30 April 2014

 

Both the first and second teams were in cup action at the end of April as they took part in their respective league cup competitions.

 

Cup competitions have provided Village Manchester with most of the high points this season with the club taking part in the GFSN Cup final at the end of May and the second team in the final of the MCCL Division Two Cup still to play.

 

It was a day of cup disappointment however as both teams lost their games.

 

The morning kick off saw Village firsts come up against Deloitte – the team directly below them in the league – in the semi-final of the Kings Cup. Both teams registered one victory each in the two league games this season – but both games were tight with one goal separating the teams in both fixtures.

 

The match was the first team’s first game in three weeks but it didn’t take too long for the side to blow away the cobwebs. Unfortunately they found themselves 1-0 down after 15 minutes as a smart pass and clever run saw the Deloitte attack spilt the defence, round goalkeeper Baker and score.

 

The task for Village was made harder as Clayton managed to get himself sent off a few minutes later. The usually calm McNaught reacted angrily to a poor tackle by a Deloitte midfielder which triggered some pushing and shoving between a number of players. At the end of the melee, Clayton was shown his marching orders for raising his hands.

 

As often happens with football teams, Village started playing some of their best football with 10 men and they all put in a sterling shift which made a mockery of the man disadvantage. Village did have their chances to bag an equaliser but with a minute left – and with Village pushing almost everyone up – Deloitte made their man advantage pay with a goal on the break to make it 2-0 and send them into the final.

 

In the evening, the second team faced New East Manchester in the MCCL League Cup first round first leg. The opposition are in the league above Village so the team knew they would be in for a difficult game.

 

With three new players making their debuts, the game started tentatively with Village getting used to the higher class of opposition and the new style of play. It was New East Manchester who opened the scoring as their number 7 found too much space in the Village defence and slotted past Baker. Village struck back almost immediately however as Holmes set up Kirkham to equalise.

 

The club went into half time with the scores level and high hopes for the second half. They held out for a little while but the opposition’s superior strength and tactical nous eventually told as they took advantage of an inexperienced and tiring Village to put four more past them to win 5-1.

 

Despite the score line, Village can take heart that A Johnson, Rodriguez and Hickmann made promising debuts which bodes well for the future and they can go into the second leg with the pressure off.