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REVENGE IS SWEET FOR JOHN MOORES

By Alex King ⋅ December 10, 2007 ⋅  Print this post ⋅ Post a comment

MATCH REPORT: UoL vs LJMU

The highly anticipated derby match between the Men’s Firsts of LJMU and UoL went in favour of the home side, with LJMU running out 2-0 victors in awful conditions at Waterloo Dock.

The heavens opened just before kick-off, and refused to close for the duration of the match, meaning that the opening exchanges were scrappy at best. However, LJMU adjusted to the conditions quickly and took the upper hand in the first quarter of the match, dominating possession without creating any clear-cut openings.

UoL eventually forced their way back into the match, but their first serious endeavour into opposition territory left them exposed at the back, and LJMU capitalised on this to open the scoring. Quick to act when a UoL attack broke down, LJMU swept up the pitch in a matter of seconds, and a probing cross was sent across from the left which somehow evaded everyone in the area.

The danger was not over, however, as the ball fell to LJMU’s right winger who was left in acres of space by UoL’s lacklustre marking. The resulting cross was perfect, and was duly dispatched to the dismay of UoL, finding themselves a goal down after having been on the attack only a few seconds earlier. The goal galvanised UoL’s players into action and they came back into the game in the last twenty minutes of the first half, with forward Alex Booker going agonisingly close as half-time beckoned.

UoL’s players came back onto the pitch seemingly confident that they could overturn the deficit and began to dictate the game, forcing their opponents to camp in their own half for much of the second half.

During one of UoL’s numerous attacks, left-winger Joe Coffey found himself a yard of space and managed to fashion a cross-cum-shot only to see the ball slam off the LJMU crossbar. LJMU continued to be pushed back but managed to hang on to their slender advantage, occasionally looking to hit UoL on the break as they had done so successfully in the first half.

After UoL had a huge penalty appeal turned down, one such counter-attack culminated in LJMU winning a free-kick in a dangerous position on the right touchline. UoL’s failure to deal with balls from wide positions was again exposed, and again, they paid the ultimate penalty. The free-kick evaded every player in the area, and, with some help from the almost gale-force wind, curled into the far post to cries of despair from the UoL defence. Though there were twenty minutes left, this sucker-punch seemed to kill off any threat from UoL whose heads dropped as they stared defeat in the face for only the second time this season. The rain continued to pour, and the final exchanges showed the exhaustion caused by the awful conditions as the match petered out without further incident.

The result throws the league table wide open, with only one point between second placed UoL and fifth placed LJMU, with three games of the season remaining.

UoL’s captain for the day, left-back Jonny Martin, was surprisingly upbeat in the face of defeat, believing UoL played the better football. “We’re quite pleased with the performance despite the fact that we lost. It was a huge improvement, footballing-wise, on the last two performances - the new players we brought in for the game did especially well. If we can perform like this week in, week out, we should be there or thereabouts at the end of the season.”