True to Eagley form there was no shortage of excitement in Saturday’s games as the 1st Team took on Slyne with Hest in the Richardson Cup, and the reserves played Milnthorpe at home in the League 2 clash,
The cup game was played at Lancaster City due to the Slyne pitch struggling after the torrent of recent rain, which was a good test for the Eagles as they had a large pitch to consider which in turn meant hard work as they tried to break Slyne down. Eagley’s young striker Taylor Jones was given his first start and was knocking on the Slyne door but just couldn’t find the net. After some good Slyne pressure they began to pile the pressure on the Eagles defence and managed to hit the bar, but also thanks to some great saves by the returning keeper Tom Macdonald it was honours even at the break. The game continued in that vein until Slyne forward Daniel Dickenson went on a great run and cut inside the Eagles defence and a deft touch into the corner to beat the outstretched Macdonald. Eagley then pushed but couldn’t seem to create anything until player/boss Simon Whaley went on the attack and let one fly from about 25 yards which was unstoppable into the top left corner for the equaliser. And that’s how it stayed which took the tie straight to penalties. After both teams missed two spot kicks it went to sudden death, and when the Eagles blasted one high it looked like it wasn’t going to be their day, this resulted in Slyne slotting home the next one to put them into the next round and sending Eagley home, but giving them a chance to put it right next week as they play Slyne again at home in the West Lancs Premier League fixture.
Meanwhile, it was all smiles eventually down at Dunscar Bridge as the reserves took on Milnthorpe Corinthians, and Craig Coote and Oli Clarke had their first taste of West Lancs management, making it difficult for themselves as they fought back from behind!
Like the 1st team they struggled to make an impact against the visitors and appeared to struggle to settle down. Then from a counter attack the Eagles were caught out which resulted in Milnthorpe getting the opener, when shortly afterwards the same happened and disaster struck and 2 down. But the Eagles continued to press and Man of the Match Conor Close was brought down in the box. The experienced ex Clitheroe debutant Michael Ashton took the resulting penalty and took it to 2-1 at the break. Eagley continued the pressure on Milnthorpe in the second half and soon this paid off with Kirtis Monson hitting a cracking equaliser into the top corner. The new management team them pulled a masterstroke by putting on new signing veteran striker Denny Khan. He made his mark by winning a strong challenge with the Milnthorpe keeper before calmly lofting the ball into the back of the net to win the game at 3-2. On another bright note four of the Eagles under 16’s players were included in the senior squad, Jake Hurst, Leon Borrino, Rocco Vivace’, and Callum Higson. sadly, Callum after just coming on the pitch received a straight red card for a rash challenge, but hopefully he’ll be back soon.
Coote and Clarke were clearly delighted with their debut victory and let’s hope there’s many more to come.