Last night, the second week of 5-a-side took place, with two sides starting their season and a new team starting in the league. In the two early games, Light Church entered the league for the first time, facing Carnforth, who were starting their season. In the other game, Garstang started their season facing a strong Chipping side. In the 9pm games, Sam Dennis’ side faced Halton Rangers, whilst Crown Lane went up against Ingleton.
Light Church and Carnforth started off as a very even game, both sides feeling each other out, neither side on top or finding a way through. Carnforth were getting a good number of chances, but were unable to take any of those chances. And it was the new boys, Light Church who took the lead with a well worked move, firing the ball home from the edge of the box. This delighted the Light Church players, though their delight was short lived, as Carnforth continued to fire shots in and soon leveled the scores through Cal. However, Light Church took the lead again. Carnforth were beginning to get on top and beginning to grow into the game and soon levelled up the scores, through Cal again. Carnforth soon went into the lead, Damo firing home, soon followed by Cal’s hattrick.
At half time, Light Church could be happy with their performance, they were well in the game, but a strong Carnforth side, used to the league had overcome them thus far. Moving into the second half, Carnforth further stretched their advantage, scoring 5 unopposed goals to overcome light Church. The undoubted player of the match was Cal, who scored 4 out of the 5 goals, to take his tally to 7 for the evening. What a performance! Damo also grabbed another to take his tally to 2 for the evening. A great performance from the Carnforth team, making a great start to the season. Light Church can take many positives from the game and look ahead to the season, which they will inevitably grow stronger in.
In the second 8pm game, Garstang faced Chipping. Both sides were looking to get their first win of the season. Garstang made a good start, taking an early lead, but a strong and powerful Chipping side always looked dangerous and they soon found a way through a stubborn Garstang defense to level things up. Chipping soon went into the lead and continued to build into a strong position before half time. However, Garstang got one back and to give them a chance of getting back into the game at half time. However, Chipping were too strong for Garstang and continued to score throughout the second half, taking them to a 8-2 victory, getting their first win of the season, after losing their lead against Roeburndale Rascals last week.
At 9pm, Matt Sowerby shared with those there a story about a girl who got swept out to sea, who couldn’t fight to get back to shore over the waves but was rescued by the RNLI. He shared a verse from Hebrews 2 v1 which says ‘We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away’. He said to those there that we need to consider what is shared each week and how we respond to it, whether we drift away or whether we truly take it on board and live for Christ in all we do.
Following that, a competitive game took place, with Sam Dennis’ side facing a tough Halton Rangers team. It was a very tight first half, with both sides cancelling each other out. Sam Dennis took a lead through Dan, who netted for them to take the lead. Halton Rangers are a tough side though and were soon back in the game, scoring soon after. Both sides scored again, to make the score 2-2 at half time, with Dan scoring again for Sam Dennis and Nathan scoring for Halton.
In the second half, the game opened up some more, especially thanks to two penalties awarded to Halton, which allowed them to open up a lead. Halton Rangers scored several more times in the second half, to carry them into a lead. However, Sam Dennis’ side are a tough team to face and they also grabbed a couple of goals to keep them in the game. However, it wasn’t enough and Halton Rangers saw out the game to take the win 7-4, getting their first win at the second time of asking, whilst Sam Dennis’ side are still searching for a victory after their second game.
In the other 9pm game, a depleted Crown Lane faced a difficult Ingleton side. Crown Lane were disjointed to start with, as a number of players hadn’t played together before. Ingleton took this advantage and soon found themselves in the lead as Warren Goodley fired home past Crown Lane keeper Dan Parkinson. However, Crown Lane grew into the game and towards the end of the first half they got the breakthrough they needed – through an unfortunate own goal by an Ingleton player. Half time and it was 1-1. Crown Lane had been invigorated by Dan Parkinson coming out of net for the last 10 minutes of the first half.
Into the second half, Crown Lane struck first through Dylan. Were they on the path to victory? Alas no! Warren Goodley fired home again to bring Ingleton level. Crown Lane would have expected victory before the game but were finding a tough Ingleton side difficult to shake off! However, two quick goals by Dan Parkinson and Dylan put Crown Lane in the driving seat towards victory, which was further compounded by a late goal by Keith Townley, taking Crown Lane 5-2 up. It was a tight, tough game, but Crown Lane had managed to find a way through. Ingleton can take heart from the game and they are definitely going to be difficult customers to face this season!
