Vodkat North West Counties Premier League

Tuesday 11th May 2010

Bacup Borough for the second game running in a leading position going into the last ten minutes of the game did create their own destiny of yet again dropping two points through their own self destruct.

The way the game unfolded with both sides hitting the back of the net in the first quarter of the game did look like we would be in for a feast of goals, Bacup created three very good early openings with first of all Lance Ogunyode should have scored following good work from Martin Cosgrave, then two self made opportunities were created by Lee Oldham but his finishing sadly let him down, on twelve minutes Bacup did take the lead this following good work between Falco Lourenco and Martin Cosgrave before involving Chris Ogunyode who’s first effort was blocked but Ogunyode made no mistake on his second effort.

The Bacup lead was short lived when Colne’s Captain Cruz burst through midfield into the box, Stockdale Bacup Borough’s defender failed to deal with the situation when the ball was deflected into the path of Samuel Hayes who forced the ball over the line.

On twenty minutes Bacup were in front from the penalty spot and Colne were reduced to ten men when Bacup Borough’s Josh Lynch played a defence splitting ball in behind the Colne defence for Lance Ogunyode who was now running onto goal but his efforts came to an abrupt end by being taken out for a penalty and sending off to be awarded, up stepped Captain Davey Luker who made no mistake.

Despite the fact Colne were reduced to ten men it was the visitors that did have the majority of the play in the second half without creating any chances apart from a really top drawer save by Dryden following a Colne corner, the ball was attacked clinically but equal to it was a stunning reflex save.

Bacup had a good chance to increase their lead when Martin Cosgrave did get on the ball advancing in on goal but at a difficult angle, unintelligently he attempted a shot which easily went into the keepers arms, had he have pulled the ball back it would have been an almost certain goal, then following this Bacup won a free kick on the left side of the pitch, the ball was put in over to the far post area where Captain Davey Luker made excellent contact with the ball but somehow what seemed a certain goal to take this game beyond Colne the ball flew wide of the target.

The two best chances of the half for Bacup from which they should but didn’t score proved once again to be costly, when on eighty five minutes Steve Pickup for Colne sent a long ball down the channel, with the Colne Striker now facing his own goal and Bacup defender Adrian Bellamy defending the striker goal side there seemed very little danger, this until Bellamy inexplicably bundled into the striker to concede a free kick, it was from this free kick that the ball was fired goal bound, the Bacup keeper Dryden let the ball bounce off him, this produced a scramble in the goal area where once again Hays got the vital touch giving Colne a share of the points.

Manager Brent Peters summed up what was a frustrating end to the season, Peters said

“This game once again typified our season, by this I mean inconsistent, from a season that started so well and promising with two wins from our opening fixtures, a tremendous FA Vase win away at Ramsbottom, putting six goals past Squires Gate on a night when our football & goals were different class, this to being the first team in thirty matches to beat Champions Newcastle, Sharing the points with League Runners up New Mills, to then find ourselves losing against Silsden &Formby, and then in our two remaining home games producing the self destruct situation by committing unnecessary free kicks from which on both occasions have led to goals.

In this game with the chances we created in the first half the game should have been beyond Colne by half time but massive credit to our visitors with one man less they were most certainly the better of the two sides in the second half, from this I can say they deserved their equalising goal, deserved or not if Adrian Bellamy does not stupidly do what he did, if our keeper deals with the ball into him better and when he does not, had our defenders reacted sharper on the loose ball and cleared rather than Colne’s Sam Hayes be the first to react to score, then we would have not only won the game but also we would have creditably beat our last season’s points tally,

Peters added ”to not have achieved that is really disappointing although it was only one point short it was a task I had set the lads, a task they did fail upon, however on another note we have played twelve matches in twenty eight days so credit must be given for that but when it is inbred into myself and Andy Hill to be winners not achieving our goals set is rather frustrating to say the least, irrespective of the reasons why we failed”

Team: Steve Dryden, Dominic Stockdale (Arran Spencer), Aidrian Bellamy, Davey Luker, Josh Greenhalgh, Martin Cosgrave, Josh Lynch, Lee Oldham, Chris Ogunyode , Falco Lourenco (Fabio Abreu), Lance Ogunyode.

Subs Not Used: Martin Peters, Bryan Herbert, Paul Horridge

Goals: Ogunyode C 12, Luker 20 pen