For the second time in three weeks Thornton Cleveleys beat the Eagles, but this time it was a lot closer than the last encounter…
With Defender Jack Horan sitting out his second of a three match ban and several other players out injured, manager Whaley was forced to make changes. Eagley started well and were battling hard but just couldn’t break down a solid Thornton defence, who were giving as much as they got with both sides coming close but it remained honours even at the interval.
Then ten minutes into the second half Thornton forward Mike McAlpine went on a mazy run and seemed to walk through the Eagley defence far too easily before shooting into the bottom corner and out of the reach of Tom Macdonald for 1 nil. The game then soured slightly as Thornton went down to ten men as they lost a player for violent conduct in an off the ball incident. True to form this fired Thornton up and they seemed to cope with everything that Eagley could throw at them until the Eagley shot stopper failed to collect a loose ball which Thornton’s Brett Dawson kindly accepted and slotted home for 2 nil. A harsh goal for the Eagles to take as they worked hard to try and fight back into the game but it wasn’t to be and Thornton held out well for the win.
The reserves had no league fixture but took on Locals Tempest United in a friendly up at Essa Academy where in a closely fought contest Tempest came out 5-4 winners.