Winning is a much more pleasurable experience than losing, and losing in driving rain, wind and hail is especially bad. So it was that Freshfield's first win in the league since November was so satisfying. A number of changes were made from last week. Nigel Power returned in goal, Chris Balshaw came back in at left-back, John Armstrong got a rare but well deserved start in midfield and with Dave Brooks injured Neil Makinson was given the chance to recreate his recent good form for the 2nd XI. In that task he mostly succeeded, particularly in the second half, when he abandoned his attempts to play intricately on an unforgiving surface and passed more quickly and with more precision.
Hartwood played with the wind in the first half, and that inevitably meant that Freshfield's attacking was mostly on the break. Damian Nolan was in commanding form at the back and was incisive in his distribution. Much of Freshfield's best play came down the left flank where Chris Jones is starting to fulfil his obvious potential. It was perhaps against the run of play when Hartwood took the lead with 20 minutes gone, Power turning a difficult free-kick onto the bar, only for the wind to blow it into the top corner after the rebound. Simon Richards should have scored when a cross from Jones found him with the goal at his mercy, but he drilled the ball wide.
Freshfield needed to score soon into the second half to give them time to establish control of the game, and they did so in the simplest of ways. Nolan struck a 50-yard free-kick into the path of Jones who beat his man with ease and struck the ball across the face of the goal and into the net. At first, the goal produced complacency but Freshfield were brought to their senses when Power made a good save from a free-kick to keep the scores level. Steve Hughes added some class to the proceedings when he replaced the injured Armstrong, but the introduction of Brian McGlynn for Tommy Smith brought a more immediate result when he converted a simple chance, created by the increasingly influential Jones. Tony Lynch missed a good chance after getting into a good position, and Jones should have scored again himself when Lynch presented him with a good chance after dispossessing the increasingly maverick Hartwood goalkeeper. Jones could only hit the post, something of a speciality of his. Simon Richards was unlucky with a couple of long-range efforts and Mike Kemp forced a good save from the Hartwood keeper which Kemp, but Kemp alone, likened to Steven Gerrard's more spectacular efforts. The points were made safe when Hughes added a third after a long run which owed as much to strength as skill.
A victory in nest week's match against Cream should be enough to make Freshfield confident of staying up, and that may allow the nerves and ill-discipline of recent weeks to be forgotten. A finish in the top half of the table is not beyond this team yet.
Freshfield defend a first-half corner.
Chris Jones waits for the ball.
Charlie Nolan, the only Freshfield supporter to stay for the whole match !