Reds Hit For Six As Points Go West

West Didsbury & Chorlton came to the MTA knowing that victory would virtually assure them a place in the play-offs for promotion, and from the outset you could see that they wanted this a lot more than their hosts.

Adam Moorcroft had the ball in the net in the opening minute but the linesman's flag was raised early. A few minutes later Matty Brown sent his effort wide from just inside the area. Sadly, this promising start was to prove a false dawn as it took just 10 minutes for the away side to strike, when Billy Matthews picked up the clearance from their corner kick and struck the ball past Parkinson. Things got worse for AFC two minutes later, as West Didsbury doubled their lead through their skipper Chris Rowney.

On 16 minutes, Caleb Jones almost got on the end of a Liam Paton cross but couldn't direct his effort. Jordan Lazenbury was busy all over the pitch for the away team and it was his clever piece of control and pass to Matthews on 24 minutes, that allowed the winger to lob the ball over Parkinson to make it three. In the 37th minute Matthews rubbed salt into already very deep AFC wounds, as he completed a 1st half hat-trick, following another mix up at the back. Thankfully the half-time whistle put a stop to West's onslaught and the score remained 0-4 to the visitors at the break.

The 2nd period began a little more evenly but it was still the visitors who looked the more threatening in possession. It took until the 67th minute for the next goal when Bannister and McConnell played a one-two on the edge of the box, before Bannister fired home for number five. To their credit, AFC continued to battle and were unlucky when Dan Mahaffy struck the crossbar. Adam Moorcroft then curled an effort past the keeper but it came back out off the post. The visitors still had lots of possession and could have added to their tally when Roberts forced a save from Parkinson and then Davin headed over from the resulting corner.

Adam Moorcroft, who as usual put in a great shift up front, got a consolation goal for AFC in the 89th minute, when he controlled a lovely pass from Jules Flanagan on his chest and slotted past the keeper. Any joy in reducing the deficit didn't last long though, as the visitors scored again two minutes later, through another finish from Rowney, following another half-cleared corner. The final whistle signalled big celebrations from West players and fans, as their clinical attacking display sealed their play-off place.

So a bad day at the office and one of those games when The Non-League Reds never recovered from going behind early on. Hopefully as the season nears completion this type of game will act as a big learning curve as we already start to look to the new season and the continued development of the young squad.

This coming weekend The Non-League Reds play at home against Colne, who are battling to avoid relegation and it's bound to be a great game. Please note that the game is on FRIDAY evening with an 8pm kick-off. Please get down to The Marine Travel Arena to get behind the lads, for what is sure to be a good game. This is not only our last home game of the season but also our last game at the MTA, so hopefully you can join us on what will be a special night.

FINAL SCORE - AFC Liverpool 1 v 6 West Didsbury & Chorlton

LINE UP - 1. Parkinson 2. Williams 3. Giblin 4. Brown 5. Murphy 6. Fisher-Jones 7. Jones 8. Mahaffy 9. Moorcroft (c) 10. Lancaster 11. Paton

Subs Used - Rooney, Wright-Ocana, Beckett, Flanagan

(Photos courtesy of Dave Williams)