FC United’s play-off hopes suffer hammer blow at Nantwich Town
FC United’s chances of reaching the Pitching In Northern Premier League play-offs this season took a massive nosedive with a 2-0 defeat at Nantwich Town in a lacklustre performance that had manager Neil Reynolds apologising to supporters after the game.
The Reds had the first sight of goal when Ewan Bange was played in, but he fired over. In terms of possession, it was mostly FC but there was no cutting edge. Former FC United striker Dan Cockerline tested goalkeeper Dan Lavercombe with a long range shot, but that was it till the 38th minute when The Dabbers took the lead.
Jake Bickerstaff beat the offside trap and calmly rolled the ball past Lavercombe to put the home side into the lead. That was pretty much it for the half, the game was generally a muddle in the middle with neither side looking to have a killer edge.
Manager Neil Reynolds made a change at half time, bringing on Michael Donohue. He looked lively but there was no real goalmouth action, FC seeing most of the ball but the home side defending magnificently.
On 70 minutes, the lead was doubled when the ball was cleared by the home defence and Mike Potts got into a mess. The ball fell to Akiel Raffie who ran forward and finished with aplomb past Lavercombe for 2-0.
With six minutes left on the clock, FC were handed a lifeline when the referee saw a foul on Regan Linney and awarded a dubious penalty. Charlie Ennis stepped up and brought a good save from Matthew Gould to cap a fine week in which he was selected for the New Zealand full squad.
There was a few half chances, Linney producing a couple of routine saves from Gould, Bickerstaff and Cockerline doing the same at the other end with Lavercombe.
An overall poor performance from The Reds who now most certainly need to win all their remaining games and rely on rivals losing to have any chance, however remote, to edge into the play-offs.
Website Man of the Match: Michael Donohue. It sums it up when the best player only came on at half time. That is how low the bar was set this week.
Report Steven Wood
FC United’s play-off hopes suffer hammer blow at Nantwich Town
FC United’s chances of reaching the Pitching In Northern Premier League play-offs this season took a massive nosedive with a 2-0 defeat at Nantwich Town in a lacklustre performance that had manager Neil Reynolds apologising to supporters after the game.
The Reds had the first sight of goal when Ewan Bange was played in, but he fired over. In terms of possession, it was mostly FC but there was no cutting edge. Former FC United striker Dan Cockerline tested goalkeeper Dan Lavercombe with a long range shot, but that was it till the 38th minute when The Dabbers took the lead.
Jake Bickerstaff beat the offside trap and calmly rolled the ball past Lavercombe to put the home side into the lead. That was pretty much it for the half, the game was generally a muddle in the middle with neither side looking to have a killer edge.
Manager Neil Reynolds made a change at half time, bringing on Michael Donohue. He looked lively but there was no real goalmouth action, FC seeing most of the ball but the home side defending magnificently.
On 70 minutes, the lead was doubled when the ball was cleared by the home defence and Mike Potts got into a mess. The ball fell to Akiel Raffie who ran forward and finished with aplomb past Lavercombe for 2-0.
With six minutes left on the clock, FC were handed a lifeline when the referee saw a foul on Regan Linney and awarded a dubious penalty. Charlie Ennis stepped up and brought a good save from Matthew Gould to cap a fine week in which he was selected for the New Zealand full squad.
There was a few half chances, Linney producing a couple of routine saves from Gould, Bickerstaff and Cockerline doing the same at the other end with Lavercombe.
An overall poor performance from The Reds who now most certainly need to win all their remaining games and rely on rivals losing to have any chance, however remote, to edge into the play-offs.
Website Man of the Match: Michael Donohue. It sums it up when the best player only came on at half time. That is how low the bar was set this week.
Report Steven Wood
