Saturday at Dunscar Bridge saw the only local non league game go ahead, and the West Lancashire Premier League clash versus Vickerstown had ground staff Karl Hurst and Reg Wharton yet again to thank for making the pitch playable. The end result was worth it but it made for an afternoon of controversy and great entertainment!
The Eagles started the day in 12th position and only two points above Vickerstown, so this was a massive game which they knew only too well they needed to win. Right from the kick off they came out of the blocks and were piling the pressure on their Cumbrian opponents. Then the breakthrough came on 7 minutes after player/boss Simon Whaley put a great corner into the box which resulted in a scramble in the Vickerstown goal area, this resulted in an Eagley shot which caught a deflection from an outstretched defender and found the back of the net for 1 nil!
The Eagles continued to push and battled well through the now sleet and cold conditions when the bell fell to the feet of onrushing forward Joe O’keefe. It looked like he had narrowed the angle too much for a shot, but he fired it hard and low at the Vickerstown shot stopper Jordan Belcher who couldn’t keep it out for 2 nil. The Eagles seemed to be coasting along looking for another goal until a strange twist in fate could of cost them the game! A great through ball from Vickerstown’s Danny Graham found the feet of their striker, and with only Eagley’s keeper Billy Worthington to beat it was looking like 2-1. But Worthington was out quickly and dived down to stop him, only to be judged by referee Mr Smith to have handled it outside of the area. He was also deemed to have prevented a Vickerstown goal scoring opportunity so controversially was sent off, reducing the Eagles to ten men. Then without a keeper on the bench, a quick reshuffle saw central defender and Man of the Match Jack Horan don the gloves. This resulted in a Vickerstown free kick on the edge of the Eagley area which saw David Round step up and curl a great strike right into the top corner for 2 – 1, and game on! This spurred on the visitors, and more pressure nearly saw them get the equaliser if it wasn’t for some heroic goalkeeping from stand-in Horan who was looking at home between the sticks. But the 10 men Eagles defended like lions especially Simon Neary, Danny Vincent, and youngster Finlay Coward who at left back is making the position his own. And that’s how it stayed at the interval as the sleet and rain showers continued to fall.
The score line remained the same as the Eagles 10 men battled well and continued to keep any Vickerstown pressure at bay, but on the 60th minute a goalkeeping miss kick from Vickerstown’s Belcher landed at the feet of Joe O’keefe who calmly took aim from distance and found the net again for 3-1.
Eagley were then in control and kept pushing when O’keefe went on a mazy run in the visitors box. This resulted in Belcher diving at his feet only to fell him down in the area. Unbelievably this meant they too lost their keeper and went down to 10 men. Whaley stepped up to take it, and made no mistake as the Eagles made it 4-1 for a well earned victory in an entertaining afternoon. This win moved the Eagles up a place to 11th in the league and further away from the foot of the table.
We caught up with manager Whaley after the game who said; ‘What a game that was! Both teams lost their keepers, and I feel for Billy (Worthington) as he’s been doing really well, but we dug deep and Jack (Horan) was immense. To be in the goals after 30 minutes into the game was a big ask of him but he was great and kept us in it. Right through the team today we defended well, and lads that came back in I couldn’t ask for any more. We had a lot of passion out there today which is great. We should have won last week as we played well but just couldn’t score, today we did and deserved the win.’