Match Reports

Culcheth's players were left disappointed with the outcome of the game, but looking at the game itself the draw has been a more than fair result. Culcheth had clearly the better start to the game. An early through ball left Culcheth's striker Reece Bowers in a promising position between two defenders. He flicked the ball over them and shot it in the low corner to a 1:0. Soon after Culcheth's 2nd goal came from a brilliant team effort involving only 3 players from their own box to Piranhas' box to a beautiful 2:0 completed again by Reece Bowers. This goal has been certainly worth coming for. The game seemed set for a straightforward win. But JFC Piranhas came soon back into the game. They pushed forward, gained dominance in the midfield and started attacking. Culcheth were pushed more and more into their own half. Under such pressure it was of no surprise that JFC scored within the 1st half. The 2nd half saw a determined JFC on the attack again, but this time with Culcheth fighting back. The game was open until JFC equalised. The last 10 minutes became very nervewrecking with JFC throwing everything forward. In this period the referee who has had an easy game until then gave Culcheth a throw in, only to change his decision seconds later to a throw for JFC. The home team hadn't regrouped their defence at the time and were exposed, but the JFC striker's shot went to the crossbar, leaving the team, manager and parents shaken. Generally it seems only fair to allow a team time to regroup if the referee changes his decision in favour from one team to the opposite team. This would avoid anger and frustration. Fortunately this incidence did not influence the outcome of the game and in my mind this was a very good result for Culcheth.