Reserves held by Padiham

A late header from substitute, Tunde Owolabi rescued a point for the Reserves against Padiham. A 1-1 draw at Nichols was in truth a fair result based on play.

Having only played at Padiham two weeks ago it was the visitors picked up where they left off and seeing a lot of the early possession. In truth though there were few clear cut chances throughout the game. Indeed it was fifteen minutes before either keeper was tested, Sean Davis in the visitors goal saving from Sam Summerbee.

The reds could have taken the lead on 20 minutes when Dean Hope ran on to a forward pass and managed to clip the ball past Davis but unfortunately also wide of the goal. Padiham took advantage of that let off, or rather, were gifted an advantage as a defensive mix up lead to an own goal. A Belgian triallist, Koenraad Hendrickx was looking to deal with a ball played forward. Philip Pole in the FC net had chosen to come to the edge of the box to collect it and was out of position for the Hendrickx header back to where he expected the keeper to be. The ball trickled agonisingly into the net.

For the rest of the half FC United pressed for an equaliser; Summerbee, Fowles and Hope had shots saved but without truly testing Davis. Five minutes before the break, Padiham could have doubled their lead as Nathan Hudson met a cross in space, but headed over.

The second half saw a greater work rate from the home side, Padiham seldom looking like adding to their lead but as time passed it became clear that it would take something special to force an equaliser. A sweeping move via Nathan Chorlton and Chris Hill saw Charlie Doyle shoot wide, but it was the introduction of Owolabi that would eventually provide the spark.

Padiham did have one chance, on 76 minutes; a long throw was punched to the edge of the penalty area by Pole and a return shot looked goal bound until thankfully it hit the bar and looped into Pole’s arms. From there FC broke to the other end and Jason Fowles was unlucky with a driving run and shot that drifted just beyond the post.

For the next five minutes Owolabi made his mark, first with a run down the right before crossing and Padiham clearing, then a shot wide before leaping to meet a Summerbee cross and head into the top corner as FC Broke from defence in the 83rd minute.

Both sides used the remaining time to search for a winner but neither goal was threatened, a Pole save from a Padiham free kick and a Summerbee shot just wide were probably the best efforts. The lads return to Nicholls next Saturday when Nelson are the visitors and kickoff is at 2pm.

FC United of Manchester:
1. Phillip Pole
2. Charlie Doyle
3. Josh Smethurst
4. Jason Fowles
5. Koenraad Hendrickx
6. Nathan Chorlton
7. Chris Hill
8. Michael Brewster
9. Sam Summerbee
10. John Pritchard
11. Dean Hope

Substitutes:
12. Tunde Owolabi (for 5, 56 mins)
14. Nick Truelove
15. Jacob Holt (for 8, 70 mins)
16. Rhodri Giggs

Padiham:
1. Sean Davis
2. Paul Walsh
3. William Irvine
4. Bradley Cookson
5. Daniel Turner
6. Nathan Gibson
7. Nathan Hudson
8. Thomas Anderton
9. Benjamin Bridson
10. Corey Cook
11. Gareth Hill

Substitutes:
12. Samuel Langford
14. Liam Byrne
15. Joshua Emmott
16. Dalian Barker
17. Liam Cole