Prestwich crashed out of the Lancashire Cup after this immensely frustrating defeat to Premier Division Rossendale Amateurs at Fearns Sports College on Saturday afternoon.
All other games involving our teams were postponed due to unfit pitches and with more freezing temperatures out on the horizon, next weekend’s final games of the calendar year before the festive break may also be in doubt.
Rossendale Amateurs 6, Prestwich 5
Lancs Amateur Cup Quarter Final
IT’S not often that a team scores five goals in a match and come away with nothing but the end result of this titanic encounter has left Prestwich battered and bruised as they stood toe-to-toe with Rossendale before losing out by the odd goal in eleven.
The tone for the match was set in the opening moments when a Rossendale shot from the edge of the box bounced back in to play off the base of Scott Gibbon’s upright before being cleared to safety.
And as both teams took turns attacking and defending in an open start it was the visitors who struck first blood as Danny Smith curled a free-kick around the outside of the Ammies wall and beat the dive of the ‘keeper.
That lead was doubled just six minutes later as Curtis Ward’s through ball released striker Sean Haslam who drew out the ‘keeper before slotting home from the edge of the box.
The quickfire goals from the lower division visitors sparked the home side in to life and their impressive number 10 danced through the Prestwich defence on the half hour before firing in to the corner to halve his side’s deficit.
With half-time approaching Rossendale restored parity with another goal as they looked to go in to the break with all the momentum behind them.
But within a minute Prestwich stunned their hosts when Martin Hill’s parried shot brought about a corner which Tom Walsh hit long to the far post as defender Paul Taylor rose high to plant a firm header in to the net. 3-2 to Prestwich at half-time.
Less then a minute in to the second half and Rossendale were level again and they can thank a huge slice of luck for this one as covering defender Taylor slipped on the artificial surface allowing a forward a free run on goal which eventually resulted in a shot just out of Gibbon’s reach for three-all.
And ten minutes later the turnaround was complete as the home side surged forward down the right flank before squaring for a close range tap in, although there were a couple of possible offside shouts in the build-up play that didn’t interest the match officials.
Understandably deflated, Prestwich set about getting back in to the game as they found themselves behind for the first time.
On 65 minutes, Smith cut inside from the left, toyed with a defender on the edge of the box before unleashing another curler in to the corner that left the Rossendale ‘keeper clawing at thin air. Four-all.
Lady luck smiled on the home side again just five minutes later when an attempted clearance from the Prestwich defence slammed in to a Rossendale forward and bounced kindly for the player to run through and score unchallenged.
But Prestwich weren’t finished and finally got a bit of the rub of the green when the ‘keepers clearance was charged down by Hill who collected the loose ball before rolling in to the unguarded net for another equaliser.
And with full time just moments away it looked a certainty that the game would be decided on penalty kicks although both teams still fancied their chances of wrapping it up inside the 90 minutes.
Rossendale ventured forward and defender Richard Steadman slid in with a perfect tackle to take the ball off the attacking players foot bringing a loud round of applause from the travelling fans. Unbelievably, the referee deemed this a foul and awarded the home side a direct free-kick with just two minutes of the match left to play.
When the well struck set piece was parried by Gibbon, the fact that the ball fell straight to the foot of a Rossendale forward for a simple tap-in just about summed up Prestwich’s day as Mike Kirkley was soon after given a second yellow with the visitors simmering frustration threatening to boil over.
Operation ‘Achieve Promotion’ can now continue uninterrupted……………
PRESTWICH – Gibbon, Hopkins, Kirkley, Kosub, Steadman, Taylor (1), Smith (2), Ward, Haslam (1), Walsh (Buckley), Hill (1). Unused Subs – Tyldesley, Comiskey
