Howling winds were the order of the day and they had a huge affect on the game.   We strolled into what seemed to be an unassailable lead at half time, with an excellent free kick from Matt Bedford, Tom Monks heading in a 2nd from a corner and then Matt Bedford getting his 2nd from a Jordon corner.  We almost made it 4 with Jordon rounding the keeper and hitting the bar in the first half and John causing havoc down the right with his pace.

The game changed in the 2nd half and Halsall made a spirited comeback, earning a penalty for a push when we failed to clear and then all our defence being attracted to the ball saw a good cross come in and a neat finish.  The pressure was on and only a linesmans flag and the post stopped Halsall from equalising.  thankfully we stepped up the game again and despite conceding far too many free kicks around the edge of the box we forced a penalty of our own when Jordon beat two players on the goal line and fired the ball across which struck a Halsall defender.  Tom stepped up to blast the ball high into the net for his second of the game.

That was really the end of the game as the wind took a lot out of both teams.  A step back in the right direction and the next two games against Myerscough and Fishwick will probably determine where we finish this season, lets hope we can play to our potential and keep the unbeaten 5 game run going.  Man of the Match was Jordon for a hard working performance up front.

Ribble went into this game full of confidence, but knowing we were without two ever presents Liam and Jack Shaw and also our reserve keeper  and defender Sneds.  Tom Pattinson came in for his first game in goal and he looked excellent as we warmed up.  Jamie who has contributed well in recent weeks was also missing so we were down to 12 players, id have said 12 fit players but John Harris turned up with a heavy bandage on his knee but insisted he was ok to play.

Hoole were a bit unknown, having beaten both Fishwick and Fulwood and dropping points against Lancon and Halsall it showed how tospy turvey results can be at this level.  We started the game well putting Hoole on the back foot but they were always dangerous in the first half and a cross/shot and lack of closing down at the edge of the box saw them have the early scares.   John came off quite early as he was clearly not 100% so we played him throughout the game in fits and starts and James came on, immediately putting himself about and after an incredible run was unlucky not to win himself a penalty.  Not long after we made it one nil with a goal we will credit to Matt Bedford from the corner, but I think it was really an own goal.  Matt came off for John just before half time after taking a bang to the nose, causing a nose bleed.  

2nd half we were dominant and I struggle to remember when Tom had a touch of the ball.  Iason, Tom and the two Jacks were immaculate in defence, although they got carried away a little towards the end of the gane with moving too far forward.  The Defence was as solid and hard working as we have seen it and the forwards worked tirelessly, all throughout the team there was good passsing and movement.  The 2nd goal came as Ash, who must have swapped positions about 5 times during the game, picked the ball up and played a lovely ball over to Jordon on the left of the area he forced his way infront of his marker and blasted the ball into the top corner to end his mini goal drought, a relief more to him than us as his overall contribution has been excellent.  We continued to press, forcing plenty of corners and just didnt seem able to convert the half chances.  The final goal came when James picked the ball up and played Ash in down the left who cooly slotted home to cap an excellent performance.  

Matt Bedford had replaced Matty Nolan at halftime and he came back on for Dec who got a ball flush in the face, eventually coming back on for John Harris to rest that knee.

It cannot be stated enough that 3 clean sheets is excellent and not just the defence but every part of the team needs credit for that.  We may not be as free scoring as we were, but throughout out the team we are more compact and playing as a team, the performances of everyone make team selection a lot more difficult, but thats exactly how it should be....

Man of the Match, again could have been many, but for a tireless display, winning countless balls in the middle with Matt B and playing easy balls into feet it was Dec.

Apologies for not having done these recently.... here is a quick update on each of the 3 games played so far this year, I will try and keep more up to date.

Fishwick Rangers Away (Cup Game)- 2 1 defeat.    This showed again how evenly matched these two teams are with a battling performance again not helped through ill health and injuries picked up.   Fishwick deservedly took the league in the first half through a penalty, we battled back well in the 2nd half putting them under pressure and when James was on hand to poke the ball  home following a scramble from a corner we looked favourites to go on an win.  However some weak tackling from the otherwise excellent defence and midfield saw us lose our 2nd goal and the match.  Man of the Match was Tom Monks.

Lostock Hall - Away - 2 0 Win.  In the first 20 mins we took  battering, with Liam outstanding in goals, keeping us in it with some excellent saves.  Gradually we came back into it and had some chances of our own, particuarly from set pieces.   The 2nd half we started to dominate more and Liam was a lot quieter,  Jaime who had come on early after Matty had pulled a muscle battled well down the right and put Jordon in at the edge of the area towards the byline, Jordon put a brilliant ball across the face of the goal for Jack Shaw to tap in.  great goal...Not long after John made a cusomtary run through the middle, beat his man and at the 2nd attempt poked the ball home.   We came under a little more pressure but our defence stood up well for a deserved win.  Man of the Match was again Tom Monks.

Chorley St. Gregs - Home - 3  0 Win.   We knew this would be a tough game and in the early stages we probably just about shaded possession with Jack Shaw hitting a thunderous shot off the bar.  With our third Corner, Matt Bedford put up a peach of a cross and Jack Shaw powered home an excellent header.  Not long after it was 2 0 , we had been caught offside a few times as Chorley played a high line, Matt played another good ball through and John raced clear to fire home.   Another goal wasnt long away, this time as Ash played in another corner the ball ended up near the byline and I couldnt work out if it was John or Jordon who flicked the ball back over the shoulder for Matt B to twist and knock the ball past the stranded keeper.  We should have made it 4 before halftime as John raced clear again only to fire wide with the goal at his mercy.   The 2nd half should have seen more goals but for some reason we lacked the finish, John, James, Jack S all having good chances and Jordon hitting the post and celebrating (follow in and make sure!!) before seeing the ball bounce clear.  Liam had one noteable save to make in the full match, catching up high above him, his kicking was tremendous, as was the whole team, Midfield worked hard and probed, forwards linked play well and the defence was again solid as a rock for the 2nd clean sheet.  Man of the MAtch Jack Shaw for a hard working performance and another goal, closely ran by Matt B. 

As this was the last game before the Christmas break it seemed appropriate that our squad was taking on the role of the christmas favourites, Escape to Victory or the Great Escape with players missing for many different reasons leaving us with just 12 players and some of them not fit either.  Here is the missing in action list.    Dec - Delly Belly, Andrew Sneddon & Sam Alexander - Injured in action, Matt Nolan & Jack Barnes - Missing in Action/Absent without leave, John Harris - Absent on leave.   On top of that both Jack Heaton and Jack Shaw were both playing whilst in the process of recovery.

The plus points were that we had James/Ash available for the fist time.

We started the game abysmally, despite winning a corner in the first first minute, by the 5th we were 2 - 0 down and looking at a very long afternoon.  The first goal was whipped in and despite and side footed home, offside? maybe? but unfortunately I was running the line and lost my position due to shouting too much about positioning, so apologies if it was.  The 2nd goal came from the other side and was a similiar finish, both goals coming from slack marking, players out of position and lack of work rate.

From that point on we dominated possession, limiting Fulwood to one shot further that half whcih produced a good save from Liam.  Jordon produced a good turn, flicking the ball over the defender only to see his shot parried by the keeper.  Although we were dominting possession we were not creating chances, with too many players under par.  James was working extremely hard up front closing down and being a pest and it was his workrate which created the goal, robbing the fullack by his goal line at the edge of the area and putting the ball in for Jack Shaw at t the 2nd attempt to prod home.  A goal we deserved.  The game was tight and this continued into the 2nd half, with us still really dominating without creating or making there keeper work, however on numerous times we got ourselvs in decent positions with 3 on 3, balls going out wide and us not providing enough quality on the final ball.  James again working hard won us a free kick, and the lads nominated Ash, who had a quiet but effective game, growing more in stature as the game progressed.  Ash fired the ball into towards to near post and flick by the unforuntate defender saw it nestle into the goal..  Two minutes at most left......to pull of that great escape.

It wasnt to be.  Fulwood pressed forward and forced a throw in, we tried to get someone to mark the tall full back who had positioned himself on the edge of the area ready for the shot, (should we really be telling people to mark him at this stage?) and the ball magnetically found his way to him (as it seemed to a lot during he game) and he hit shot which hit one of our defenders and you could see the spin on the ball, the pace had gone but i bounced infront of Liam, still spinning and he could only watch helplessly as the ball span across his hands and into the bottom corner.  Liam looked gutted at the end, but I was pleased to see not one player had a go at him, it was a horrible ball to deal with and no blame at all from us.

Heartbreak in the highest order, in our eyes from the teams we had played this season, Fulwood were the best in the division and we matched them and probably at times out played them with an understrength team, with players below par due to illnesses.  As we said at the end, the league is still up for grabs and if we play like that every game then we have a chance, we now have to stop having these last minute heartbreaks and ensuring its us coming off singing and dancing.

Man of the Match is James Glover in his first game, he worked hard, showing an example to many others and had a hand in both goals.  Special mentions to Jack Heaton for playing despite feeling ill and Jack Shaw who we also apologise to for giving a hard time to when he wasnt feeling well still.   On that note if a player isnt feeling 100% before the game can you please let us know so we can assess if they should be playing at all.

Ribble Wanderers 5 1 New Longton

The intention was to keep the same starting line up as the previous week against Fishwick, but unfortunately Sam pulled up before the game with a knee injury, so Matty was restored to right wing.  We had drawn a few weeks ago against New Longton, and we felt we had let ourselves down in that game by not giving New Longton enough respect based on previous seasons.  TIme to put that right.

We started brightly and were dominating, Jordon had our first chance and broke clear but the ball seemed to hold up on him and he hit a weak shot at the keeper, John then went through twice on the keeper but his normal calm finishing of this season seemed to desert him and he was rushing his finishing, although the New Longton keeper was excellent throughout.  John then had another good chance as he tried to lob the keeper who pulled of a brilliant save to push the ball round the post.  We were getting numerous corners and with our 5th or 6th Matt put one over for Tom to put high towards the goal the keeper could only parry it and it crossed the line before Jordon made sure.  Chances came and went for us with a cold Liam not really touching ball in the first half and us getting caught offside far too many times.

Remember last week, was the only thing we needed to say at half time, apart from also start taking your chances.

John was not having his best finishing days and had another one on one only for the keeper to again dive at his feet and pull off another good save., then a dubious goal, Jordon seemed to be a mile offside, but the flag never came and we thought this was his goal, however this is an area Jordon is constantly improving and his awareness so John tearing through and he squared the ball for John to slam into an empty net as the keeper had appoached Jordon, great goal and nice to see the front pair working together.  We continued to press, Tom and Iason were excellent at the back, working together and Iason sticking close to the dangerous forward who had caused us problems last time we played, the two Jacks at full back were excellent, wingers were tracking back and Dec/Matt in the middle were immense.  The front two were also working tirelessly again.  Two free kicks gave us the opportunity to put the game to bed, Matt wanted to  take the first, but is learning that when on the left of the goal its best for a right footer, and Jack Shaw who had again been terrific, hit one straight at the keeper (can do better, the verdict, as we all know)  Matt then got his chance from the other side of the goal and put in a great shot high into the goal which the keeper had not chance with.   Jordon then won a penalty which Tom stepped upto score his 2nd of the game and his 4th in 3 games from Centre Half, before the goal of the game.  Jordon who had worked selfishly and tirelessly for little reward (he always wants a goal) won the ball down the right and whipped in a fantastic cross which Jack Shaw buried with a first time volley.

The only downside was we conceded a last minute goal, which I think was New Longtons only real chance of the game.  This was the best overall performance of the season, we have played better football at times, but we were consistent for the full game and dominated possesion.  Man of the Match could have gone to many people as everyone had exceptional games, however for being involved in 4 of the 5 goals and showing there is more to a centre forwards games than just scoring, its Jordon this week.

Next week, a trip to the country, as we take on Myserscough.  Lets hope this win sets us up for a long unbeaten run.

Ribble 3 5 Bamber Bridge

This was a case of After the Lords Major show, after a convinving win against Top of the Table we wanted to follow this up with a revenge win against Bamber Bridge, who we felt we had been harshley robbed of at least a point last time we played them.

After 10mins it was almost like we had carried on straight away from last Sunday taking a 3 1 advantage with a brilliant free kick from Jack Shaw, a cooly taken penalty from Tom and a neat finish from John, the parents from Bamber Bridge were at that point discussing how many it would be against them, however for some reason we stopped playing, took our foot off the pedal and let Bamber Bridge dominate us both physically and football wise, at Half Time the game had been turned on its head and we were 4 3 down.  Despite throwing everything at Bamber Bridge in the 2nd half, we didnt really create anything of real note, 90% of possession means nothing if we are not working hard enough to create our own luck, Bamber Bridge were clinical in there only chance of the 2nd half they took, and credit to them for a head working performance as they won the game 5 4 to enflict our first home league defeat.

Fishwick 5 4 Ribble Wanderers

Another convincing lead thrown away.  Teams we had played recently were praising how good a team Fishwick where and our message to the boys was, footballing wise you can beat them, you can beat any team in this league and most of the others, however to win the game you need to dominate them physically as well.  With Matt B restored to the Centre of Midfield, Tom replacing the injured Sneds at Centre Half and Jack Heaton starting in his most natural positon of left back we had a look about us that looked a whole lot more convincing.  Fishwick were quick, but to be honest in the first half they didnt get a look in, with goals from Jordon a neat header from a good cross by Sam, John following in on the keepers clearance and Jack Shaw simply tucking in from the left and tapping in we dominated the first half. Our only complaint was that it could have been at least 6 as we missed three great chances to really put the game to bed.  At half time it was same again but work twice as hard as they will come back out at us, desperate to get back in the game. 

The 2nd half started as the first had been throughout and had Jordons overhead hook been an inch lower and Johns toe poke past the keeper sneaked inside the post rather than outside it i am sure the game would have been won, however Fishwick do not have a 100% record for nothing, and they moved players around and from a breakaway, a missed clearance and a neat lob pulled the score back to 3 1.  Panic............. that is all we did and before we knew it the score was 5 3, with what has to be said some terrible defending, we were slicing clearances, bally dancing into tackles and fading completely out the game.  John won a penalty in the last seconds for Tom to convert to put us a goal behind, but the whistle went straight away and it was another dissapointing defeat in a game we should have won comfortably.

The lesson from both games, is that you cannot expect to stroll to victory and teams are at there most dangerous when behind.  We have to learn to defend a lead and work a lot harder when the pressure comes at us..... hopefully this is the last time we talk about such defeats.

After recent performances I think a few of us feared the worst going into a game against the table toppers and a team obviously high on confidence.   We were a little down on numbers as well and with Lostock Hall bright and early we just hoped some luck was on our side today.

The game started evenly with both teams having chances, Liam pulling off a couple of excellent saves and we had a couple of long range shots not far off target.  Then a 5 minute spell which began to see our worst fears materialise (or so we thought) Lostock go two ahead with a well taken goal and a penalty after Jack M had desperately tried to make a last ditch tackle.  At this point I was thinking how are we going to keep the score down.

On 20mins a great corner from Jack Heaton saw the ball bounce around a little and from what seemed a harmless position the keeper failed to pick the ball up and John span and steered the ball somehow into the net.... a lifeline, the bit of luck we needed?  Great work by Jordon and Jack Heaton after a crunching tackle by Dec then saw the ball played through to John who was on fire today and rounded the keeper and slotted the ball home. 2 2 and suddenly you can see the whole team moral lift.  We started to win tackles and headers and John again raced clear, beating two men to poke the ball from distance, surely 3 - 2.... nope, the ball somehow hit the inside of the post and rebounded to safety.  Another corner and this time the ball was bouncing on the line.   Then a problem - Jack Heaton and Matty both who were causing problems down the wings went off injured.  Sam & Tom P coming on with Jack Shaw moving to the wing.

At half time, it was this game is ours, lets go and put presssure on..... and another surprise.... they did and they made a good side look very very poor second half.  All the talk is about the forward play today but our back line was immaculate and didnt put a foot wrong hardly.  Jordon had taken over corner duty and was causing problems, one leading to Jack Shaws piledriver from the edge of the area, Sam then followed up another corner that came back out to Jordon who played the ball inside and Sam slotted home.  John then made it 5 (and I have no idea how) before adding the 6th with a calm finish after a good ball by Tom.   New Longton pulled one back after we failed to clear, before Jordon put in a great free Kick to make it 7 3.

A superb 2nd half performance and the first wasnt bad either.  We said this a few weeks ago, this is what we are capable of, we now need to show it weekly.

Man of the match, Iason, by far his best performance this season and I wouldnt be far off saying his best in Ribble shirt, he was excellent.

Ribble 8 2 Lancon

This was not as comfortable as it sounded with Lancon hitting the post on at least 3 occassions, however at times going forward our play was excellent and three goals from Jordon, another 2 apiece from John Harris and Matt Bedford as well as one from Sam made the scoreline a comfortable one.  Man of the Match for today was John Harris

New Longton 3 3 Ribble

Based on previous years results this was a gam we should have won, however last year counts for nothing and New Longton are a much improved team.  We went down to a goal through lack of concentration, a theme of todays performance which was evident in a number of the players.  Jordon scored a superb equaliser beating 4 players to blast home and John scored an equally fantastic goal racing onto a through ball and lobbing the keeper.  From here we should have gone on and won the game but more lapses with players not concentrating and playing people onside saw New Longton draw level before the break.  The 2nd half the whole team seemed to think the game was finished and put on the worst half of football this season and they can find themselves extremely fortunate to have still been level.  An inspired substitution saw Jack Shaw come back on and after excellent work from Jamie down the right Jack squared the ball to a free John Harris and he curled the ball home.  2mins left surely the game was ours..... Not a chance, we get a free kick half way in the New Longton half and pile men forward leaving a 2 v 2 at the back.  The free Kick is poor the ball comes clear and the cenrte forward races the length of the pitch to finish and make it 3 3.  Extremely disapointing.  Man of the Match - Jack Mccabe - strong performance and never gave up.

Fulwood 5 2 Ribble

New opponents to the league and the warning was out that we would have to be at our best.  To be fair to the boys the first half we matched them and it went in 1 v 1 after Jack Shaw had equalised, although at times it was plain to see we were slower to the ball.  The 2nd half was similar to the New Longton game when the boys just were not interested it seemed and Fulwood Raced into a 5 - 1 lead, with Matt Bedford replying late on to make it 5 - 2.  This is simply not good enough and next week see's an equally tough game against Lostock Hall.  Man of the Match was Dec who was the only player to come out of today with any credit.

Fantastic Game, Wonderful Match were just two of the comments from the spectators at the end of this entertaining game, handled superbly by the referee. 

5 games in and still looking for a full squad to choose from, this week missing Lewis, Dec & Sneds for again various reasons.  This meant a reshuffle of players with Iason coming back into defence after injury and Jack Shaw starting in Midfield.  The emphasis on this match was to dominate possession and close down quickly all over the park.

We started brightly and almost took an early lead when Jack Heaton shot over from distance.  The game was pretty much end to end but both sides looked a little shaky at the back and we wernt helping ourselves by some slack defending.  A ball over the top caught us napping and Gillibrand finished it well to make it one nil.  We had good chances to equalise with John beating 3 players before flashing a shot wide and Jordon doing exactly the same moments after, and Tom having a good header saved from a corner.  Then it was 2 - 0, Iason got caught in possession bringing the ball out of defence, and he wasnt the first to do this during the first half, but this time we were punished for it.  A free Kick from Tom saw the ball fall to Sam and he slammed home for his first Ribble goal.  From that moment on we stared to pile on the pressure, but again were caught out when a back pass to Liam went astray and the Gillibrand forward tapped home.

Half time and we said the game was still winnable, if we worked even harder and really went for it we could get back into this game.  Phil came on for Iason who was shaken by his uncharacteristic mistake and Tom went in the defence with Matt B coming into Midfield. 

We pushed and pushed this half, Sam was replaced by Iason with Phil pushing into Centre Midfield and the excellent Jack Shaw going wide right.  Tom had a shot turned wide by the keeper after good work from Jack Shaw, Jack Heaton had a shot hit the post, Jordon did the same, Phil had a blockbuster from 40 yards land just over the bar.  Eventually a goal came from an excellent corner and Shawy nodded the ball home.  Then Jordon was fouled in the box and Matt B took the penalty in place of Tom.  Unfortunately Matt hit it straight with power and hte keeper knocked it onto the bar.   We then missed another glorious chance as a great through ball by Tom saw the ever reliable finish of Jordon let him down as he dragged the ball round the keeper but from an angle he would normally score from, dragged the ball into the side netting, Was it really going to be one of those games.  Jordon anxious to make up for his miss then went on a superb run around 4 defenders with pace and skill and brought another great save from the keeper.  It was going to be one of those days.  Tom ?? had come on for Jack M and Jack B had come on for Matt B by now, but Jack picked up an injury 10mins later and had to come back off with Jack M taking his place.  less than 5 mins to go and it looked like a narrow and undeserved defeat, however at last a little bit of luck, a clearance smacked Jordon hard in the face and the ball fell directly into Johns path who steered the ball wide of the keeper into the net.  3 3 and now we just had to push on and keep tight.

Unfortunately the winner didnt come but make no mistake about it, this was our best performance of the season by a mile.  We made two mistakes at the back and missed bags of chances.  No blame on the strikers as they have performed excellently this season and no blame on the defence, we all make mistakes and its how we react to them those involved responded superbly and at other times have saved us on numerous ocassions, lets encourage and cut out the criticism.

We now need this performance level every week, the standards have been set.  Men of the Match today was a joint effort between Tom Monks who was outstanding in Midfield (a performance he needed) but was even better at Centre Half and Jack Shaw, again a much needed excellent performance and lets hope these continue as both these players on top form are crucial to the teams success. 

Ribble Wanderers 7 - 0 Halsall Juniors

Word to players, play the game with the right attitude and we will win the game.

It was clear from the start this would be a one sided game, although credit to Halsall they kept going and looked to play the game in the right way, on the floor with good passing movement.  The first chance fell to Jordon who lobbed the keeper only to see it drop agonisingly onto the bar.  Not long after a good ball from new boy Matt saw Jordon one on one with the keeper and he slid the ball into the corner.   Jack Shaw made it two with  a sharp turn inside the area and he curled the ball round the keeper into the far post.  John Harris made it 3 - 0 before half time, running onto a through ball, rounding the keeper are rolling home.   Despite the result we still hadnt started and there was no passion, aggression or committment about our play.  That was the half time message as well as asking our forward players to keep an eye on the line as in the first half especially we were running offside when in good positions..  Matt moved into Midfield with Tom going to Centre Half.   John started the scoring in the 2nd half after a good run saw him just beat Jordon to the ball and poke home.  Matt then showed why he will be so useful to us with great composure as he twisted and turned in the box to clip a chip over the keeper into the  far corner.  The returning Phil from a broken arm then showed what we miss from corners, someone attacking the ball and he volleyed home, before a great through ball from John put Jordon through to claim his second, rounding the keeper to keep up his record of 2 goals a game.

We rang the changes and continued to dominate, Matty Nolan did what a lot of players further forward should be doing when he came back on up front, by closing down defenders (a lesson for everyone) and had two chances but blazed over and Matt B broke from the halfway line to fire a blistering left foot drive which the keeper turned away, could he have played Jordon in who was running next to him, probably, but the opposition linesman was keeping up the standard this season and flagging for everything remotely close and sometimes not even, so chances are even though Jordon wasnt offside he would have been given.

Man of the Match - Matt Bedford, a composed first half in defence and an excellent midfield performance, passing was excellent and a great goal, if we (and Matt) can work on his fitness he will be a great player for us.

Bamber Bridge v Ribble Wanderers (3 - 2)

A depleted team due to injuries saw us go in at half time 2 - 0 down.  Tom Monks one of those affected by a tough first game against Chorley had picked up an ankle injury in the last seconds of the game, came on to try and put some presence into the midfield and although we lost the game 3 - 2 where a very debatable offside meant Jack Shaws great finish was disallowed and cost us at least a  point  in a second half we dominted for most part.  Two excellent goals from Jordon against his old team gave him at least some compensaition for the defeat and earned him the Man of the Match award.

Ribble Wanderers v Rossendale United (5 - 8 aet)

Still short on players, we started this game with one sub, and with the game going into extra time this was to prove costly.   Rossendale started brightly and took an early lead only for Jordon to volley in from a half cleared corner and then turn provider for Jack Shaw to head home from the edge of the 6 yard box.  Jordon should have had a 2nd when his hard work saw him poke the ball past the keeper and what seemed over the line, only for the referee to rule it out, difficult to tell, but the body language of the nearest defender seemed to indicate it was a goal.  The 2nd costly decision.   Rossendale levelled just before half time from bad defending on our part.    Half time talk was to stay tight and we would open them up again, disaster, within a minute a crazy back pass to Liam, something we had talked about not doing saw us go 3 - 2 down and soon after 4 - 2, Tom equalised to make it 4 - 3 and we were back in it, only to let in another soft goal, through the Midfield leaving the best player on the pitch unmarked.  5 - 3 with 5 mins left and it should have been all over, however more determination from Jordon saw him round the keeper and make it 5 - 4, and the Jack Heaton played a great ball out to the right and Jack Barnes hit a great shot from the edge of the area which dropped over the keeper.  We even had a chance to finish it off with the last kick of the game but the ball went agonisingly wide.  We had had to bring Iason off just after the break for yet another injury.

We eventually lost the game as we ran out of steam, conceding 3 very soft goals by suicidal defending and also losing Jordon with a kneck injury, leaving us with 10 men, but credit to the boys for getting themselves back into the game, now we just need to cut out silly mistakes.  Man of the Match was Dec for working his socks off in midfield.

2nd September.  Chorley St. Gregorys v Ribble Wanderers

The waiting is over and the new league season is with us.  The fixture list has immediately thrown out a tough game in Chorley St. Gregorys, an uncompromising and physical team who never give up and who always give us a good game.

Teething problems for the start of the season with the referee deciding he wanted an extra week off and the the same could be said about the person in charge of Pitch Maintenance with the grass so long it was going to tough to pay any kind of passing football.

From the end of last season the only change to the starting line up was Jordon Sieman coming in from Bamber Bridge and replacing the out going Oli Whormby. 

Ribble started the stronger of the two teams with John and Jordon looking lively up front and the midfield supporting well and snapping into tackles.  Tom was winning plenty of ball in the middle with Dec tidying up behind, the defence with Iason back from his 6 week holiday and Sneds commanding at the back and Jack & Matty with no nonsense defending from full back. Jack H & Jack S both supported the rest of the midfield well.   Chorley are a tough side and were giving us little room to play football and were putting in some strong tackles, one which ended Jack Heatons first half when the Chorley player went through the back of his legs.  All the pressure was at the Chorley end and a brilliant through ball so John race through and finish stylishly.  It was soon to be 2 0 when a good ball from Jack Barnes down the line, John helped it on and Jordon rounded the keeper well before slotting home from a tight angle, another good finish.  Chorley at this stage had no answer to the pace and ball over the top and down the channels and from a Iason clearance the ball over the top caught them out again, Jordon was strong and held off the defender and gambled as the ball broke off the defender/keeper and he rolled the ball home.

One more goal could have killed the game off, but either at this stage we switched off a little or with the heavy conditions were starting to tire, or Chorley picked up the tempo and started to put us under some pressue.  A corner after some good defending came back out to the tall number 8 and from what seemed an impossible position almost on the touchline a cross went flying over Liam into the far corner.  A set back but we soon restored the 3 goal advantage when Tom played a great ball over the top for John to run onto and lifted the ball over the keeper to make it 4 1.  We thought that was it for the half but from another corner, are nemesis of not being able to clear a ball after Liam had produced a save, although we reacted we couldnt get the ball out and Chorley stabbed the ball home, to make it 4 2.

Halftime message was to keep going and stay tight at the back, with the midfield important to support the defence, a few lads were beginning to tire towards the end of the first half and we moved Iason into the Centre and put Tom at Centre Half, to bring more energy into the midfield, knowing that Tom would do a good job at the back.  This didnt work as Chorley powered forward, Iason could not pick up the pace of the game and it was probably unfair of us to put him there after missing 6 weeks of football.  A ball broke out from our defence and our Midfield was nowhere as the tall number 8 hit an excellent shot from about 30 yards, under no pressure over Liam and cut our lead to 4 3. 

We swapped Iason & Tom back over and immediatly we shut up shop again, restricting Chorley to probably 1 more chance for the remaining 25 mins.  Sam came on for the injured Jack Barnes and Lewis and Jack Heaton came on for Jack Mccabe and Jack Shaw.  Tom had a great free kick tipped round the post, John had a shot saved, Jack Heaton just failed to get a shot away after a good move and Sam had a shot flash past the post.  Jordon was working hard up front chasing balls into the corner and John who had moved to the right wing to support Lewis who was excellent when he came on was working tirelessly.  The game finished with  a little controversy as Tom went down in a 50/50 challenge but came off worse and the play was stopped (rightly so) to Chorleys annoyance as Tom received treatment.  A drop ball resulted, Iason knocked the ball back to Chorley, they launched one more attack which was cleared and that was it. 

A tough game, where we evidently tired.  Some good moments in an excellent first half, but once Chorly tightened up at the back and dropped deeper we struggled to break them down.  We need to work on building the play up more patiently, with the front players showing up to reveice the ball more to feet and the Midfield and wingers getting passed the forwards.  At times our Midfield were walking back and we need to realise that on bigger pitches you need to conserve energy more.  All the defence played well and looked strong.  Overall a good result against a phsyical and useful team.  

Man of the Match - Could have been many, but Sneds was a rock at the back, winning tackles and not missing a clearance (he even headed it once!!)

Next game - Tuesday 4th - Bamber Bridge Away - 6.15pm kick off.

Whilst a number of the teams in our division seem to hesitate in entering tournaments during the summer, probably due to risking heavy defeats, today proved the opposite, with the right mind set and attitude we proved we can compete at a higher level.

With 5 group games to play, should have been six but a late withdrawel from Myerscough saw them enter only one team, we kicked off the group against Springfields and a last second winner from John Harris after good work from Tom saw us off and running straight away.  This was what we deserved in a match we dominated from start to finish, with the clear message coming out of this game for the rest of the tournament. Be more clinical and finish our chances. 

The second game saw us again dominate against a physical Poulton side and again we created by far the greater chances only to come out of the game with  a 2 - 0 defeat. 

The third game was dissapointing and showed up what our problem has been all season, lack of belief when we go a goal or two down.  Great Moor ending up 4 - 0 winners which on results and perfomances so far was out of charachter. 

Tough then to go straight into a match against Favourites and a strong looking Tarleton side,  a much better and stronger performance again saw us create 4 great chances to Tarletons 2.  Unfortunately again we couldnt finish well enough and Tarleton took both there chances.  

This left us having to beat Myerscough to ensure we went through to the qtr finals, Springfields played Mysercough and despite dominating the match showed exactly what we had to warn our players about, If you miss chances you are likely to get caught out, and despite Springfields dominance, Myerscough scored with there one chance and the game ended 1 1.  This all but sealed our passage into the qtr finals, however we wanted to finish the group as we started with a dominating win.  We literally played this game with 4 lads as Liam didnt touch the ball in goal once, such was our dominace.  Eventually after about what seemed 3 long minutes John used his outstanding pace to get round the outside of his marker and put in a great ball for Tom to steer into the top corner, another couple of minutes passed and we finally made our dominace count with further goals from John and Jack Shaw to comfortably go through.  

Despite some confusion in the results tent where we eventually were given our 2 wins we ended up in 4th place and would play Premier League runners up Euxton Villa in the quarter finals,  it could have been easier for us if we had converted half of the chances, but to get this far in a tournament where every team plays in a higher division than ourselves is certainly an achievment and the message to the boys was give it your all and enjoy it.

The match was even at the start with the play flowing from end to end.  Liam was exceptional in goal, making up for his lack of activity in the last game and our workrate throughout the team was first class.  Although for once the opposition had the more chances we had a great chance to take the lead when John brought an excellent save from the keeper and Tom couldnt quite force it over the line, these two had linked up superbly well all day.  Tom admitted after that he should have lifted it, but the keeper did exceptionally well to keep it out.  The game continued and Euxton were on top but we still continued to work, Liam was fantastic keeping everything out that was thrown at him and eventually Euxton started to run out of steam.   The game ended in an exciting 0 - 0 draw and it was down to penalties.

Credit to the boys every one of them volunteered.  Unfortunately though Euxton were lethal,  although Liam was very unlucky with a couple and we missed two out of first four to put us out of the tournament.

So despite being extremely wet the boys were a credit to themselves.  Iason came away with Man of the tournament but every one played there part, one disapointing game and lack of clinical finishing probably cost us in the end the chance of progressing further but our build up play and at times defending were excellent. 

Hopefully that effort can be taken into next season and lead us all the way to Division A.