Egerton Panthers Tytherington 12/2/2011

Egerton Panthers 2-0 Tytherington B



Panthers get off to a flyer



The Panthers were up first as they began the battle for the Albert Steele trophy, against a team they beat in the last minute only two weeks ago in a hotly contested and controversial game. It was time to put all ideas of a “friendly” game to the back of their minds and concentrate on the job at hand, as a winning start is a must in these competitions.

From the moment the whistle blew, the Panthers flew out of the traps, throwing caution to the wind and going for the kill from the off. With wingers Luke and Leo stretching the play, the space created in midfield was used to good effect by Ed, linking with his midfield and attack without coming under too much pressure. The solid partnership of defenders Andy and Ben seemed to be coping with what little pressure Tytherington were throwing at them and with no nonsense commanding of his area by Mitch, the Panthers were in little danger of conceding, in fact most of the early play was in the Tytherington half.

The Panthers were growing in confidence and hadn’t it been for a nick off a defenders head from Ollie’s corner, Leo would have surely nodded home the opening goal. The away keeper was now under fire, saving rasping shots from Luke, Ollie and Leo in quick succession.

It seemed that the opening goal was on its way and it came courtesy of a well struck half volley from Ollie. A floated cross to the back post from Leo was driven home under the keeper by the number 21, cue the celebrations, of which all the players joined in. 1-0 HT.

Half time saw the introduction of Adam from the bench and the domination continued from the start. With Tytherington struggling to penetrate the Panthers defence, a quick change in tactics saw Andy replaced by striker Alex as they pushed for another goal. The goal came moments later when a positional change saw Leo switch to the right wing; he took on his marker and fired a low right footed shot across the area and into the bottom corner. 2-0

Moments later it could have been 3 when the Panthers were awarded a free kick on the edge of the area. Ollie stepped up and smashed it just inches from the top corner. Leo had a further chance to increase the score having skipped past a couple of defenders in the box; however his effort was struck into the keepers’ chest.

The Panthers were now in control; however a sudden lapse in concentration saw Tytherington awarded a penalty 3 minutes from time. Mitch made himself big in the goal and with a few jumps from side to side, managed to put the striker off, who’s attempt resembled John Terry’s in Moscow, slipping as he struck the ball which cannoned off the outside of the post for a goal kick.

This ended the game as a contest and when the referee blew the whistle, the Panthers left the pitch with the best possible start and the 3 points in the bag. FT 2-0



Egerton Pumas 3-2 Tytherington A



Pumas made to work for 3 points



Having witnessed the first game, the Pumas could see that Tytherington had pooled their strongest players into their “A” team and knew they were in for a battle, but with 3 points at stake they were up for the challenge.

Both teams sparred with each other during the first 5 minutes, neither willing to go for the knockout, but the game sparked into life when Tytherington opened the scoring. The striker found himself in too much space as the pumas defence backed off and fired home to make it 1-0.

The Pumas were now on the back foot and would need to up their game to stay in the match. They did this with ease as a swift move by Ben and Bradley saw the latter cross to the back post for it to be met on the slide by Stan to poke the ball into the roof of the net 1-1. Could the Pumas build on this?

It didn’t look like it as 5 minutes later, the Tytherington striker was once again given too much time in the box to fire low past Matt into the bottom corner 2-1 HT.

If the cliché “football is a game of two halves” was too be used today, this was the game it was to be associated with. The Pumas came out in the second half with an urgency that showed they wanted to win this game. Matt was pulling off great saves to keep the score at 2-1 and the defence was beginning to find its feet as the pressure began to sway towards Tytherington. The pressure paid off when Bradleys cross/shot flew into the top corner from the edge of the box to level the scores 2-2.

A swift attack by Tytherington saw them hit the post at the other end, their manager falling to his knees, praying for a bit more luck.....prayers like these don’t get answered on Mereheath lane!

With the clock ticking down, Egerton broke quickly and created a 2 on 1 situation; Bradley’s first touch was a little heavy so he needed to stretch, injuring himself in the process, to poke the ball past the defender and into the path of the lightening quick Jack, who calmly slotted the ball under the on rushing keeper to raise the roof and make it 3-2!!! With only a few moments left the Pumas composed themselves until the whistle to follow the Panthers in taking all 3 points. The Pumas now have a couple of weeks to build on this result and work on getting back to their best as on another day they would have made light work of Tytherington. FT 3-2