This week, there were only two games take place in the league, but both were great games. The games at 8pm were Halton Rangers vs. Crown Lane and Sam Dennis’ side versus Roeburndale Rascals. The 9pm games were called off due to adverse weather conditions.
In the Halton Rangers versus Crown Lane game both sides lined up with strong sides in the hope of getting a good victory to help them go a long way in their respective quests for the title this season. Halton started off the stronger of the two sides, moving the ball about nicely, testing out the Crown Lane keeper. A few minutes into the game and Crown Lane were beginning to grow into it more, getting some shots in and challenging the keeper. Dan Giannocaro fired a beauty of a shot toward the Halton goal, only the post denying him from a fantastic goal. However, it was Halton who opened the scoring in this game, Nathan slotting home after a really well worked goal, playing it around and through the Crown Lane defence. Moments later, however, Crown Lane were back level, after Ol Parkinson fired home for them, with another high-quality goal. Both sides were battling hard in the game, aiming to get the next goal in the game. There was some great football being played, the ball being played about really nicely, making for a great game. Halton found the next goal, another good move led to Ryan Grime having a one on one with keeper Dylan and slotted calmly home. 2-1 at half time.
Soon into the second half and Halton continued to play the ball about nicely, taking their time with it, looking to exploit any gaps in the Crown Lane defence. The substitution of Kaine Winder for Crown Lane solidified them at the back, as he sat and protected the keeper. Crown Lane had some good chances but Halton got the next goal, as they moved the ball about nicely again, passing it around and drawing the defence out of position, leaving Ryan one on one with the keeper and he moved cleverly to draw the keeper out to slot it past him and into the back of the net. 3-1 to Halton, putting them in a great position to beat Crown Lane. However, Crown Lane always battle hard and never let up in their search for a lead or need to draw a lead in. Ol Parkinson got his second goal of the game firing home again from the edge of the box to bring Crown Lane back within a goal of drawing level. Soon after that, Dan Parkinson pounced on a loose ball near the edge of the Halton box and fired home, drawing Crown Lane level. Halton were shocked, Crown Lane had come roaring back and drawn level, when it seemed unlikely they were going to be able to break Halton down. Minutes later they went 4-3 up, Dan Giannocaro firing home for them with a lovely finish from distance. Moments before that, Kaine Winder had fired a shot in at keeper Pete Roberston bringing another great save out of him. Crown Lane kept pressing but Pete was equal to everything coming at him and made some fantastic saves during the cause of the game. The game was coming close to ending, with minutes left and Halton were continuing to battle hard to try and find a way back into the game. Crown Lane were doggish in defence and battled hard. Halton are very good at moving the ball about and taking their time in creating a good shooting opportunity, which is what they did to find the equalising goal. They drew men out of position, leaving Ryan Grime one on one with the keeper again, slotting coolly home making it 4-4 on the night. It was a deserved goal in what was probably a fair result and certainly a contender for game of the season, with the quality on show, the intensity of the game and how exciting it was.
Wednesdays 8pm was a cold one, but both the Dennis team and Rascals side were fired up ready to play. With Will Preece away on international duty they drafted in old hand Mick Lund. And what a game he had. Still turning his man inside out and back again, he played a big part in this game. Luke Gorst in nets again this week and so Sam Dennis’s team was going to have to find the target plenty of times to make a good effort of score tonight. The game set of steady and took a while for either team to look like scoring, the pitch surface left both teams finding their feet for most part of the first half! But first to score was Mick Lund and then followed by Matt Dawson. Sam Dennis’s sides new signing Jack popped up with a goal but Mick Lund found the net again to leave the first half 3-1 to the Rascals.
The game was still wide open and with both teams getting to grips with each other so better football was being played in the second half. Matt Dawson had shot after shot at goal but just they were palmed away by Issac and a few stray hits too, but they were knocking at the door. Sam Dennis’s side had a well organised team out tonight and with a fresh signing it was good football from them all. John popped up with a goal in this second half to bring the score to 3-2. As close as the game was after 40mins of play the game finished 3-2 to the Rascals of Roeburndale. If Matt Dynamo Dawson had his scoring boots on tonight, he could have had a couple more to his name.
At 9pm, Sam Dennis shared with us speaking on time. He shared how in our lives we can end up spending lots of time doing menial or meaningless tasks. He shared how we spend over 20 years of our lives sleeping, 7 years trying to get to sleep and years doing many other things, like eating or queueing in traffic. Sam then said how life is short and we can end up spending a lot of it doing things that don’t matter and how important it is to spend time thinking about what comes after. Sam also said that we all need to consider the words that we are hearing each week, listen to the truths within them and really think about what is being said, to ensure that we don’t miss out on it!
Next week’s games are Newbegginers vs. Carnforth, Lune Valley versus Garstang, Capernwray versus Light Church and Ingleton versus Wray.
