A bumper double results special this week covering games from April 9th and April 16th, with one midweek game in between.
On April 9th, there was a major sporting event taking place between thoroughbreds in a photo-finish going for the big prize. No – we’re not talking about the Grand National, it was Lancaster vs Longton as the SportsReach league’s top two went head-to-head. In a crunch encounter, Longton took an early lead through an excellent header from Nat Richardson but Lancaster replied quickly from a set-piece with Adam Parker heading home. With Longton down to ten men with a defender receiving treatment, Lancaster took advantage of uncertainty at the back to take the lead when Jonny Sudell was first to a loose ball to fire home. Sudell quickly added a tremendous second, and Lancaster’s third, shortly after – driving the ball into the top corner to turn the match truly on its head. Longton had large spells of possession and created two big second half chances but couldn’t take them, and it was Lancaster who had the final say on the counter attack with Michael White sealing a 4-1 victory.
Elsewhere, Fleetwood were taking on Garstang in the League Cup semi-final. It proved to be an epic, rollercoaster of a game in which Garstang took the lead, fell two goals behind, brought it back to 3-2 down and 4-3 down going into the final 15 minutes before Andi Smart continued his fine goal-scoring form to seal a 5-3 victory and fire Fleetwood into their second successive League Cup Final – a great achievement for Rob Steward and his boys.
Onto a pulsating midweek encounter on Wednesday 13th April where Wray hosted Loko at Arkholme. Wray’s quick, young and exuberant team showed great attacking prowess racing into a 4-0 lead inside 40 minutes. Loko stuck to the task and pulled one back, and added four second half strikes but couldn’t keep Wray out at the other end to leave a final scoreline of Wray 9-5 Loko in one of the season’s most action-packed games. George Whitaker was once again the star of the show with four goals for Wray.
On Saturday 16th April, a full schedule of four league games took place. Lancaster knew they could cement their grip on the championship trophy with victory over a solid Fleetwood team and they were forced to work extremely hard by the League Cup finalists. Eventually, Lancaster took an 80th minute lead through Warren Goodley – a man with a habit of scoring big goals having notched the winner in the All Day Tournament Cup Final last season. Lancaster showed their defensive strength once again to record a clean sheet and full-back Adam Parker put the icing on the cake with his second goal in successive matches to record a crucial 2-0 victory.
Longton travelled to Great Ecc even though it was a Longton home fixture and needed to draft in two new players due to them missing a number of regulars. Longton were fortunate to be level after a shaky opening 20 minutes and took the lead against the run of play when 17-year-old Tom Dearden arrived at the back post to finish a sweeping move. On the stroke of half-time, Eccy were level when Sean McCabe latched onto a through ball, rounded the goalkeeper, and slotted home. But there was still time for Longton to edge back in front before the whiste; Gregg Metcalf firing home a left-footed half-volley from 20 yards. Longton had a number of chances to seal the victory in the second half but a mixture of wayward finishing and solid goalkeeping from Rich Armour meant that Great Ecc were always in the game. And they equalised late on when Adam Moat whipped in a left-wing corner kick that sailed directly into the net at the far post.
Elsewhere, it was goals galore for Wray once again as they beat Garstang by eight goals to one. George Whitaker moved level at the top of goalscorers’ table with another two goals; and there were also braces for George Ibbetson and Jake Fawcett.
Rounding up the weekend action, Fulwood hosted Champions Cup finalists Quernmore and it was the away side that took all three points. Quernmore raced into an early lead through Rob Fox and winger Ryan Burrows added another two to his season’s tally. Fulwood player-manager Danny Garratt reduced the deficit but Quernmore added three second half strikes to record a 6-1 victory.
Saturday 9th April
Lancaster 4-1 Longton
Adam Parker 4, Jonny Sudell 12, 15 Michael White 70 // Nat Richardson 2
Fleetwood 5-3 Garstang (League Cup Semi-Final)
Andi Smart 34, 74 Andy Nuttall 36, Corey Harrison 38, Tom Shields 67 // Scorers TBC 33, 63, 73
Wednesday 13th April
Wray 9-5 Loko
George Whitaker 2, 21, 25, 57 Jake Fawcett 38, 70 David Beecham 54, 87 Will Preece 78 // Brad Rodwell 43, Rob Edmondson 61, Dave Jarvis 62, Tom Atkinson 90, Fifth Scorer TBC.
Saturday 16th April
Wray 8-1 Garstang
George Whitaker 23, 27 George Ibbetson 25, 63 Jake Fawcett 39, 66 Mark Ellershaw 74, Stephen Harrison 83 // Scorer TBC 53
Lancaster 2-0 Fleetwood
Warren Goodley 80, Adam Parker 90
Longton 2-2 Great Ecc
Tom Dearden 20, Gregg Metcalf 45 // Sean McCabe 44, Adam Moat 85
Fulwood 1-6 Quernmore
Danny Garratt 35 // Rob Fox 1, Ryan Burrows 19, 24 Josh Atkinson 71, Rob Barker 79, Tom Kelsall 85