L4 Hold Out On A Landmark Day For Gift Sibanda

Following the 3 week lay off it was great to be back in action and we were desperate to get back to winning ways following the 2-1 defeat to Pex Hill which almost ruled us out of the title race. We travlled to West Lancashire to face an Ormskirk side in a dress rehearsal for The Dave "Doc" Hughes Cup. We drew West End in the quarter finals draw in mid-week and will certainty have to be better in two weeks time if we want to get into the hat for the semi-finals. We made hard work of the 4-3 victory mainly due to loosing our composure and failing to stay in control in the second half causing most of our own problems.

In light of that there were still positive moments in the game and it will be remembered as a landmark day for Gift Sibanda who went on to grab a hat-trick and reach 100 goals for the club. Sibanda's first came in the 28th minute following some fantastic play down the right by Samson Aboiro. He showed great footwork and played a pinpoint pass to skipper Paddy Clegg who's one touch set allowed the ball to sit nicely for our number 11 who curled the ball into the far corner with a superb left footed finish. The lead however only lasted for 2 minutes when Jay Boner on his return to the side brought down Azzan Butt which saw the referee awarding a penalty kick which was dispatched to level the score line up. We restored our lead however when Sibanda repaid the compliment and set up Paddy Clegg who opened up his account for the season, before Sibanda won a converted a spot kick just before half time to send us in 3-1 up.

We seemed to loose our way in the second half losing our rhythm and grip on the game. This gave West End the emphasis to put us under pressure and start asking questions of us. They scored a second with a fantastic headed effort although we'll feel as though we could and probably should have done better to stop the cross. Ethan Danku was created problems getting into the half spaces and Sam O'Neill's passing range was getting him in every time. A minute after their second Danku went in on goal and was cleaned out by their keeper who was booked for the foul and up stepped Sibanda to complete his hat-trick and mark a great personal achievement by recording a century of goals for the club. It was also his 23rd of the season leaving him just 2 goals away from equalling his best tally of 25 which he notched in his debut season in 2017-18. Ormskirk's 3rd left us with a nervy end to the game and that was made significantly worse as they struck the bar in the final minute from a free kick. In the end we managed to hold out and take all 3 points to move into 3rd place in the table.