Having played some fine passing football, the opening goal came from the old route one, with Lee Dovey’s clearance being headed on smartly by Brad Carsley to Joe Melling whose cross was slotted home by Alex Randell . A couple of minutes later a neat lay off from Ash Ball allowed Jordan Bowen to put in a sublime cross to find Alex Randell at the far post who made no mistake with his header to give Town a 2-0 lead. Town were completely on top now and only a minute later an Ash Ball corner beat everybody but was desperately cleared off the line at the far post by an overwhelmed Eagley defence.

The visitors were restricted to sporadic attacks but came close when an excellent free kick brought out the best in Lee Dovey in the Town goal who tipped over in superb fashion.

It didn’t take long for Brad Carsley to get in on the act and when he did, his trade mark turn on his marker put him in the clear to beat the Eagley keeper on his near post and net Town’s third. Town were rampant now and only 2 minutes later Kieran Walmsley played a magnificent ball over the top into the path of Brad Carsley, whose shot was parried by the keeper but Alex Randell was on hand to complete his hat trick with a simple tap-in. Town continued to create chances with some neat inter-passing but ironically their best chance came from a counter attack from an Eagley corner. Brad Carsley, back helping out in defence, collected a loose ball on the edge of the Town box and his early through ball sent Jordan Bowen racing away towards the visitor’s keeper, but his usual composure on the ball deserted him and he screwed his shot wide.

5 minutes before the break town increased their lead when Connor Linighan unleashed a 60 yard cross-field pass to find Ash Ball on the left, who tricked his way brilliantly past his marker. His shot was parried by the keeper but Jordan Bowan gleefully pounced on the loose ball to open his account for the season. Despite being 5-0 down the visitors created a couple of real chances on the Town goal in the last 5 minutes of the half but found Lee Dovey up to the challenge.
The second half started rather sedately until a fabulously intricate piece of play between Jordan Bowen, Alex Randell and Brad Carsley scythed through the Eagley defence, allowing Jordan to finish off the move he started, steering the ball home off the inside of the post.

At 6-0 Town were cruising and manager Lee Ashcroft made his first change, sending on Rick Murch for Alex Randell who was troubled by a back injury. Lapses in concentration and a touch of complacency started to creep into Town’s play and allowed Eagley back into the game. On 65 minutes they pulled a goal back with a neat header from a right wing cross. A few minutes later captain George Melling was caught on his heels in defence and could only chaperone an Eagley forward towards a free shot at goal. Luckily for Town his shot matched George’s momentary lapse.
To their credit, Eagley never gave up and with just 5 minutes remaining, courtesy of some very average defending from Town, they were rewarded with a second goal, as the home defence stood off and allowed an Eagley substitute plenty of room to beat Lee Dovey from 20 yards.

Town did respond immediately and Brad Carsley thundered a volley against the underside of the bar . . . . . . if only the goals had been 2 inches higher ! !
From the rebound Eagley countered, and as the home defence stood claiming for offside, they converted their final chance, much to the chagrin of the Longridge manager.

Ashey commented afterwards that his team were brilliant in the first half but then lost their way when the game was won. Perhaps a diplomatic response to his real frustration at the team conceding those three second half goals.

Match Report by Geoff Russell