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FC Youth see the Woodley for the trees

After a week of showers it was a sunny St Brides to which the FC United youth team welcomed Woodley Sports for a North West Youth Alliance League game.

Woodley were equally welcoming once the match kicked off with Jay Walcott tripped in the box after 32 seconds for a penalty to FC. Josh Burke took responsibility and calmly sent the keeper the wrong way as he slotted into the corner of the net.

In truth Woodley, who were previously unbeaten and top of the league never truly recovered from that early setback. A Scott Cheetham free kick could have doubled the lead in the fourth minute as FC went on to dominate the game. The second goal came in the 11th minute when a corner was allowed to bounce around the Woodley area before Dylan Moloney applied a finishing touch.

Chances came and went as Lee Hill and Scott Cheetham were unfortunate not to add to the score. The first Woodley threat didn’t come until the 20th minute when a long range shot from Jack Parsonage was heading for the far corner before being saved at full stretch by Andrew Farrimond.

Chances for the home side flowed thick and fast throughout the remainder of the first half. The only surprise was that the lead didn’t increase. This was down to Nathan Barratt in the Woodley goal as efforts from Scott, Josh and Dylan all seemed otherwise destined for the top corner.

As the half drew to a close Woodley did start to create chances themselves but were unable to find a way past Andrew in the FC goal, ably supported by the defence when Josh Palmer did manage to get a shot past him.

The start of the second half seemed quiet in comparison although in possibly the move of the match, Dylan Moloney threaded a pass through the Woodley defence leaving Scott Cheetham with just the keeper to beat the lead was increased after six minutes.

It was perhaps surprising then that FC didn’t add to the goal tally, probably ten good chances went begging with Scott perhaps most deserving, although it was his enthusiasm that stopped a Jay Walcott shot from going in as it hit him as he rushed into the box to support the attack.

As has often been the case in football such wastefulness tends to be punished at the other end as in the 77th minute Lewis Graham fired a shot across the goal and in off the far post with, for once, Andrew unable to reach it. This inspired Woodley to seek greater reward and in the last ten minutes they were probably the more likely to score.

Fortunately, with no watching Fergusons to frustrate, they failed to do so, although Scott and Dylan did have half chances to restore the three goal cushion. The game ended 3-1 and the Youth matched the first team in opening their season with three straight wins.

A chance to go one better than the senior team will be offered when they play in a reverse of their opening fixture against Nantwich on September 26th. There is no game next week because as many as ten of the squad will be away on County FA representative duty.

FC United of Manchester:
1. Andrew Farrimond,
2. Davison Banda,
3. Jake Haslam,
4. Jordan Dainty,
5. Obeid Elghreaw,
6. Harrison Reeve,
7. Lee Hill,
8. Josh Burke (Goal, 1 min (pen)),
9. Dylan Moloney (Goal, 11 mins),
10. Scott Cheetham (Goal 51 mins),
11. Jay Walcott.
Substitutes:
GK. Aron Buckley Smith,
12. Luke Kolakowski,
14. Carl Fitton,
15. Ryan Westwood (for 7, 74 mins),
16. Andy Graham (for 11, 90 mins).
Booked: Josh Burke and Scott Cheetham




First Posted ~ 16:35 Thu 16 Sep 2010
News ID ~ 3095
Last Updated ~ 01:52 Tue 16 Feb 2021