Moston Brook AFC

Last Saturday brought the match of the day in division one with Moston and Whalley Range locking horns in an attempt to strengthen their challenge for promotion and the divisional championship. Due to both sides being keen the match started ten minutes early.

In the early exchanges neither team could make a breakthrough, however Beanhead had to pull off a good one handed save and Whalley Ranges centre forward headed over when it seemed easy to score. Moston had two penalty appeals turned down with Jonny Munson causing their back four several problems. The deadlock was broken when the referee gave Moston a penalty apparently for an elbow in the box. Darren Dunleavey coolly converted the spot kick. Moston increased their lead when from a Beanhead hoof upfield Jonny Munson set up Paul Vayro. Mostons third came when Paul Vayro played in Mark Roberts and on turning his defender he planted a shot in the bottom corner of the net. Whalley Range pulled a goal back when the Moston team stopped in the knowledge the ball had gone out of play but the referee played on and three Whalley Range players were through on goal to score easily. The referee had come without his flags and no one on the Whalley Range side of the field seemed to want the responsibilty of running the line. The old golden rule though is to play to the whistle!  HT 3-1.

The second half was going to be difficult because the wind seemed to be getting stronger. The first fifteen minutes of the second half seemed to be under control until a lapse in possession gave Whalley Range the ball just outside our box, and a good passing movement resulted in them scoring a second with a crisp side foot past Beanhead. Moston were next to score when Michael Brady in midfield put a terrific through ball into the path of Jonny Munson who in typical fashion gave their keeper no chance. Paul Vayro then went close having his attempt on goal cleared off the line. Whalley Range scored a third when one of their players got to much room in the box and he fired home. Then the final twist came with five minutes to go Whalley Range were given a penalty apparently for a foul by Joe McNeill who was then sent off for dissent. Whalley Range scored from the spot but the ten men of Moston held on to share the spoils. Apparently the second half lasted 51 minutes it must have come from all the stoppage time. FT 4-4.

The result was Mostons third league draw on the trot, two of which have been against the third and fourth placed teams in the league, and we are still in charge of our own destiny.

With Monyei moving back up to the firsts, the seconds were seriously lacking in strikers on Saturday and Fitz had to take his place up front with Dale returning in the centre of midfield. Facing a decent Old Trafford side with lots of pace in midfield and up front, Moston were really kept on their toes at the back and it was our hosts that made most of the running throughout the game. They took the lead, midway through the first half when the Moston defence failed to deal with an inswinging corner and the Old Trafford forward headed in from six yards out. Old Trafford did have other chances to double their lead and were unlucky with several efforts that came off the upright. Without playing well, Moston could and probably should have gone in at half time level, when Mark Terris missed what seemed like a simple chance from only a couple of yards out after Ryan Henry had faced the ball across goal from the left.

Joe decided to make a change at half time with Chris Melia coming on in centre midfield for Chris Ferns. This initially created a positive response and Moston had their best spell of the match and got ourselves in some decent attacking positions without really producing a meaningful shot on goal. I felt that if we would have scored in this spell, we may have got something out of the game. When we didn't and as the game became more stretched, Old Trafford's extra pace up front really made an impact on the game. They made it two, midway through the second half, their left winger getting in down the left hand channel and finishing well. From the kick-off Moston could have got themselves straight back into the game, but after a fine run, Fitz pulled his shot wide. Old Trafford added a third late on from another header by their centre forward for his second and a day of misery was completed for Moston.

Not one of Moston's best display and in truth Old Trafford fully deserved their victory. They had lots of pace up front and in midfield and caused up lots of problems from start to finish. In an attacking sense, we didn't really get into the game, and struggled to really test their keeper, which was a shame since he looked quite shaky when he was called upon. Luckily we only have a couple of weeks to wait for revenge and it will be interesting to see how many of the players that played today, will face us in the return game.

No report.

Last weeks team: D Gleave, M Budzik, D Walsh, C Kennedy, K Thomas, L Thomas, C Moss, F Ojugua,

M Morrison (2), K Peak, F Adesanya. Subs. E Obi, D Kinder, M Heffernan

A good all round performance today by the Brook squad, wasn’t enough to pull anything out of this game as they went down 1-0 in a well fought battle. The first half started brightly enough with both teams having good spells but it was Brook who edged it.

The second half started the same as the first left off, but this time it took a great save from the Rangers keeper to keep out a fine Jackson effort.

Brook again dominated but failed to capitalise on some excellent possession. The killer blow came five minutes from the end when a harmless looking dead ball kick out fell to the feet of the Rangers striker. His shot seemed to catch out the Brook defence and Field could only parry the strike into the top corner.

Final score 0-1 but a good workman like performance from Brook will stand them in good stead for the remaining games of the season, when they will be facing all the strongest  teams in the top half of the league.

Man of the match went to Egan for a great display of leadership at the back, whilst the Rangers manager opted for Jackson for his endeavour up front.