Formby 0
Nantwich Town 3
League (NW Counties League Div 1)

Match Report

Date: Tuesday 31st October.2006.

Teams: Formby 0 v NANTWICH TOWN 3
Andy Bott.10. 72.
Gyorgy Kiss. 82

NANTWICH TOWN: Rob Hackney. Murray McCulloch. Gyorgy Kiss. Richard Smith. Paul Taylor. Jake Bowyer. Adam Beasley. Michalis Chailis. Andy Bott. Matt Blake. James Marrow.Substitutes: Phil Parkinson. Ishmail Reid. Danny McVey.

Conditions were appalling on Merseyside, with a strong north wind blowing across a very bumpy pitch, accompanied by light snow throughout the whole of the game.Steve Davis added Hungarian signing Gyorgy Kiss to the squad,he lined up in the left back position, whilst Paul Taylor moved inside, replacing the injured Mark Fitton at centre half.Meanwhile, Phil Parkinson returned to the squad following a recent ankle injury but,Paul Donnelly was ruled unfit with an almost carbon copy injury of his fellow midfield player.

Nantwich were facing the fierce,and bitterly cold wind in the first half,finding great difficulty in getting the ball down to play quality passes.However,they began well, and forced the home side on to the back foot early in the half, particularly in the 4th minute when tigerish right back Murray McCulloch delivered a sweet centre to James Marrow, who was a shade unlucky to shoot narrowly wide at the far post.Formby recovered, and eventually moved the danger away from their own half,bustling around the midfield, with the aim of getting strikers Furlong and Dolan away.Nantwich struggled for a short period to wrest the play back but, they achieved possession in the 10th minute that led to the opening goal.With McCulloch working overtime, he surged from deep to progress beyond Formby left back Bourne prior to delivering the sweetest of centres that reached Andy Bott lurking close at the far post, who finished off the move with a downward header,squeezing the ball between goalkeeper Philips, and the left post into the corner of the net for the opening goal.Back came Formby, and were showing urgency, particularly in midfield and attack but, despite being spread at times, the Nantwich defence held firm.However,in the 21st minute, Furlong latched on to a through ball from midfield, and closed rapidly on goal before attempting a short range chip that Rob Hackney was forced to stretch full length to prevent the ball from sneaking under the bar.The bitterly cold strong wind showed no signs of abating, and at times made a mockery of players movements when in possession of the ball.With the game moving toward the half hour mark Nantwich found themselves gaining a little more of the play, and during one move, recent signing Chailis collected the ball in the centre circle,before producing a direct run on goal,beating three challenges in the process, before letting loose with a fierce left footed drive from 15 yards that forced the Formby ‘keeper to spread himself across his goalmouth that denied the Cypriot his opening goal.From that moment, the play continually switched ends until the 39th minute when winger Evans carved himself a golden opportunity to open for his side when his unimpeded run down the left concluded with a fierce angled drive that forced Hackney into conceding a corner.With the corner dealt with effectively,Nantwich pressed the ball rapidly toward the Formby right, leaving Chailis with a move toward the box, before being brought down within a foot of the 18 yard line.Beasley elected to take the dead ball kick, his effort resulting in the Formby ‘keeper spilling the ball at the foot of the opposite post but,despite Marrow’s sharpness,the combined effort of both ‘keeper and a defender, denied Marrow an opportunity to score.Danger for `The Dabbers`loomed again 2 minutes from the break when Jones picked up the ball, just inside his own half, and drove a high powered right foot strike that flashed less than a yard wide of the left hand post.Then,with the final move of the half,Nantwich forced the home side into conceding a left sided corner,the dead ball kick met in the centre of goal by Chailis but,in his effort to head past Phillips, he was challenged in the air, and the ball fell wide.Nantwich had the wind behind them in the second half but, recognizing this possible advantage, the home side sought to deny Nantwich possession at every attempt.Crowe wasted an opening for the home side within 2 minutes of the re-start when he drove wide from 20 yards whilst at the opposite end, McCulloch raced from inside his own half following the goal kick, before planting a long range shot into the arms of Phillips.With the 55 minute mark reached, Formby threatened twice through Dolan.Initially,the striker planted a close range header wide before Nantwich holding midfielder Jake Bowyer conceded a penalty just inside the box, and close to the bye line.Dolan’s spot kick was aimed straight to the middle of the goalmouth but,the ball rose before striking the crossbar and behind to safety.Just past the hour Bott headed into the ‘keepers arms from a Gyorky Kiss centre followed by Marrow’s square ball to Beasley whose close range delivery won a corner.Moments earlier,Phil Parkinson had replaced Jake Bowyer in midfield with the introduction allowing Nantwich to edge a vital extra few yards into the Formby half.With Nantwich pressing the ball ever harder they increased their slender lead in the 72nd minute when McCulloch,working the ball from deep on the right, delivered an inch perfect cross, met beautifully at the far post by the handily placed Andy Bott who placed a sweet glancing downward header beyond the diving Phillips to make it three goals in two games and his 12th of the season.Ten minutes from normal time James Marrow was replaced by Ishmail Reid then,within the space of 2 minutes,new signing Gyorgy Kiss scored on his debut after he picked up the ball over on the left of midfield,skipt a challenge, and then fired a perfect left footed 25 yard angled shot that Phillips could only parry into the back of his net.With five minutes of normal time remaining Michalis Chailis went down heavily following a somewhat crude tackle as the midfielder advanced toward the inside of the area, with play held up for several minutes.Chailis eventually rose to his feet following on the field treatment but,despite returning to the pitch, the injury to his right leg necessitated the introduction of Danny McVey for the final minutes of the game.

Nantwich Head Coach Steve Davis commented after the game “ Quite simply,in those conditions, we were only to relieved to hear the final whistle.It was bordering on the impossible to play football throughout the majority of the match but, with Maine Road winning, we needed those three very hard won points to stay ahead of them.”

Match report written by Phil Johnson