Cup Defeat For Town

Town were ‘not at the races’ for their quater final match with Thornton Cleveleys at Hurst Green’s Memorial Hall. It was evident Town were not 100% match ready. Despite a blistering opening 15 minutes they never got into second gear with silly mistakes leading to Town’s downfall. Town struggled to break down a well organised Thornton side who deserved their 2-0 victory.

Lee Ashcroft commented: ‘Obviously we’re disappointed with the defeat but I thought we played well until they scored. It was a sign of tiredness more than anything. We’ve not played a lot of games for the last few weeks and the weather’s killed us. But it's no excuse they've probably been in the same predicament. Since Christmas they’ve had a lot more games than us. Both of their goals came from our mistakes but at times we played some great stuff. Ryan Mckenna was fantastic down the left and Sam Nightingale played well. It was a great to see Marsh back in the side.

We’ve got to stick together, I don’t want a repeat of what happened to us last season where we were awful at the back end of the season. I want to apologise to fans and people that came down and hope we can put it right with by winning as many of the remaining games as possible.’

The home side welcomed back Sam Marsh into the heart of the defence, alongside Alex O’Rourke, replacing Joe Melling who was suspended for the tie.

Town controlled the early exchanges; Ash Ball’s cross was flapped at by the Thornton stopper and Ryan McKenna couldn't capitalise as he fired over, then Keiran Walmsley’s free kick was met by O’Rourke and his header was well saved.

On the 13th minute Jordan Bowen’s pass back to Jordan Tucker was underhit. A defence splitting pass found Brett Dawson who escaped the attention of the returning Marsh, rounded Rob Batty then slotted in from a tight angle.

After the goal Thornton grew in confidence and took the game to the homeside. Mikey McAlpine tested Batty from distance. Then under pressure, O’Rourke was caught napping but Dawson saw the headlines and his chipped attempt was comfortable for Batty. Up at the other end Brad Carsley was unusually quiet. He took the ball a little wider than he would've hoped and instead of hitting it across the keeper, he tried beating the keeper at the near post.

Dawson continued to look dangerous and with better finishing could have put the game to bed before half time. First he worked some space for himself before just bending his effort past the post. Shortly after he was denied by the woodwork. He had one more good chance in the first half, firing straight at Batty.

In comparison the second half offered very little in the way of action. Dawson continued to be a threat receiving another gift from Town but again he didn’t take advantage. Midway through the second half Town came the closest they had come. Walmsley’s corner was flapped to Carsley who fired at goal but frustratingly for Town the defender on the line did his job getting it away.

On the 76th minute it was 2-0 to Thornton. Town didn’t clear their lines; a cross from the Thornton right was headed in by McAlpine unmarked from six yards out. Thornton comfortably saw the game out and progress into the semi-finals.

Town on the other hand have no game on Saturday 16th and are hoping the pitch will be back in playing order for the West Lancs League fixture vs Burnley United on Wednesday 20th April - kick off 19.30.