top seemed easy to deal with but a miscommunication between Orrock and Toland saw the Scotsman head the ball past the onrushing keeper and a grateful EYN attacker had the easiest of chances to knock the ball into an open net. 2-2

 

The half came to a close with neither side able to put themselves in front for a second time.

 

Half time: Village Manchester 2-2 EYN

 

The half time team talk saw McPherson display his annoyance that stupid mistakes were consistently undermining what are otherwise good displays. During the interval and just after the break Village made a number of subs with Connell and the Jones brothers coming on to add something different.

 

Connell slotted in alongside Orrock in central defence and the Blackburn fan used his skill and experience to snuff out a number of EYN attacks. C Jones was putting himself about a bit more and was becoming a nuisance for the opposition whilst D Jones tried to cause some damage down the wing. 

 

Village did have a number of chances in the second half but they were unable to find what would have been the winning goal. Holmes and Golds looked very threatening as they dribbled and attacked the EYN defence but unfortunately their shots were either blocked or flew wide. When the keeper was called upon he was able to deal comfortably with anything that came his way.

 

With the game coming to a conclusion, Village kept pushing and pushing to try and get what would have been a deserved winner. And they should have been given the opportunity to do it from the penalty spot as D Jones was blatantly fouled in the box as he turned a defender with minutes remaining. For whatever reason, the referee refused to point to the spot to the amazement of the home side and the game ended on level terms.

 

Village came off the field knowing that they let a good opportunity to register their first win of the season slip by but can be buoyed by the fact that they are now up and running points wise.

 

Full time: Village Manchester 2-2 EYN

 

 

Next matches:

 

SG Manchester v VMFC2

6.15pm, Sunday 9 November

Manchester City Central League

 

Manchester Villa v VMFC1

11am, Sunday 16 November

MAFL Handi-Cup first round