Freshfield 2-2 Hartwood
27th October 2002
Nigel Power's second blunder in 3 weeks cost Freshfield two points in this match played in winds at the very top of the Beaufort Scale. Overnight the gales had ripped off the roof on one of the dugouts at Formby's new ground and the winds had only got stronger as kick-off approached. Although the conditions for this match were never dangerous, they were hardly conducive to attractive football.
A crowd of 1 at the start of the match grew to 35 as players from other games which had been cancelled arrived. They saw Hartwood take the lead after 15 minutes when their centre-forward was left one-on-one with Power and made no mistake, having appeared from a seemingly offside position. This was the only time that the Freshfield goal was threatened in the first half, and slowly but surely the home side started to pay their way back into the game. Brian McGlynn was eventually given enough ball out on the right flank to make a difference and Freshfield equalised when his cross was diverted into the goal by a Hartwood defender. McGlynn had a good chance to put Freshfield ahead minutes later but his chip was collected by the Hartwood 'keeper, though the best chance of the half fell to Simon Richards who blasted over from 12 yards out.
In the second half Freshfield started well, but fell behind after 10 minutes. A seemingly innocuous cross seemed to have been collected easily by Power when the ball suddenly hit his head and went into the top corner. It was a moment of tragi-comedy that he will want to forget as soon as possible. His blushes were partly spared when Geoff Booker, once again impressive in midfield, broke the Hartwood offside trap and allowed McGlynn to score his first goal for the club. Debutant Chris Jones came on for a strangely subdued Damian Nolan with 25 minutes to go, and his presence nearly won the game for Freshfield. After some good touches he nearly completed a dream debut with minutes left, striking a post with a firmly hit shot. At the other end a composed performance from Paul Hayes quelled most of Hartwood's attacking moves, though they nearly scored when a sliced shot from a corner was taken by the wind and nearly found its way into the net; Power this time just managed to save and avoid further embarrassment.
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Team
Nigel Power |
Subs (not used)
Manager's Man of the Match
Player's Man of the Match
Supporter's Man of the Match
Attendance |