Five goal FC United beat Bamber Bridge in style
A rampant FC United came from 1-0 down to beat second placed Bamber Bridge 5-2 in an action packed Easter Saturday match in front of 1,933 supporters at Broadhurst Park.
Striker Max Cane scored two with Dontai Gabidon, Michael Donohue and Luke Griffiths all bagging one each in United's most exuberant domestic performance for years.
It could easily have been more – Cane had a first half penalty saved, Faisu Sangare saw an audacious bicycle kick fly over the cross bar, and Griffiths hit the same bar in the final minutes.
Brig played the final 25 minutes with 10 men after goalkeeper Felix Goddard was sent off for striking captain Adam Dodd in the face, off the ball. However, it arguably had little impact on the result as the Reds were already 4-2 up at that point.
United fell behind after eight minutes when Luke Marriette emphatically volleyed into Dan Lavercombe's net from just inside the area, giving the goalkeeper no chance.
The visitors were on top for the first 20 minutes and, at times, United seemed to be struggling to match their opposition. However, three quick goals completely turned the match on its head and not even a saved penalty could sour the atmosphere as Neil Reynolds' side went into the halftime interval 3-1 up.
Gabidon struck the equaliser just before the half hour mark after being put through one-on-one following a typically tenacious burst forward and sliding throughball by midfield dynamo Michael Potts.
Four minutes later, Cane saw his hard and low penalty easily saved by Goddard. Thankfully, he redeemed himself brilliantly on 37 minutes.
Griffiths stole the ball from Paul Dawson in the middle of the park and he instantly chipped it through to Cane. The former Clitheroe striker stooped to head the ball around the advancing Goddard, who had raced off his line, and with the keeper beaten, Cane accelerated down the left wing before perfectly placing a low shot into the far corner from a tight angle to make it 2-1.
Cane scored his second of the match just before halftime. Gabidon broke free on the left and cut inside before curling a shot against the right corner of the crossbar. Cane was the quickest to react and he headed home United's third from close range. 3-1.
Into the second half and United were in search of more goals but Sangare's overhead kick was as close as they came before Brig pulled one back. Finlay Sinclair-Smith once again returned to haunt his old club by curling a sublime strike into the bottom right corner from the edge of the box to make it 3-2 on 59 minutes.
The title-chasing visitors thought they had found a way back into the match, but their optimism was short lived. It took United just two minutes to restore their two-goal cushion.
According to Jose Mourinho, English football fans get too excited about corners, as they rarely lead to goals. Try telling that to the FC United faithful, many of whom were watching Steve Bruce all but seal Manchester United's first Premier League title 30 years ago this weekend with two headed goals which both came within seconds of corners.
Thirty years on, it was another red shirted hero who appeared at the back post to seal all three points – Donohue sidefooting home Gabidon's curled effort with ease to make it 4-2.
Just when the visitors thought their afternoon couldn't get any worse, Goddard was on hand to demonstrate it definitely could. As his team were about to defend another dangerous corner with 25 minutes to go, he bizarrely decided to strike Dodd in the face.
Referee Lee Hible made no hesitation in producing his red card, and every credit to him for spotting an incident that many in Broadhurst Park seemed to miss. Unfortunately, more often than not it's the other way round.
Griffiths confidently stepped up to smash home the resulting penalty to make it 5-2. That's where the goals ended, although it looked like United could have had more had they really needed to.
An inspiring and morale-boosting victory for the Reds but sadly it looks like they won't be able to squeeze into the play-off places this season. Hopefully though, these encouraging recent performances – four wins from the last five league matches – are the foundations for a serious promotion push next season.
Website man of the match: Max Cane. A superb team performance with every player contributing to some excellent, entertaining football. But Cane takes this week's award for his two goals – only he will know how he didn't score the hat-trick he deserved.
Report by Matthew Haley
Five goal FC United beat Bamber Bridge in style
A rampant FC United came from 1-0 down to beat second placed Bamber Bridge 5-2 in an action packed Easter Saturday match in front of 1,933 supporters at Broadhurst Park.
Striker Max Cane scored two with Dontai Gabidon, Michael Donohue and Luke Griffiths all bagging one each in United's most exuberant domestic performance for years.
It could easily have been more – Cane had a first half penalty saved, Faisu Sangare saw an audacious bicycle kick fly over the cross bar, and Griffiths hit the same bar in the final minutes.
Brig played the final 25 minutes with 10 men after goalkeeper Felix Goddard was sent off for striking captain Adam Dodd in the face, off the ball. However, it arguably had little impact on the result as the Reds were already 4-2 up at that point.
United fell behind after eight minutes when Luke Marriette emphatically volleyed into Dan Lavercombe's net from just inside the area, giving the goalkeeper no chance.
The visitors were on top for the first 20 minutes and, at times, United seemed to be struggling to match their opposition. However, three quick goals completely turned the match on its head and not even a saved penalty could sour the atmosphere as Neil Reynolds' side went into the halftime interval 3-1 up.
Gabidon struck the equaliser just before the half hour mark after being put through one-on-one following a typically tenacious burst forward and sliding throughball by midfield dynamo Michael Potts.
Four minutes later, Cane saw his hard and low penalty easily saved by Goddard. Thankfully, he redeemed himself brilliantly on 37 minutes.
Griffiths stole the ball from Paul Dawson in the middle of the park and he instantly chipped it through to Cane. The former Clitheroe striker stooped to head the ball around the advancing Goddard, who had raced off his line, and with the keeper beaten, Cane accelerated down the left wing before perfectly placing a low shot into the far corner from a tight angle to make it 2-1.
Cane scored his second of the match just before halftime. Gabidon broke free on the left and cut inside before curling a shot against the right corner of the crossbar. Cane was the quickest to react and he headed home United's third from close range. 3-1.
Into the second half and United were in search of more goals but Sangare's overhead kick was as close as they came before Brig pulled one back. Finlay Sinclair-Smith once again returned to haunt his old club by curling a sublime strike into the bottom right corner from the edge of the box to make it 3-2 on 59 minutes.
The title-chasing visitors thought they had found a way back into the match, but their optimism was short lived. It took United just two minutes to restore their two-goal cushion.
According to Jose Mourinho, English football fans get too excited about corners, as they rarely lead to goals. Try telling that to the FC United faithful, many of whom were watching Steve Bruce all but seal Manchester United's first Premier League title 30 years ago this weekend with two headed goals which both came within seconds of corners.
Thirty years on, it was another red shirted hero who appeared at the back post to seal all three points – Donohue sidefooting home Gabidon's curled effort with ease to make it 4-2.
Just when the visitors thought their afternoon couldn't get any worse, Goddard was on hand to demonstrate it definitely could. As his team were about to defend another dangerous corner with 25 minutes to go, he bizarrely decided to strike Dodd in the face.
Referee Lee Hible made no hesitation in producing his red card, and every credit to him for spotting an incident that many in Broadhurst Park seemed to miss. Unfortunately, more often than not it's the other way round.
Griffiths confidently stepped up to smash home the resulting penalty to make it 5-2. That's where the goals ended, although it looked like United could have had more had they really needed to.
An inspiring and morale-boosting victory for the Reds but sadly it looks like they won't be able to squeeze into the play-off places this season. Hopefully though, these encouraging recent performances – four wins from the last five league matches – are the foundations for a serious promotion push next season.
Website man of the match: Max Cane. A superb team performance with every player contributing to some excellent, entertaining football. But Cane takes this week's award for his two goals – only he will know how he didn't score the hat-trick he deserved.
Report by Matthew Haley
