BAINES BAGGULEY NORTH LANCASHIRE AND DISTRICT FOOTBALL LEAGUE (MEMBERS OF THE LANCASHIRE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION) Baines Bagguley Solicitors

REPORT SATURDAYJANUARY 28^th 2012

In the 848-848 Taxis/Sam Price Memorial Cup 1^st Round a very poor defensive performance led to the downfall of a Caton United side by a Bentham side that did not have to be on top form to win with ease. Bentham started the scoring after a needless free kick was given away by a defender after just five minutes. The free kick was headed in by an unmarked Graham Cowgill which set the tone of the match. Whenever Bentham attacked they caused big problems for Caton and it was a surprise they did not extend their lead. Caton did show a bit of resistance after holding out for 20 minutes they produced one passage of good play resulting in Matthew Smith volleying in the equaliser. Within 60 seconds Bentham re-took the lead again poor mistakes in defence allowed danger man James Earnshaw shoot into the net from four yards out with two defenders and the keeper unable to get the ball cleared. Within another two minutes the game was won for Bentham when another defensive mistake allowed Chris Hodgkinson to score to make it 3-1. In the 26^th minute it was 4-1 when the hopeless Caton defence was beaten again when Stuart Ralph who had not been to sleep after working a night shift, but was more awake than the defenders he had in front of him, scored after rounding the keeper. Whenever Caton managed to cross the half-way line they could not get the ball to their front two, so dominant were the Bentham mid-field.  The second half started brightly for Caton as they created early chances only to be denied by some excellent goal keeping. Caton took the game to Bentham for the opening 20 minutes of the second half, only to be denied by the Bentham keeper.  Bentham soaked up the pressure until they broke away in the 67^th minute when after a long clearance found two Bentham attackers clear of any defenders, resulting in David Whitfield finally scoring a goal after weeks of near misses. Bentham raised its game and went 6-1 in front when Matthew Lister scored a good goal from a free kick. James Earnshaw who by his standard was kept quiet, switched wings with just 15 minutes remaining, came more to life and completed his hat trick with two late goals. In the second round Bentham will face a much sterner task as they are away to Highgrove.

In the Division One Holdens Solicitors/Gibson Cup 2^nd Round the pitch at Bolton Le Sands was only passed fit by the match referee an hour before kick-off after a lot of hard work by the ground staff. The pitch deteriorated as the game wore on. But what a game it was, played at a good pace and in a good spirit and a typical cup tie.  As the game wore on the good football played by both sides turned to the long ball which resulted in the keepers being involved more as they virtually turned to sweepers. The 90 minutes saw the game end 2-2 after veteran Andy Banks and young Tom Forest had scored for Bolton Le Sands and Cartmel’s central defenders Alastair Daggart and Sean McClure had scored to level the game. This brought extra time which turned out to be hard work for both sides, but no more goals. The penalty shootout was as close as the previous 120 minutes which saw Cartmel triumph by 5-4 and earns them a semi-final home tie against Tic Dyn/Overton/Middleton.  

In the League  just one game beat the frost. Promotion favourites College AFc dropped two valuable points when they were held to a 1-1 draw against mid-table Millhead, who on the day were well worth their point. The game could have gone either way, but College will rue the chances they missed when they were on top. Ryan Pinnington scored for College and Gary Brown for Millhead. This single point was just enough to move College up to second place level on points with Freehold but with games in hand.

In Division Two  just one game beat the weather and that was an excellent game played between Ingleton Reserves and Torrisholme both striving to keep clear of the relegation places. Both sides played football which belied their lowly league positions. Both sides had the will to win and both could have done, but a draw was probably the fairest result, Ted Harrison returning from suspension and John Kelsall scored for Ingleton with John Lee and Warren Goodwin replying for Torrisholme.

In Division Three three games beat the weather, Kirkby Lonsdale Reserves played Moghuls looking for maximum points in an attempt to get away from the relegation area. Moghuls started the game missing several key players, but were still the much better side in the first half. They deservedly turned round at the break with a 2-1 lead after Mark Baldwin and Faiz Maje had scored. Kirkby who was on the back-foot for most of the first half scored once through Glen Roach.  The second half turned out differently after Kirkby introduced their strong substitutes. It wasn’t long before Kirkby drew level when Daniel Clarkson scored. Kirkby were now the better side and took the lead for the first time when Ryan Buckley scored a good goal. Kirkby were now rampant and increased its lead after Gary Smith scored and within minutes he scored his second and his sides fifth to emerge winners by 5-2.

There was a cracking game at Preesall where the home side entertained bottom team Allithwaite Rangers. Both sides went all out to score goals by playing some good football at times, other times it looked like kick and rush, but it brought goals scored for Allithwaite by new player manager who made his name in local  football as a top player with near neighbours Cartmel, veteran Andrew Paisley scored the second. But it was not enough as Pilling turned on the power to win by 4-2 after Dave Thornhill, James Rigby (2) and Jack Ashworth replied. This win moves Pilling six points from a relegation place but leaves Allithwaite five points from safety.

Burton Thistle dropped three valuable promotion points when first of all they turned up at the wrong ground, went back home only to be called back to the right ground, only to find some players could not be contacted. They eventually took the field against Trimpell Reserves after a long delay with just 10 players. The under-strength Burton was no match for its strong promotion chasing rivals and fell to an 11-5 defeat. Jamie McMeekin (3), Dave Graham, Andy Forbes (2), Graham Cassidy, Aidan Dunphy (2) and Liam Brown also with two scored for Trimpell. Burton to its credit tried its  best and was rewarded by scoring five goals by Matthew White, Chris Plevey, Richard Gott, Simon Shipherd and Adam White.

The David Baines North Lancashire and District team of the Month for January has been won by  

College AFc with two wins and two draws, the only team to play all four games in the month.