Match Report: Longridge Town 3-1 Hanley Town

Despite a busy month Town added another three points to the board with a 3-1 victory against Hanley Town with goals from George Thomason, Alex Murphy and Turner.

Thomason opened the scoring with a fantastic strike from outside the area in a dull opening 45 minutes.

Up until Thomason’s strike both teams looked evenly matched with Hanley looking difficult to break down. Troy Carsley headed against the bar in an uneventful opening 35 minutes until Thomason’s fine strike opened the goal scoring.

Hanley were a different team in the second half and came out of the blocks throwing caution to the wind and pumping balls into the area to no avail.

Just shy of the hour mark Alex Murphy doubled Town’s advantage. Great play down the right saw Dan Birch put a dangerous ball on a plate for Murphy to tap home.

Hanley went up the other end and Jacob Vernon best the offside trap as he finished emphatically past Lee Dovey.

Turner got in the action after Tom Ince won a freekick. Brad Wicks found the young striker who held off the defender before caressing the ball into the far corner of the goal.

Ryan McKenna fouled substitute Jonathon Kapend, who looked lovely after coming on, and the resulting freekick was well struck but Dovey was equal to the effort keeping the score at 3-1.

The hosts thought they pulled one back with 15 minutes left on the clock. Vernon with a dangerous ball across the six-yard box, Joshua Brixton looked to get on the end of it but caught Dovey as the Hanley forward put the ball into the empty net.

With barely a minute left Dovey pulled of one of the saves of his Longridge career tipping Vernon’s strike onto the post. The Hanley striker’s looked destined to end up in the back of the net.

Town’s turn their focus back to the FA Cup and another fixture with rivals Charnock Richard. Both clubs will be looking to see how far they can get in the prestigious cup competition

Town’s team: Dovey, Birch (Morris), Carsley, McKenna, Tucker, Thomason 39, Wicks, Fletcher, Turner 65 (Crowther), Ince (Wilkinson), Murphy 57

Subs: Lawrence, Sinclair-Smith Wilkinson

Hanley Team: Woolrich, Faulkner, Brixton, Stair (Ashton), Thorpe, Cope, Sanders, Smith, Stanyer (Kapend), Thompson, Vernon

Subs: Mellor, Barrass, Jackson