Hesketh Casuals ‘B’ 2-1 Broughton Ams ‘A’

After opening the season with a defeat Cassies have now won their fourth consecutive game to take them to joint top in the league, despite putting in an abject performance.
In hindsight it probably was not the best of ideas for half the team to spend their Friday night enjoying a Simply Red tribute night. In fact, it was evident that during the game some players were nursing pretty heavy hangovers. One of the casualties was Jon Grice who offered to referee in the absence of a league ref, and he did a stirling job in difficult circumstances. The other casualty was Mike Lloyd who has been in outstanding form, but could only occupy a place on the bench after staying in DB’s until 5.30am.
Proceedings got under way when Grice got things started but Cassies, despite the best of intentions, were sloppy with their passing and marking. Carl Forshaw and Dave Tomlinson looked solid at full back and Justin Parr covered every inch of grass. Cassies took the lead when Parr took the ball to the bye-line and sent a delicious cross to the back post where Andy Walker nodded home at the back post to put the home side in the lead.
That goal signalled alarm bells in the Broughton team as they pushed for an equaliser. The post and crossbar came to Casuals’ aid on three occasions as the away side missed numerous glorious chances. On one occasion their striker evaded the keeper and with the goal gaping Neil MacGregor produced the greatest defensive clearance in living memory. His last ditch tackle took the ball away from the striker’s boot and over the bar from six yards out and kept Cassies in front.
Broughton did pull a goal back when the dodgy referee awarded them a penalty for an innocuous decision. Their defender stepped up and smashed the ball home to bring the scores level into the break, even though Cassies could have been 4-1 down.
Cassies started the second half with great intent and effort, but sloppy passing kept chances to a minimum. The scores remained 1-1 for much of the second half and the game was almost too tight to mention. Derek Sykes worked hard up front and nearly scored a winner for Casuals, as did Dave Tomlinson who came close to scoring his first for the club.
Broughton failed to register a shot on target in the second half but Casuals could not seem to make them pay as they wasted numerous half-chances. Bickering from the home side didn’t help matters, but there was a little ray of light shining through as Mike Lloyd announced from the sideline that he was ready to be introduced. After a two minute delay, Lloyd entered the fray and went straight up front. With only two minutes to go the tireless Andy Walker checked inside and drifted a left footed shot into the middle and the keeper made an uncharacteristic handling error. The ball squirmed free and Lloyd pounced to prod the ball home from close range to continue his prolific run of scoring.
The result signalled a positive sign for Casuals who managed to win despite playing poorly. Their effort and never-say-die attitude was clear to see and will only lead to good things should they continue this good run of form.
Man of the match: Carl Forshaw