Abacus Media 0-2 Mellor Firsts
Match report provided by Craig Fairfield:
Ben Beer loves Saturdays!
Mellor First Team made it ten straight wins in all competitions and a full calendar year without losing in the league with a 2-0 victory over Abacus Media. It was twelve months (almost) to the day since Mellor last lost in the league, a run that started with a 3-2 win over their latest opponents Abacus Media, Mellor went into the game in high spirits following a run of nine consecutive wins in all competitions.
The management team of Dalby and Beer took a strong squad to Middleton but still had some tough decisions to make; these decisions came in the form of a right sided headache, injuries and suspensions to regular right backs, Harold & Clarke and with right midfielder Joe Dalby carry a slight niggle, it meant that Mellor had to shuffle their pack.
Dalby & Beer decided on switching regular center back Mark Oldham to right back, with Dave Whelan dropping back in to partner Paul Swann in the center of the defense, the only other change saw Liam Millen moved out to the right hand side of midfield in place of Joe Dalby who was rotated to the bench, joining Dalby on the bench were Ben Beer and Barry Dalby.
Mellor started the game with no real zip or intention in anything they did, in the first minute alone possession of the ball was given away several times, luckily for Mellor the opposition started the game in a very similar vein, neither side looking like they were up for the challenge ahead.
Five minutes in and there had been no significant improvement in quality from Mellor, however, Abacus Media were now warming to the challenge and started to play with a sense of optimism, two consecutive corners improved this sense of optimism with Cooney having to come to Mellor’s rescue on both occasions.
Buoyed by Mellor’s poor start Media hassled and scrapped for every ball, not only were Media stopping Mellor from playing but they were causing some anxious moments in the Mellor defense, by the half hour mark Media had ran through the middle of Mellor’s midfield 4 times.
Captain, Paul Swann, one of only three players to have started the game well tried to rally his team, it seemed to have worked when on thirty five minutes the equally impressive Mike Palmer burst through the Media defense, when one on one with the keeper the big midfielder showed a lack of composure and saw his effort sail over the bar, the reaction of the Mellor players knew that it should have been 1-0.
The rest of the half was played out in exactly the same manner with Mellor trying to find their rhythm and tempo and Abacus Media working hard to break up play and put pressure on the Mellor defense, even though Mellor were not at their best, there were still a handful of half chances in the first half, the majority of which falling to McAuley who had found a fine adversary in the Media keeper.
The last and best chance of the half fell to Media, some more wasteful play by Mellor saw possession of the ball lost in a very dangerous area, Media quickly played it into their striker who fired a venomous effort at the Mellor net, Cooney looked to be beaten but was able to breath a sigh of relief as the ball rattled the cross bar.
Mellor trudged off the pitch at half time disappointed with their first half display.
The second half started with Mellor looking far more intense, this intensity, spoken about at half time, was clear to see from every single Mellor man, a far cry from the poor display of the first half.
Three minutes into the half and Oldham sent a great delivery into the Media box, McAuley got onto it but the striker once again found the in form Media keeper. Although the chance came to nothing it was far more positive from Mellor who were now playing at a better tempo and also playing the ball into better areas at better times.
Mellor now looking more confident were retaining the ball much better, however Media still posed a threat and Mellor were reminded of this when Dave Whelan trying to play out from the back kept hold of the ball for too long and was caught in possession, the center back leaving himself with no option but to foul the Media player picking up a booking in the process.
Media swung the resulting free kick into the Mellor danger area, Cooney had to be at his best to collect the ball and immediately distribute with German like precision down field to McAuley, the Mellor hit man should have done better when clean through on the Media keeper.
On the hour mark, Mellor made their first change, Millen who had been off the pace by his own admission made way for J.Dalby in a straight swap on the Mellor right.
The game was still scrappy but Mellor continued to push for the opening goal with most of their good work flowing down the left hand side, Cooke who had been very quiet in the first half was now demanding the ball and seemed to have the Media right back exactly where he wanted him.
Chris Corum who had also had a poor first forty-five minutes, was now getting on the ball in midfield and controlling the game like a maestro conducts an orchestra, finding Cooke on the left and Dalby on the right with apparent ease.
With Seventy minutes of the game gone Mellor finally made the breakthrough, it was a goal of great quality from Mellor and certainly the best football of the game so far.
Cooney made a routine save and rolled the ball out to Whelan who calmly played the ball into the feet of Dom Randle, The midfield man sprayed the ball left to Corum who got the shout from Cooke to leave it, Corum sold the dummy to everyone in the ground cutely stepping over the ball allowing it to run through to Cooke who was now galloping forward at the Media right back, Cooke turned his man inside out before hitting the byline and calmly pulling the ball back to the edge of the area, Corum had followed his dummied ball to Cooke and ghosted late into the box to meet the pull back, the midfielder calmly firing home across the keeper for a rare but crucial goal for the Visitors 0-1.
Two Minutes later and Mellor were 0-2 up, this time Coram starting the move with a delicious ball into the left hand channel for Cooke who danced past two Media defenders with moves which wouldn’t have looked out of place on strictly, before unselfishly squaring the ball to McAuley who this time found the net and not the Media keeper.
Shortly after the goal Mellor made their remaining substitutions with Randle making way for B.Dalby and Oldham making way for Beer.
Mellor were like a different side now to the one that had played the first half with every player keen to get on the ball and move it quickly to a colleague.
Corum and Cooke in particular a constant thorn in the right hand side of the opposition were sharing passes between themselves and their teammates showing no mercy to a now defeated Media.
It wasn’t just the left side that was working well for Mellor with Ben Beer bombing forward from right back exchanging a neat one two with Cooke (who was everywhere now) down the right before blazing his shot high over the bar and into the neighboring car park, the finish was poor from the veteran defender but the run and play leading up to it was of the highest standard.
With five minutes remaining Randle returned to the action due to an injury to Mike Palmer who had been excellent all day.
The Game ended with another excellent Cooney long pass, the Mellor keeper back in top form with his feet after a poor display last time out found McAuley like a fat kid finds McDonalds, the Mellor front man held up well and squared for B.Dalby who pulled his shot straight at the keeper for the last action of the match.
Mellor were far from their best for large parts of this game, however, winning games when not at your best is what defines a side and with ten straight wins and a year unbeaten in the league this Mellor side are definitely title contenders.
