Despite a slender one goal defeat against League Leaders New Mills this young but depleted Bacup Borough side can hold their heads high in defeat, had Daniel Cocks second half penalty had not been saved by Rossendale based Ben Proctor a fully justified point they would have taken from this game.

In big games you always want your big game players available but Bacup could not afford this luxury. Out was experienced Goalkeeper Paul Horridge having to be replaced by Matthew Wrigley making only his second start, his first back in November. Out was Captain Davey Luker to be replaced with Lee Oldham only making his second start since a knee operation in December. Out was prolific goal scorer and former New Mills Striker Tommy Turner although named on the Bacup Bench was injured and was never going to feature and if this was not bad enough in the first five minutes play was stopped for some time following defender Marc Taylor having badly split his head open following an aerial challenge.

He had to leave the field to go to hospital leaving Manager Brent Peters to reorganise his defence moving Adrian Bellamy from right full back to centre back and introducing young Josh Lee’s to right back for only his second start of the season, despite all this the young Bacup lions stepped up to the plate against the mighty New Mills, each and every player can be immensely proud although disappointed in defeat the young Bacup side made the Derbyshire side work tirelessly in order for them to gain their three points with the odd goal scored on twenty minutes by Christopher Hirst.

The New Mills goal, one could ask would this have happened with the full strength Bacup side which had been playing regular, for two reasons the development to the goal came first of all as a result of Lee Oldham struggling in the early part of the game to pick up the pace, this only to be expected after such a long lay off and very little training, his lack of sharpness found him being dispossessed of the ball on a couple of occasions , one which led to the goal, when from this the ball was knocked into the Bacup penalty area from which the Bacup keeper Matthew Wrigley was caught in a situation of, should I go or should I not go in order to make an attempt to get to the loose ball, his decision to revert back to his line seemed a big mistake as by doing so the lively Daniel Douglas Pringle ‘s job was made easy by being aloud to get onto the ball unopposed before picking out Christopher Hirst who had gone inside unopposed to be gifted a simple tap into the empty net.

Despite this set back Bacup Borough went every inch of the way in order to find that all elusive equaliser and when they had to defend, they defended really well in keeping New Mills at bay and on the occasion the Bacup defensive wall did brake, Goal Keeper Matthew Wrigley was on hand to make a fine save.

The start of the second half New Mills broke down the Bacup left from which Wrigley showed a good strong hand that whilst going backwards he somehow managed to get a good hand to avoid them doubling their lead.

Then Bacup started to turn the screw by playing at a good tempo and suddenly opportunities were coming their way, Lee Pugh made an intelligent through ball that Haydn Paul was mighty close in connecting too, then came the telling moment on the right side of the pitch, Bacup Borough’s Daniel Cocks had a run at his opponent, in the box he pushed the ball past his marker, whilst the ball went the player could not follow and was blatantly brought down, there was no doubts it was a penalty, Kingsly Williams wanted the spot kick and in hind sight may be should have had the kick but Cocks had made the penalty and had scored his last one so why should he not take it? Cocks stepped up to the plate but Ben Proctor in the New Mills goal was equal to it, this was most certainly a defining moment in the game, had that spot kick have been converted the mighty New Mills could so easily have capitulated, instead they had something to hang onto but it was certainly Bacup that despite the penalty miss were having the upper hand in this entertaining contest.

Bacup won a corner from which a double header, first from Haydn Paul and then Lee Oldham could not find a way into the New Mills net and then following another Bacup move the ball was cleared out but only as far as Bacup Borough’s Josh Lee who’s long range effort was only just over the cross bar.

At the opposite end Daniel Cocks gave away a silly free kick in a dangerous area at the edge of the box slightly wide but Bacup managed to defend, then Matthew Wrigley showed a good pair of hands when he took the ball coming at him with pace.

At the opposite end both Daniel Cocks and Lance Ogunyode could have found themselves the Bacup goal scoring heroes had they have been on their toes and anticipating situations, this rather than reacting late, in the end for all Bacup Borough’s fight, sadly they came away with nothing to show for their effort’s with that missed penalty proving to be mighty costly for this honest brave and determined Bacup Borough side.

At the end of the game a rather up beat Bacup Borough Manager Brent Peters had this to say; "I have said all season that this current Bacup Borough Football Clubs squad in its entirety is probably one of the best in my time at this football club, not just in terms of technical ability but good honest lads that want to win football matches, that want to learn the game in order to improve their own standing in the game, well going into this game against a New Mills side that have been the bench mark all season, these lads really did go toe to toe with the Derbyshire side proving that probably the only difference between the two teams was experience in making the correct decisions in how to win games and see games out, this apart these lads were with them all of the way,

Peters added “ despite our early set backs the boys picked up the baton and ran with it working tirelessly throughout, Kingsley Williams not one hundred percent fit dug in there along with Lee Oldham again fitness levels not where they should be, but both gave their all, keeping on top of a good New Mills midfield that included an excellent player in Carlos Meakin but was made to look very ordinary on the day.

Our back four again under the leadership of Gareth Wager were immense as a unit, this despite the loss of Marc Taylor, Adrian Bellamy slotted in at centre back and did well with Gareth alongside him against two players in Douglas Pringle and Leon Grandison that were bright and have excellent movement and awareness but both did well against two good players, Josh Lee slotted in admirably at right full back complimenting Lee Pugh at left back, as a unit they were excellent and when on the odd occasion were found wanting Matthew Wrigley was there for them.

It was not easy for Haydn Paul upfront battling it out on his own but the lad is certainly coming of age and doing exceptionally well and importantly not being fazed by it all, Matthew Hampson, Daniel Cocks & Lance Ogunyode all contributed to a fine team performance as did Martin Cosgrave, it was unfortunate we could not find that missing goal but also the penalty miss aside some credit must go to New Mills in nullifying our threat hence why they are favourites to be the champions, this may be, but given all the circumstances of missing players, injuries and re organisation on the day, despite defeat, these Bacup boys are our champions, myself and Andy Hill are both proud of their contribution today, although in defeat there was very little between the two sides, both teams did contribute in an excellent game of football played with honesty and commitment from both sides”

Team: Matthew Wrigley, Adrian Bellamy, Gareth Wager, Marc Taylor (Josh Lee), Lee Pugh, Daniel Cocks, Lee Oldham, Kingsley Williams, Lance Ogunyode, Matthew Hampson (Martin Cosgrave), Haydn Paul

Subs Not Used: Martin Peters, Max Jones, Tommy Turner

Goals: --

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