30 October 2015

 

The tenth month of the year saw Village Manchester take part in five competitive games – three for the first team and two for the second team.

 

The first team’s first game of the month came on the second Sunday as they lined up against last year’s champions AFC Flixton. It promised to be a tough game as the opposition have shown their strong pedigree ever since they joined the league. And they proved to have too much for Village as they ran out 5-1 winners – the bright spot being Bartlett doubling his tally for the season.

 

Next up were Turnpike Pirates in the first round of the Manchester FA Sunday Amateur County Cup at Hough End. It looked like Village might take their league results into the cup as they went in 2-1 down at half time – another Bartlett strike getting Village on the scoresheet. However, a strong second half saw the club blow the opposition away as they struck five in the second half to beat the opposition 6-3. Bartlett completed his hat trick, Fairbrother dispatched a penalty, Storey headed home and Holmes added to his tally for the season.

 

The first team ended their month with a game against rivals Mace. The two teams have competed in some good battles over the years and this game was no exception. The scores were level at half time but a goal from Slovakian Kukucka on his debut proved to be the difference and the first team earned their first league victory of the season.

 

This game was a poignant one for VMFC as we'd only just learnt of the death of our much loved former player, AJ, who had played for and socialised with VMFC many times over the previous two seasons. Mace joined Village Manchester in a minute's silence before the match. 

 

The second team were in action twice in October – away to Mersey Marauders in the last 16 of the GFSN Cup and at home to London Leftfooters in the GFSN League.

 

Mossley Hill Athletics Club was the location for the cup game against Mersey as the club made the short(ish) trip along the M62. On a slopey pitch Village looked to take the game to their opponents and they put some good football together. The opposition looked dangerous on the wings but both sides seemed to cancel each other out. It is of little surprise therefore that the opening goal of the game came from a set piece - and it was Village who took the lead as Holmes headed the ball home. 

 

Half time was welcomed with Village in the lead and a clean sheet in the second half would see the club through. However, two slightly naïve pieces of defending proved their undoing. An unmarked Mersey player was able to score at the back post after a free kick was not cleared and the home team scored the decisive goal 15 minutes from time as they took a quick free kick, which Village were not alive to, and a free attacker finished across Baker from 10 yards out.

 

This was the second team’s first defeat of the season and they looked to bounce back as they hosted London Leftfooters on 17 October. Village boasted a large squad for the game as they looked to make it two wins out of two against teams from the capital in the league. The game was littered with mistakes but it was Village who would go into the halftime break in the lead with a Holmes finish and Hammond’s first goal for the club separating the sides.

 

Manager McPherson demanded more quality from his side for the second half and the team did manage to reduce the number of mistakes which was slowing down the tempo of the game. Village doubled their tally for the game as Holmes grabbed his second of the game and old timer Connell scored one to make the final score 4-0.

 

November will be a busy month for the club on the field and you can check out all of the club's upcoming games by visiting the Fixtures and Results page.

 

Rob McPherson