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

Reserves Beat New Mills

It was first versus second as New Mills came to Broadhurst Park and the gap at thbe top was stretched to five points as the visitors were beaten 3-1. The goals came from Frank van Gils, Dean Hope and Connor Martin with Matthew Sherlock scoring for the Millers.

There was a bright opening for the reds, Martin heading over from a Hope corner in the fourth minute after a sustained period of pressure and van Gils seeing an effort saved in the seventh minute by John Stanway after being put clear of the visitors defence.

New Mills could have taken the lead in the ninth minute when a long clearance from Stanway caused problems for the home defence before Jupp blocked the Millers efforts. FC United took the lead in the eleventh minute; Roger Degue was found in the right corner and in a twisting run, cut in and pulled the ball back for van Gils who slotted home.

New Mills responded quickly with a free kick saved by Jupp but the reds were quickly up the other end and a penalty appeal was turned down. Van Gils returned the favour for Degue who tumbled under pressure when it appeared easier to score.

The Millers were showing why they were in second place and in a break on fifteen minutes a Sherlock header hit the post. He equalised on 23 minutes when FC gave the ball away in midfield and his shot went in off the cross bar and with better luck, might have been completing a hat-trick five minutes later when foiled by Jupp.

FC United regained their composure and dominated the rest of the game. Degue hit the post after being given an advantage after seemingly being fouled. Play was brought back for what appeared to be a home free kick but was given to New Mills after consultation between referee and assistant suggested the original flag was for an offside decision.

Dean Hope had two good chances and on the stroke of half time, Hope and Toby Wright combined at a corner and found Daniel Cooke. His shot aimed for the top corner but just failed to curl enough and went wide.

Half time saw a change of match official as referee Chris Parker was unable to continue. Assistant Lyndon Jacques took over in the middle and father of Assistant Manager Richard, David Brown Senior, took over line duties.

The second half was almost all United as Martin and Chris Hill had early chances. They restored their lead in the 59th minute when Hill, chasing a ball out wide on the right crossed in to the box, Stanway somehow failed to collect it and Hope appeared at the far post to control the ball and smash home from two yards.

Two minutes later a Hope free kick found van Gils at the back of the pack, a decent touch would have seen him clear but sadly the ball ran through to the Millers keeper. There was better fortune on 69 minutes before a move involving Wright and van Gils reached Martin who made no mistake.

FC United then went on to see the game out. Wright had a shot from a free kick which just cleared the cross bar and after a flurry of changes, substitutes Keenan Tuck and Will Shawcross kept up the pressure and were unlucky not to add to the score. New Mills had a chance late on when a cross was headed over but all in all a disciplined performance especially in the second half by the reds.


First Posted ~ 11:51 Sun 22 Nov 2015
News ID ~ 6528
Last Updated ~ 00:47 Tue 16 Feb 2021