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Platt penalty unlocks Gate

A Nicky Platt penalty in the second half gave FC United all three points as they carried on their push for promotion in front of 1,650 supporters at Curzon Ashton’s Tameside Stadium.

In truth they should have had more, but they found Squires Gate a difficult unit to break down. It was clear from the first minute that Squires Gate had come into the match to try and regain some credibility after their 8-0 drubbing at Gigg Lane earlier in the season. From the start they defended deep, leaving two or even only one player forward, and looked to break when they could.

United tried to break them down but rarely had a chance to speak of in the first half, with most of the best work coming from Rory Patterson and Jerome Wright.

Indeed, the best chance of the half came when Patterson laid the ball of to Wright who put a dangerous ball across the goal, but it was just out of reach for Platt who was coming into the box.

In the second half United had more about their attacking play and it looked like a goal would be created from the left side with both Wright and left back Alex Mortimer enjoying the better of the exchanges.

Rhodri Giggs broke free in the Squires Gate penalty area and it looked as though he must score, but his delicate chip bounced off the top off the crossbar.

In the 57th minute the breakthrough finally came, when a clearance from David Chadwick got behind the Squires Gate defence, Patterson was there. The Irishman surged into the penalty area only to be tugged down and the referee immediately pointed towards the penalty spot. Platt stepped up confidently and made no mistake by placing the ball into the bottom left hand corner.

United’s domination of the game continued again with Wright and Patterson looking the most threatening. Untied had a series of chances including a Giggs header in the six yard box which he put over the bar.

A good victory for the Reds, if a bit too close for comfort, but the underlining fact is it’s another three points closer to promotion and now we can look forward to the cup semi-final on Thursday evening.

Craig Phillips

Line ups:

Squires Gate
1 R Yeomans
2 N Horne (capt)
3 K Ford
4 R Lloyd
5 T Benfield
6 S Couch
7 T Phillips
8 M Ashall
9 D Hankin
10 P Miller
11 B Butler
Subs
12 G Hughes (for 10, 87)
14 J Ellard (for 8, 76)
15 A Pearson (for 11, 66)

FC United
1 S Ashton
2 M Taylor
3 A Mortimer
4 N Platt
5 D Chadwick (capt)
6 D Brown
7 R Giggs
8 G Sampson
9 S Rudd
10 J Wright
11 R Patterson
Subs
12 S Roscoe
14 S Carden (for 8, 66)
15 S Spencer (for 7, 90(+4))



First Posted ~ 11:15 Tue 13 Mar 2007
News ID ~ 878
Last Updated ~ 01:52 Tue 16 Feb 2021