Maine Road vs Stafford Town Mens 1sts
4 - 1
27 August 2022 · North West Counties<br>South
Away league match played on 27 August 2022.
Kicked off at 3:00 PM
4-1
vs Maine Road
Away league match
With Steve and Dom continuing to struggle with what seems to be an ongoing challenge of inconsistent player availability, the squad that travelled however had enough quality to put up more of a fight than the final scoreline showed.
Nine players in total were not available for selection due to a combination of illness, injuries and having gone away. With Henry Smith having departed the week prior to reunite with his friends at Brocton and skipper Charlie Swingwood unavailable, the usual full backs Matt Dudley and Harry Bowers were paired for the second successive game to fill the void vacated in the centre half positions. Taylor Draper made his debut at right back and recent impressive 18 year old acquisition Jake Cartwright continued at left back. The bench was a little light in numbers and experience but again provided opportunity for our promising youngsters to gain more exposure to the challenges of step 6 football and the NWCL.
Town started brightly and were thwarted no less than three times in the opening 15 minutes by the effervescent linesman's flag. Frustrations were evident and in at least two of the three cases understandable with the video later showing the runs not only to be perfectly timed but the intended recipient to be clearly on side. Regardless Town struggled to build momentum and then received the classic sucker punch falling behind. A needless found to by the touchline resulted in an in-swinging delivery which inexcusably made its way through the mass of bodies and into the far corner of Joe Williams net for 1-0.
Some ten minutes later and it was 2-0. Matt Dudley was drawn to the ball just outside the Town box and the now unmarked Yousif Yousif (so good they named him twice) was free to stroke the ball past the advancing Williams.
Town struck back on the half hour mark, Dec Arber glancing in a Ryan Taylor free kick after Callum White was upended driving towards the home penalty area. With the deficit halved, the travelling contingent went into the break with cause for optimism.
The second half was a non-event from a Town perspective as the hosts scored twice more with no reply. There was a familiarity about both goals with players losing their markers and finding themselves free in and around the Town penalty area.
The dearth in experience and football 'nous' between the two sides was painfully evident. The vocal home side were in total control throughout 'winning' free kicks, taking the sting out of any momentum Stafford were looking to build and literally having things all their own way. The Town lads are a hardworking and honest bunch and will do well to learn from this game what you can and can't get away with in this league.
The goals and offside decisions can be found here at Stafford Town TV:
https://youtu.be/MhJXC5W4dQI
Next up in just two days time is another away game, this time up the M6 to Stoke and Abbey Hulton.