Fleetwood Town FC 3
Southport FC 0
Tuesday
July 24th 2007 Pre Season Friendly
Crowd
285
Goals:
FTFC – Jamie Milligan (23min), Richie Allen (72min), Phil Denney (90min)
The
Sandgrounders recorded their first visit to Highbury for many a long year for
this pre season friendly. A good crowd on a sunny evening made the total
attendance over 5,000 for the first three games! The Southport team consisted
of several trialists and they were convincingly beaten by a very well organized
Town side.
Fleetwood’s
positive start was rewarded mid-way through the first-half with a well taken
goal from Jamie Milligan after the visitors had failed to clear a throw in from
Jerome Fitzgerald, the former Southport player. Town proceeded to dominate the number
of attempts at goal, and brought a number of saves from goalkeeper Terry Smith,
who was one of the few recognised names in the ‘Port team. The Sandgrounders
only notable chance of the opening period fell to Evans, who was denied by the
outstretched leg of Danny Hurst after the striker had been played clear of the
Fleetwood defence. Southport had to wait until deep into the second period
before mustering as clear a sight of goal again. Substitute Tony Gray was twice
denied by last-ditch Fleetwood challenges before forcing a fine double save
from Danny Hurst late on having engineered the opening for himself.
Shortly
after the Southport crossbar had been rattled on 70 minutes, Richie Allen
scored Fleetwood’s second with a smart strike across the face of Smith, before
Phil Denney was presented with the simple task of poking the ball home in
stoppage time after the Southport ‘keeper had misjudged a cross from the right.
Fleetwood were excellent value for their win and it could have been by a
greater margin had they been a bit sharper up front. Liam Maloney had a good
game and it was encouraging to see Richie Allen back on great form once again.
FTFC
Squad: Danny Hurst, Guy Heffernan, Shaun Gray, Martin Moran, Johnathon Smith,
Nathan Pond, Liam Maloney, Jamie Milligan, Steve Foster, Andy Bell, Jez
Fitzgerald [C], Phil, Denney, Michael Brown, Richie Allen, Mark Davis, Dax
Hoogerwerf and Kyle Webster.
Southport
Squad: Terry Smith, Russel Hitchin, Chris Lever, David Crouch, Tony Evans, Tom
Shaw, Franny Smith, Shaun Ferguson, Mark Baker, Matt Hocking, Mike Powell, Mark
Horton, Tony Gray, Ryan Wilkie and Carl Moon.
Officials:
Ian Holloway (Referee), NJ Croft and I Rose
