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Match Report

12th January 2013

EvoStik League Premier Division

Gigg Lane, Gigg Lane, Bury, BL9 9HR


FC United of Manchester

3 - 0

Stafford Rangers

Wright 50
Wolfenden 72
Greaves 76
 
Attendance: 2,131

FC United of Manchester 3

Wright 50
Wolfenden 72
Greaves 76

Stafford Rangers 0

Attendance: 2,131


FC United of Manchester

1 James Spencer
2 Kyle Jacobs (capt)
3 Lee Neville
4 Dean Stott
5 Adam Jones
6 Louis Horne
7 Astley Mulholland
8 Matthew Tierney
9 Tom Fisher
10 Jerome Wright
11 Matthew Wolfenden

Subs.
12 Rhodri Giggs (for 7, 74 mins)
14 Dave Birch (for 6, 46 mins)
16 Jake Cottrell (for 8, 65 mins)

Stafford Rangers

1 Danny Read
2 Luke George
3 Ryan Brown
4 Liam Walshe (capt)
5 James Bolton
6 Michael Carr
7 Jimmy Turner
8 Christian Dacres
9 Karl Ashton
10 Fabrice Kasiama
11 Peter Heler

Subs:
14 Daniel Quinn (for 10, 61 mins)
16 Levi Read (for 7, 73 mins)


Match Report
A spectacular volley by debutant Tom Greaves was the icing on the cake as FC United romped to a 3-0 victory over Stafford Rangers at Gigg Lane on Saturday afternoon, thanks to three second-half goals, with Jerome Wright and Matthew Wolfenden also scoring in front of 2,131 supporters.

The game was United’s first home game of 2013 and a big crowd turned out on a cold afternoon to see if the Reds could put distance between themselves and the visitors and also move further up the table.

For most of the first half though, United failed to get going on a pitch that looked to have replaced water for more sand than Southport beach since our last attempted home game on Boxing Day.

The visitors employed some physical tactics and appeared intent on trying to wind United’s players up. For the first half it seemed to be doing the job with not much of any note coming from the men in red in the first 45 minutes.

The best chances of the opening half fell to the away team within a matter of minutes of each other. First of all a deep free-kick was met by the head of Christian Dacres, who must have though his placed header had put his team up, but United ‘keeper James Spencer pulled off a magnificent save to keep the scores level.

Moments later and Stafford had an even better chance when Karl Ashton seemed to get the better of the United offside trap and squared the ball to Fabrice Kasiama, who somehow fluffed his shot at the open goal wide, saving United from going into the break a goal down.

As the teams came out for the second half it was clear the Reds had to take the initiative if they was to pick up the three points and they did this almost immediately as Lee Neville unleashed a shot from outside the box that went just over the Stafford crossbar and into the MRE.

Spurred on by this, United came forward and for the rest of the second half there was only one team in the game. Within a matter of minutes, United had a string of half chances but looked far more threatening than they had done in the first 45 and it felt like a matter of time before the hosts troubled the scoreboard.

That eventually came when Greaves had his shot saved by Stafford ‘keeper Danny Read. The rebound looped up in the air and Astley Mulholland headed towards goal, only to see his effort just stopped on the line. Mulholland then raced onto the rebound which was going wide, back heeled the ball into the path of Wright who fired home to give United the lead.

From this point on it was only going to be the Reds who won the game but the FC United faithful had to wait 20 minutes for the game to be tied up. After a few half chances, Matthew Wolfenden fired home from inside the Stafford area to give the Reds the two goal cushion that their second half performance had deserved.

A really good team performance was capped off in style as former Bradford Park avenue striker Greaves scored his first goal for the club with an astonishing volley from some way out that went right over Read’s head and just under the crossbar to make it 3-0.

United saw out the remaining 15 minutes with relative ease, and gave substitute appearances to Jake Cottrell and Rhodri Giggs, showing the strength of the playing squad at the moment, something which could prove vital in the run in between now and the end of April.

A great second half performance saw United move up the league once more and even closer to the play off positions. Karl Marginson’s side now face a cup game midweek at near neighbours Ashton, before crossing the Pennines for an always tough away date at Frickley next weekend.

But Margy, the players and the fans alike will have renewed enthusiasm for the coming months following months as the optimistic talk leaving Gigg Lane was about pushing on from a great result today.

Website man of the match: James Spencer – On a day where it was hard to distinguish one player from the rest on a great team performance, I felt Spencer’s first half save that ket the game level was a game changer and meant United could concentrate on winning rather than chasing the game in the second half.
Match Report
A spectacular volley by debutant Tom Greaves was the icing on the cake as FC United romped to a 3-0 victory over Stafford Rangers at Gigg Lane on Saturday afternoon, thanks to three second-half goals, with Jerome Wright and Matthew Wolfenden also scoring in front of 2,131 supporters.

The game was United’s first home game of 2013 and a big crowd turned out on a cold afternoon to see if the Reds could put distance between themselves and the visitors and also move further up the table.

For most of the first half though, United failed to get going on a pitch that looked to have replaced water for more sand than Southport beach since our last attempted home game on Boxing Day.

The visitors employed some physical tactics and appeared intent on trying to wind United’s players up. For the first half it seemed to be doing the job with not much of any note coming from the men in red in the first 45 minutes.

The best chances of the opening half fell to the away team within a matter of minutes of each other. First of all a deep free-kick was met by the head of Christian Dacres, who must have though his placed header had put his team up, but United ‘keeper James Spencer pulled off a magnificent save to keep the scores level.

Moments later and Stafford had an even better chance when Karl Ashton seemed to get the better of the United offside trap and squared the ball to Fabrice Kasiama, who somehow fluffed his shot at the open goal wide, saving United from going into the break a goal down.

As the teams came out for the second half it was clear the Reds had to take the initiative if they was to pick up the three points and they did this almost immediately as Lee Neville unleashed a shot from outside the box that went just over the Stafford crossbar and into the MRE.

Spurred on by this, United came forward and for the rest of the second half there was only one team in the game. Within a matter of minutes, United had a string of half chances but looked far more threatening than they had done in the first 45 and it felt like a matter of time before the hosts troubled the scoreboard.

That eventually came when Greaves had his shot saved by Stafford ‘keeper Danny Read. The rebound looped up in the air and Astley Mulholland headed towards goal, only to see his effort just stopped on the line. Mulholland then raced onto the rebound which was going wide, back heeled the ball into the path of Wright who fired home to give United the lead.

From this point on it was only going to be the Reds who won the game but the FC United faithful had to wait 20 minutes for the game to be tied up. After a few half chances, Matthew Wolfenden fired home from inside the Stafford area to give the Reds the two goal cushion that their second half performance had deserved.

A really good team performance was capped off in style as former Bradford Park avenue striker Greaves scored his first goal for the club with an astonishing volley from some way out that went right over Read’s head and just under the crossbar to make it 3-0.

United saw out the remaining 15 minutes with relative ease, and gave substitute appearances to Jake Cottrell and Rhodri Giggs, showing the strength of the playing squad at the moment, something which could prove vital in the run in between now and the end of April.

A great second half performance saw United move up the league once more and even closer to the play off positions. Karl Marginson’s side now face a cup game midweek at near neighbours Ashton, before crossing the Pennines for an always tough away date at Frickley next weekend.

But Margy, the players and the fans alike will have renewed enthusiasm for the coming months following months as the optimistic talk leaving Gigg Lane was about pushing on from a great result today.

Website man of the match: James Spencer – On a day where it was hard to distinguish one player from the rest on a great team performance, I felt Spencer’s first half save that ket the game level was a game changer and meant United could concentrate on winning rather than chasing the game in the second half.

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