UCLan FC Men: 1s score late winner in another packed week of games
Here are UCLan FC Men’s match reports for Wednesday, February 12.
Niamh Ball watched as a late goal sealed a 2-1 win for the 1s against Salford.
First Half
UCLan 1s got us underway at the UCLan Sports Arena against Salford 1s.
In the opening minutes both teams created chances. UCLan were first to take a shot, but it didn’t hit the target. It was a good start for the home side.
Salford were giving UCLan a good game. They made an exciting counterattack but it led to UCLan winning the ball back in their possession.
In the 22nd minute UCLan get the first goal of the game. Leon Hongkins took the ball from outside the box and slotted it into the bottom right corner. It was a brilliant strike!
Keeping hold of the lead, UCLan created two chances that should’ve gone in. One effort went wide, the other hitting the crossbar. Salford kept themselves in the game despite the chances UCLan were making.
Minutes before half time Salford pulled one back. After several chances, the away side finally had their moment and made it 1-1 before the referee blew the whistle.
HALF TIME: UCLan 1s 1-1 Salford 1s. It was seen an equal game so far. UCLan started the first half strong with Salford matching their demands. A lot of close efforts were not hitting the back of both nets.
Second Half
Salford got the second half underway. UCLan started off the rest of the 45 minutes slower than expected. They managed to avoid Salford taking the lead with UCLan’s Keeper Mathews making some brilliant saves.
Reaching the 65th minute and UCLan found their rhythm. Many chances were starting to be created, showing signs of getting a second goal. The defence remained solid as Salford were not maximising their efforts.
Going into the last 10 minutes of the game it was still 1-1. Plenty of tackles and disruptions were being made by both teams. Salford were not wanting to give the chance of getting their second goal away, but neither were UCLan.
UCLan got their winning goal in the 90th minute. It was a fantastic fight from the home side who were rewarded for their efforts. The shot by Blessing Igharo was taken from outside the box and into the bottom right corner. It seems to be UCLan’s favoured goal placement.
FULL TIME: UCLan 1s 2-1 Salford 1s. The home side gave it their all until the very end. They took a fantastic approach into the last few minutes where in the end, it saw them get their deserved victory. A positive boost for the whole squad who now head into their last few matches of the season.
Katie Shepherd watched as UCLan 2s took on Lancaster 2s away from home.
UCLan’s 2s travelled to Lancaster for the second time this season to face Lancaster 2s, losing out in a 3-1 defeat.
It was a tight game for the first 15 minutes with an early on chance from Lancaster being dealt with well by UCLan keeper Evans.
29 minutes in and it was the home side that took the first goal. Kicking it over his head, the Lancaster striker found the net with little that could be done by UCLan.
Still the away side pushed on, where after some battle in the box, UCLan found a great goal through their number 11 Sutton to go level.
Just before half time, a UCLan player did see a red card from the sideline. Connor Allen spent the rest of his afternoon watching on from a distance.
Half time and the score like stood at 1-1. UCLan had put in a very strong performance so far against a solid Lancaster side and were looking to build up a lead in the second half.
Shortly after the second half got underway, Lancaster took the lead again and UCLan had some work to do with the scoreline standing at 2-1.
Plenty of substitutions made by UCLan in the second half of the game with Idehen, Bennion, and Vaughan looking to make an impact.
Lancaster had a goal disallowed for offside, and UCLan carried on with a very solid performance.
Four minutes plus stoppage time to go and Lancaster extended their lead to 3-1. Frustration for UCLan after they had put in a great game.
The final substitution from UCLan came at 87 minutes with Ogundare taking to the field for the final minutes of the game.
The whistle called full time on what was a disappointing result for Uclan, but the game had a lot of positives for the side to focus on and manager Josh Lucas was upbeat about the team’s performance.
Elsewhere, the 4s suffered a 3-0 defeat at home to Manchester Met 3s.
The hosts enjoyed their best spell inside the first 10 minutes or so, during which Sam Hill forced a good, low save from Man Met’s ‘keeper after the ball looked certain to nestle in the bottom corner.
The away side took the lead on 12 minutes when a chipped effort from distance was converted.
The only other notable effort in a first half devoid of real attacking quality aside from the opener, was a Man Met shot direct from a free kick which struck the bar.
The second half brought with it much more attacking quality, albeit for the visitors. Their lead was increased to three in the first half of the second 45 thanks to a nicely worked team move and an unfortunate own goal.
There are three more league games left for Harvey le Brocq’s side and the coach did not mince his words at full time.
Next up…
- 1s (February 26, 1.30pm): Lancaster 1s (a) – Northern Tier 3A
- 2s (February 26, 1pm): Liverpool John Moores 3s (a) – Northern Tier 4C
- 4s (February 19, 2pm): Liverpool Hope 2s (h) – Northern Tier 5C
- 5s (February 19, 2pm): Cumbria 1s (h) – Northern Tier 5C
