Match Report
A late goal condemned FC United to a 1-0 defeat against Winsford on a breezy Tuesday night at the Barton Stadium as manager Karl Marginson continued to give match time to his squad of players.
The Reds started with quite a number of the newly signed players in their line up with Gordon Watson making his debut up front alongside skipper for the evening Ben Deegan.
The opening exchanges of the game were a bit scrappy with only a Watson header over the bar and a Deegan shot also over, the nearest the crowd came to seeing a goal in the opening 20 minutes.
In the 22nd minute a run down the left by the impressive Daniel Grimshaw, making his first start, crossed for Watson but his shot was saved by Conkie in the home goal. Jimmy Holden was also enjoying quite a bit of the ball in the midfield and he saw a free-kick saved on 28 minutes.
Holden’s night was over two minutes later though, after he reacted to a late tackle from a Winsford midfielder. Following a dust up between the two, a great piece of common sense by the referee saw him ask both benches to replace the players with Michael Carr coming on for FC United.
On 37 minutes, youth team graduate Scott Cheetham embarked on a great run from left-back that finally saw his shot saved by the Winsford custodian.
The second-half started in a similar vein to the first with neither team stamping any authority on the game. Simon Carden, in his first game of pre-season chipped the ball forward for Adam Edwards who saw his volley fly wide and this was followed a minute later with Deegan doing the same from a ball forward.
Striker Michael Norton was making a nuisance of himself up front and he was unlucky with a volley that flew over the bar. Norton looked to have put the Reds ahead in the 78th minute when his turn and shot was deflected towards goal but somehow Conkie managed to change direction and pull off a great save.
The Winsford goalkeeper was called into action four minutes later when Platt saw his shot very well saved. And with five minutes to go, the Reds were hit by the sucker punch when a run and shot from the left was saved by Grant Shenton, only for the ball to roll to Bond who side footed into the net to the delight of the home supporters.
There was still time for FC to come close in injury time when Norton beat Conkie to the ball but saw his effort cleared by the defence and then saw Conkie pull off yet another save from his shot, before he did even better saving the follow up from Edwards.
It obviously wasn’t the result FC United would have wanted but all-in-all it was another good workout for a number of the squad. Next up, it’s our landlords Bury on Saturday at Gigg Lane.
Report by Steven Wood
Match Report
A late goal condemned FC United to a 1-0 defeat against Winsford on a breezy Tuesday night at the Barton Stadium as manager Karl Marginson continued to give match time to his squad of players.
The Reds started with quite a number of the newly signed players in their line up with Gordon Watson making his debut up front alongside skipper for the evening Ben Deegan.
The opening exchanges of the game were a bit scrappy with only a Watson header over the bar and a Deegan shot also over, the nearest the crowd came to seeing a goal in the opening 20 minutes.
In the 22nd minute a run down the left by the impressive Daniel Grimshaw, making his first start, crossed for Watson but his shot was saved by Conkie in the home goal. Jimmy Holden was also enjoying quite a bit of the ball in the midfield and he saw a free-kick saved on 28 minutes.
Holden’s night was over two minutes later though, after he reacted to a late tackle from a Winsford midfielder. Following a dust up between the two, a great piece of common sense by the referee saw him ask both benches to replace the players with Michael Carr coming on for FC United.
On 37 minutes, youth team graduate Scott Cheetham embarked on a great run from left-back that finally saw his shot saved by the Winsford custodian.
The second-half started in a similar vein to the first with neither team stamping any authority on the game. Simon Carden, in his first game of pre-season chipped the ball forward for Adam Edwards who saw his volley fly wide and this was followed a minute later with Deegan doing the same from a ball forward.
Striker Michael Norton was making a nuisance of himself up front and he was unlucky with a volley that flew over the bar. Norton looked to have put the Reds ahead in the 78th minute when his turn and shot was deflected towards goal but somehow Conkie managed to change direction and pull off a great save.
The Winsford goalkeeper was called into action four minutes later when Platt saw his shot very well saved. And with five minutes to go, the Reds were hit by the sucker punch when a run and shot from the left was saved by Grant Shenton, only for the ball to roll to Bond who side footed into the net to the delight of the home supporters.
There was still time for FC to come close in injury time when Norton beat Conkie to the ball but saw his effort cleared by the defence and then saw Conkie pull off yet another save from his shot, before he did even better saving the follow up from Edwards.
It obviously wasn’t the result FC United would have wanted but all-in-all it was another good workout for a number of the squad. Next up, it’s our landlords Bury on Saturday at Gigg Lane.
Report by Steven Wood
