Mellor Thirds 1-5 Whalley Range Thirds
Match report provided by Third Team Manager Adam Axford
It was another disappointing week for the Thirds as we continue with our poor start to the season. We played another of our title rivals from last season in Whalley Range who finished one place above us last term.
We were changed again from our last game, losing our man of the match to the Second team, our Goal Keeper to the cricket and a couple of other players here and there. Luckily we had a couple to come back in but it meant we had to adopt a slightly different shape to what we are used to.
We started OK, absorbing the threat from a Whalley team who maintained their reputation of berating the ref for cards after every tackle and making threats to players who they didn’t like. Luckily this did not affect our game and we continued to try and play good football and continued to put in strong tackles all across the park.
After around 30 minutes we lost one of our centre halves to a possible hamstring injury which meant we had to shuffle around again to cover. We pushed on to half time and had a couple of half chances but unfortunately we failed to test the Whalley keeper. At the other end Jack Kuehl showed why he’s our back up keeper by making some smart saves and closing down the Whalley strikers well.
At half time it was 0-0 and I think we were the happier of the two sides; Whalley really should have made more of their extra possession and chances in front of goal.
Fifteen minutes into the second half saw the first goal of the game, quickly followed by the second and third. Mellor were 0-3 down in the space of 5 minutes, although not against the run of play we were unlucky to be three down so quickly. We fought hard but the big pitch of Wood Lane and the searing heat was taking its toll on the players. We made a number of subs, players coming off for 5-10 mins of relief to take on some fluids and stretch out before coming back on for someone else who was hobbling.
On 75 mins Whalley made it four; the game was all but over. On 83 minutes Pat Rodgers scored his first of the season, drilling home past the Whalley keeper who really should have done better; this goal highlighted how vulnerable they would have been if only we’d created some more chances and had some shots on target.
Whalley grabbed another on 90 mins to make it 1-5, no less than their play deserved however the conduct from Whalley on and off the field lived up to their reputation. Thankfully we only play them twice a season.
On to the next game, hopefully we can get our season up and running. We made a similarly poor start last season (coincidentally playing Whalley in our second game) and went on to be 2 pts from winning the league, so all is not yet lost.
Up the Thirds!
