21. Adventures Across The Pennines
Sounds more like a school mission statement than a county...
The big kick off has finally arrived and it's fair to say I'm excited. Gone are those short easy little trips down the motorw.... Hang on! Were in West Yorkshire.. there's no short, easy trips anywhere without congestion, roadworks, temporary traffic lights or a tailback on the M62, M1, M621, M1/A1 Link Road or if in Bradford the M606.. . as well as those stupid drivers that think the A6110 ring road is bloody Silverstone! Anyway I digress... In the amateur leagues, places like Huddersfield and Keighley were the furthest we ever travelled to and were relatively short compared to the massive trip we were about to undergo to Barrow in Furness in Cumbria to take on Holker Old Boys in our first game of the season in the North West Counties Division One North.
During pre-season we managed to raise enough cash to buy a team coach as it would be too much to expect players who are earning barely enough for a tank of petrol per week from the club to foot the bill for our long away trips such as this one themselves.
Therefore now is a great opportunity to introduce our bus driver, which like every other bus driver at a football club is called Dave... Dave Roberts... It is debatable whether this slightly tubby, slightly balding 40 something Dave qualifies for "Big Dave" status but maybe after a few pies at some far flung away grounds this will be granted.
"Big" Dave lives in Morley in an old terraced house just off Middleton Road and is a big Man United fan.. which was nearly a deal breaker when this came up in his job interview! Luckily being an ex lorry driver his geographical knowlege of motorways and places across the Pennines, especially around the Manchester area far outweighed his football allegiencies... We will need his knowledge of Lancashire to navigate us to places like Atherton, Chadderton and Daisy Hill...
What the devil happened to Scott Fenwick?
Some of you who follow this story closely may have noticed that towards the end of last season we signed a Target Forward by the name of Scott Fenwick and then he has barely been mentioned since. Well soon after signing he contracted a severe bout of flu which left him bedridden for a week. After recovering he made one brief substitute appearance against Calverley United in a 3-1 home win and then was never to be seen again in a Morley shirt. He then signed for Garforth Town.
Match 1 Holker Old Boys v Morley Town
So here we are the BIG kick off.. The lads are excited as they board our new team bus, which will take us on the long journey up to Barrow in Furness in Cumbria for our opening fixture. This is a real test as to where we are at both on and off the pitch as a club. Instead of driving to matches themselves as they did in the amateur leagues to places no more than around 10/15 miles away, suddenly we find ourselves halfway up the M6 in the pouring rain on the way to one of the biggest cul-de sacs in the UK. This is a tough debut for bus driver Dave.. Anyway on to the football. We line up in a traditional 4-4-2.
Team: Hall, Croft, Clappison,
Bentley, Lacey, Wright, Makiessi, Grantham, Smith, Ellis, Preston
Nine minutes
in and the home side take the lead. They win an important header from Hall’s
goal kick and Brathwaite runs at the Morley defence before slipping in
midfielder, Rajdeep Palit to lash the ball past Hall. They look well up for
this and hunt us down in packs, sharp in the tackle and then breaking quickly.
Meanwhile we look lethargic. Maybe it was the long journey. Once more they
break up play and the lively Palit feeds their striker, Hooper, whose clever
ball round the corner plays in Lindley.. 2-0... We are not going to have it all
our own way in this league! They look like they can score with every attack and
they nearly do.. on several occasions, including one disallowed from the
brilliantly named, Bobby Bjork... He went oh so quiet as he halted his goal celebration when the linesman raised
his flag... We look a bit more threatening in the second half though and win a few
set pieces, but Clappison heads over at the back post when he should have hit
the target. Then... from a throw in Croft finds Wright, who feeds Grantham who
cuts inside cleverly into the penalty area and lets fly. The ball hits Louis
Rowe and deflects past the diving keeper. I’m not sure how much he knew about
it but it has halved the deficit with our first shot on target. Suddenly we
look like a different team. Louis Rowe holds up the ball intelligently and lays
off to Kevin Preston who strides across the the midfield and sprays the ball
out to Courey Grantham. His fizzing low cross is blasted home first time at the
near post by Aaron Smith. Brilliant goal and what a comeback! But.... Luis
Lacey plays a lazy ball towards Pappril and Livesey Mason intercepts and hares
towards goal. Nobody can stop him as he slides the ball past Hall into the
corner for 3-2 and against the run of play. We respond. Pappril heads just over
from a free kick and Preston has a shot blocked late on. 3-2 the final score
but some positives to take all the way back to West Yorkshire with us.
Final Score Holker Old Boys 3-2
Morley Town
Palit
10
Rowe 65
Lindley
20
Smith 66
Mason 77
Whing Leaves Morley Town
My third
choice keeper, Colum Whing has chosen to join Lincolnshire Football League
team, Louth Town.
Rob Hudson on loan at Wooton St
George
A strange one this. Rob Hudson is in my plans as a back up to Sam Wright in defensive midfield and if I say decide to go with a three in midfield they could play alongside eachother.. Yet, he won’t sign a new contract because apparently he is “unhappy” at the club, has had several clubs offer him contracts.. yet chooses to go all the way down to Northamptonshire Combinations League 2 outfit, Wooton St George on loan just to prove a point...
Match 2: Morley Town v Ryburn United
Our first
home game sees Ryburn United visit us. They won their first game so are in 5th.
I make three changes Schorah comes in for Makiessi and Rowe replaces the
worryingly off colour Ellis up front to partner Aaron Smith. Busfield replaces
Croft at right back, who has picked up a knock.
Team: Hall, Busfield, Clappison,
Bentley, Lacey, Wright, Scorah, Grantham,
Rowe, Smith, Preston
It’s fairly
even with both sides looking to attack. On 33 minutes Clappison finds Grantham
on the right wing who crosses low for Aaron Smith to tap home. A brilliant team
goal. Then a great spell of possession results in Schorah finding Rowe. He
turns and sets Grantham galloping down the right. His low cross is lashed home
first time by Smith for his and Morley’s second goal. It’s two nil at half
time. Into the second half and we are still in control, or so we think. Ryburn then
break away and a sweeping move results in James firing past Hall to halve the
deficit. No worries. We maintain control and when a Haylock free kick is only
partially cleared, the ball is picked up by Clappison who finds Rowe. Rowe to
Preston! The youngster rifles the ball into the net. 3-1. A first win of the
season under our belts.
Final Score: Morley Town 3-1 Ryburn
United
Smith
33,36
James 53
Preston 90
Match 3: Prestwich Heys v Morley Town
We travel to
Greater Manchester in decent spirits after registering our first win against
Ryburn. Prestwich are in second after a win and a draw in their opening two
fixtures. I name an unchanged team.
Team: Hall, Busfield, Clappison,
Bentley, Lacey, Wright, Schorah, Grantham, Rowe, Smith, Preston
Sam Wright is just a brilliant footballer at this level. On four minutes he bursts forward from midfield, twisting and turning past the defender to the byeline, then checks back before playing a simple cutback to Callum Schorah in the area who lashes the ball home. One minute later and Prestwich are trying to play out from the back, which at this level seems a bit ambitious. Inevitably the move breaks down when Schorah intercepts and sets free Aaron Smith. He is tackled but Louis Rowe picks up the loose ball and fizzes the ball first time into the corner. Lethal! Prestwich hit back though and McHarrie forces a fine save from Hall when through on goal. They attack again and this time score when Regan Southern fires home from close range after the loose ball fell to him in the penalty area from a Clappison tackle. On the stroke of half time Prestwich win a corner and this is floated to the back post where Gareth Roberts leaps highest and powerfully heads into the top corner. Two each at the break. We start brightly and Kevin Preston who has been quiet so far springs to life down the left wing and fizzes in a peach of a low cross for Louis Rowe to easily tap home his second of the game. Prestwich look for an equaliser and Hall makes a brilliant save from a long range effort by Saunders. Our defence scrambles the ball away once too often, but we somehow see it through to record an important away win.
Southern
22
Scrorah 5
Roberts 45 Rowe 6,51
Match 4: Morley Town
v Atherton Laburnum Rovers
Next up we host Mike Atherton Laburnum Rovers, who have only
gained one point so far and find themselves in the relegation spots, although
it is still early days. Our two wins have propelled us to 4th place,
but as they say it’s a marathon not a sprint. I go in unchanged for the third
game running.
Team: Hall, Busfield,
Clappison, Bentley, Lacey, Wright, Schorah, Grantham, Smith, Rowe, Preston
Match Action
Cheered on by a group of raucous ultras behind the goal we
kick off and attack. Sam Wright flashes a shot just past the post. When a
Wright free kick is cleared, it is picked up by Kevin Preston. He passes right
to Courey Grantham, who cuts inside and places a firm shot into the corner of
the net. Sheer class! It’s an entertaining game and Kevin Preston just misses
from a narrow angle and Louis Rowe fires over after a brilliant run. At the
other end Ed Hall denies their striker from close range. One nil to us at half
time. Into the second half and we assert dominance. We play out from the back.
Bentley finds Schorah who gallops over the halfway line and lays it forward to
Louis Rowe who has dropped deep. He turns and plays a spectacular through ball
to the onrushing Aaron Smith who lashes home number 2 on the half volley. Quite
brilliant from the boys! On 69 minutes, sub Gabriel Ellis drops deep and passes
on to Aaron Smith, who nicks it past the defender and sets sub up Jean Claude Makiessi
who completes the scoring and propels us up to 3rd in the table. We
more than belong in this league and teams will not relish coming to Glen Road.
We bought a pint down the Farriers afterwards for the one Atherton fan who
travelled across The Pennines to support his team on a Wednesday night in early
September.
Chadderton is the lesser known town in that belt
of better known places just north of Manchester, such as Bury, Rochdale and
Oldham. They have had a decent start to the season and are in 8th
place, while we occupy 3rd place. I name yet another unchanged team
to the one who impressed against Atherton.
Team: Hall, Busfield,
Clappison, Bentley, Lacey, Wright, Schorah, Grantham, Smith, Rowe, Preston
We are all over Chadderton in the opening 20 but fail to make
it count. The unlikely source of Edward Busfield forces a fine fingertip save
from the keeper. Louis Rowe fires just wide after a good run. However when Lacey
and Bentley get in eachother’s way trying to clear the ball, it is seized upon
by midfielder, Chris Anderson who runs through on goal and slots the ball
comfortably past Ed Hall. Then to make matters worse, Gareth Tayo strikes a
free kick which takes a wicked deflection off the wall, and past the wrong
footed Hall... 2-0 Chadderton at half time. We have been the better side but
they have had the most luck. I am not too harsh on the players. After all they
are away from home and have played well. I tell them they have the ability to
turn it around. Into the second half, Sam Wright assertively wins a header in midfield
in the direction of Louis Rowe who runs through on goal and smacks it past the
keeper for 2-1. Chadderton hit back though but Gareth Tayo can only hit the bar
when free in the penalty area. He should have scored. That was a sitter! We win
a corner which is cleared but only to sub Gabriel Ellis who floats the ball
immediately to the far post where Louis Rowe is unmarked and nods home a
deserved equaliser. Then a touch of class from sub Makiessi who spins past his
man and cracks a shot which smacks into the crossbar and out again.. It
finishes two each.
Final Score:
Chadderton 2-2 Morley Town
Anderson 24 Rowe 49,64
Tayo 29
A good start to the season has seen Morley Town rise to the upper reaches of the North West Counties League Division One North after five games with three wins and a draw, showing our friends from over t'Pennines we are not to be trifled with this season. Can Morley sustain their good start to the season? Find out next time on The Ultimate English Pyramid Game!
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