FC United of Manchester FC United of Manchester FC United of Manchester Badge FC United of Manchester Pitch In

United Score Seven At New Mills - full report

It was a night of thrills and spills at New Mills as FC United walked away 7-2 winners with a hat-trick from Mike Norton and two apiece from James Holden and Ben Deegan.

The Reds were in fine form and it took them just six minutes to take the lead through Norton. The former Curzon Ashton striker made it two less than 20 minutes later before the hosts pulled one back via a penalty.

The score-line was just 2-1 as the second half started but the Reds were soon scoring for fun. Deegan made it 3-1 and Norton completed his hat-trick - to take his pre-season goal tally up to 10 goals in nine appearances.

Soon afterwards, substitute Holden got in on the act making it 5-1 with an hour played. Moments later, New Mills pulled one back but Holden and Deegan added another goal each to make it 7-2.

United looked dangerous from the minute the match kicked off, pushing forward immediately with Carlos Roca and Chris Ovington in menacing mood on the flanks. Superb work from Ovington on the right produced a great cross for Norton to slot home off the inside of the post for the opener.

Despite the final score-line, New Mills certainly had their moments and United ’keeper Sam Ashton had to be alert to tip the ball away from a flick from Millers skipper Carlos Meakin. It was Meakin who was at the heart of all the good Millers football and he went close again on 14 minutes, shooting just wide.

However, the Reds were looking threatening when going forward and the lead was doubled on 24 minutes after great work by Jake Cottrell on the left. The midfielder crossed for Norton, who still had all the work to do with his back to goal but with a great turn and body swerve, made himself space to slot the ball into the net. 2-0.

To be fair to New Mills though, they were playing well and again Meakin went close, this time with a free-kick that was tipped wide by Ashton. At the other end, Roca fired a free kick over the bar and Ovington was unlucky to see a speculative chip go just wide.

The stroke of half-time saw the game’s first controversial moment. Leon Grandison had a shot well saved by Ashton but the ball fell to a Millers player. Kyle Jacobs appeared to put in a great tackle to take the ball, only for the referee to inexplicably point to the spot as the player fell over. Meakin buried the penalty down the middle to bring the home side right back into the game.

Half-time saw the usual flurry of substitutions for both sides but it was FC who showed up first, extending their lead through Ben Deegan. The striker saw a header hit the bar and bounce down before he tangled with the home keeper to scramble the ball over the line, making it 3-1.

The incident resulted in a five minute break whilst the hosts’ goalkeeper Dom Ingram-Hughes received treatment. Straight from the restart it was 4-1 as Deegan turned provider for Norton to slot home his hat-trick goal. The Reds continued to press and it was soon 5-1 as a ball over the top of the defence played in Holden who rounded the keeper and rolled the ball in.

To their credit, New Mills didn’t let their heads drop and they pulled a goal back on 61 minutes when a good run from the dangerous Luke Horrocks saw him shoot home via a post making it 5-2.

But the scoring wasn’t yet ended as Holden grabbed his second less than five minutes later on with a superb lob over the keeper. The game was wrapped up with nine minutes to go when Lee Neville flew down the left flank and crossed for Deegan to fire in his second and FC United’s seventh goal.

So all in all, a good work out for FC. Despite the score-line, New Mills played their part in an entertaining game but now the real work begins with the first league match of the season away to Marine on Sunday.

Report by Steven Wood



First Posted ~ 12:00 Wed 18 Aug 2010
News ID ~ 3029
Last Updated ~ 01:52 Tue 16 Feb 2021