Ribble Wanderers vs Euxton Villa Reserves
2 - 1
26 July 2016 · West Lancashire League, Division Two<br>West Lancashire League, Division 2
Away friendly match played on 26 July 2016.
Kicked off at 7:30 PM
2-1
vs Ribble Wanderers
Away friendly match
<p>Another useful game for the Villa as they prepare for the season opener in 10 days time saw them narrowly lose out to a physical Ribble team who took full-advantage of the official's pre-season leniency.
<p>Kick-off was delayed by 20 minutes as the home side neglected to bring their kit to the game, surely a pre-requisite at any level, though this did give the Villa team some extra time to work on their strategy for the evening. As such, the visitors flew out of the blocks and looked as if they could be out of sight by half-time as first Davies, then Pickup, and thirdly Gutteridge all wasted gilt-edged chances within the opening 15 minutes.
<p>The opener came after a short-corner routine found the boot of Davies who volleyed home from just inside the box for a well-deserved goal.
<p>Villa continued to look dangerous, Walsh and Conway probing from deep and McPhail a floating menace off the shoulder of Gutteridge.
<p>Ribble caught a sight of goal when a hopeful punt forward found their forward out-pacing a sluggish Villa defence, only for his shot to slip wide. This warning was not heeded as a carbon copy attack forced a smart block from Lewis, before a third identical attack resulted in the equaliser.
<p>Villa still looked the much better team, dominating possession and shifting the ball around the field with ease. However, the home side stood firm and half-time arrived with the scoreline all square.
<p>A switch in personnel saw Banks and Stewart add thrust and guile to the left-flank, the pair combining well to leave Conway open for a shot which was blocked on it's way to goal.
<p>Gutteridge was inches from heading home a certain goal after a whipped Whittaker cross, with Walsh firing a free-kick just over the bar after a barn-storming run from Heald.
<p>The match was in danger of running away from the home side who began to engage in some of the game's 'dark arts', stopping every counter or dangerous attack through a constant stream of deliberate and frustrating fouls. Unfortunately the referee chose to issue just a handful of yellow cards when surely a competitive game would have seen that number alone in reds, not least when Pickup was cynically hacked down when through on goal.
<p>Not unexpectedly the match lost any semblance of being a coherant affair and Villa were fortunate to make it to 90 minutes without any injuries. Ribble grabbed a late winner in a similar fashion to their first goal, though at that point the game was already over in terms of being a serious contest.
<p>Villa will be in league action with a tough fixture at home to Leyland United on Saturday 6th August - see you there!