Lancaster City Reserves 0 Fleetwood Town Reserves 2
Lancit Haulage Lancashire League
24th August 2007
Goals: FTFC – Joel Cowell, Jamie Wright

Fleetwood dominated this fixture from start to finish and it would of been a true reflection of the game if they had won by six or seven goals. As it was, poor finishing and some acrobatics from the City keeper, Nuno, kept the score respectable. The tiny keeper was flying all over the place in the first half, tipping shots over the bar, and leaping like a salmon to clutch crosses flung into his penalty area. Any chance of Lancaster getting anything from the game really evaporated in the twenty sixth minute when, following a corner, Mark Davis' goal bound header was punched off the line by a City Defender. There was some debate whether the ball had crossed the line but the Referee, who it must be said will have better games, gave the penalty and sent the culprit off. Dax Hoogerwerf stepped up and struck a low shot to the keeper's right. Nuno sprang like a cat and pushed the ball onto the post and the resulting chaos saw him save twice from Davis and Joel Cowell to keep Fleetwood out.

The fact the keeper was still on the pitch at this time was something of injustice from Fleetwood's point of view as he should really have been sent off ten minutes earlier when Chris Watkinson found himself one on one with the tiny shot stopper. He swiftly pushed the ball round him but was crudely brought crashing down. The Referee bizarrely awarded a goal kick; much to the amusement of the Lancaster bench.

The second half followed a similar pattern as Town probed the home defence from the kick off and, finally, on the hour mark, Fleetwood finally cracked the City back line. Watkinson turned and slipped the ball to Cowell who shot home from ten yards. One nil is never enough and Fleetwood pushed for a second. With Davis and Anthony Warwick substituted as they are on stand by for the first team today, Jamie Wright and Adam Crossley were introduced. It was Wright who effectively sealed the game with a dazzling piece of finishing. Released by Watkinson , he clipped the ball over the keeper from a very tight angle. With seconds to go, Lancaster had their only effort on goal when Christian Dust, who had had his best game for Fleetwood , blotted his copy book by giving away possession on the half way line. The Lancaster forward screwed his shot wide but really, Mike Hale had his angles perfect and gave him very little to shoot at.

In summary, Fleetwood's performance could be described as sloppy. Lancaster should have been dead and buried by half time but lack of composure, and that man Nuno, meant they had to wait till late in the second half before securing victory.

FTFC Squad: Mike Hale, Danny Eden, Ryan Croft, Christian Dust, Mike Tallentire, Kyle Webster, Mark Davis [Jamie Wright 65 mins], Dax Hoogerwerf, Anthony Warwick [Ben Buschini 60mins],
Chris Watkinson and Joel Cowell [Adam Crossley 65mins].