Once again a midweek game has cost us points. This was a scheduled and not a rearranged fixture but we haven't won a midweek game since before Christmas.
On the positive side, Rory McCreesh made his debut in goal and couldn't be blamed for either goal, Shaun Best made his first appearance on the bench and did well when he came on.
Once again we played on a difficult pitch where football was of secondary importance.  The home side basically lumped the ball forward or kept it in the air as ball control was almost impossible.  On pitches like this we need to learn we can't play through midfield or across the back and be confident the ball is going to go where it was intended.

We played down the slope in the first half and had a half chance after 8 minutes when Chris Piper fed Chris Latham but his left footed shot went wide. The home side forced a couple of corners but usually shot high or wide. Our first shot on target came on 26 minutes when Paul Evans got on the end of a corner and forced a diving save from veteran Pat O'Hagan in the home goal..  

We took the lead on 41 minutes when Chris Latham crossed from the left side of the area and cleared everyone for Ian Jones to arrive at the far post and slot the ball home. Two minutes later we almost doubled our lead when Matt Lavis played the ball to Chris Piper but his header was just ahead of Ian Jones and the keeper won the race to the ball. Croesyceiliog came out with all guns blazing in the second half but we broke up an early attack and Ian Jones fed Chris Piper but his shot was blocked.  Then on 51 minutes Croesy scored the equaliser when their 11, Chris Pritchard picked the ball up thirty five yards out, moved forward and hit an unstoppable shot into the top right hand corner giving Rory no chance. 

Spurred on by this they continued to attack but usually either they failed with their final ball or their efforts were wide of the target.  However on 63 minutes they scored what turned out to be the winner, they had a right wing corner which Paul Belski headed home from 8 yards, Rory dived to his left but couldn't prevent the ball crossing the line.  Minutes before he produced a terrific save when a free kick was headed to the same corner, obviously we didn't heed the warning. We could have gone 3-1 down after 82 minutes when our free kick was cleared and they broke and had a 3 on 1 advantage.  Luckily for us, our 1, Craig Jones blocked the cross and cleared the ball.

We gave a first run out to Shaun Best after 71 minutes and he can be pleased with his introduction to first team football. 

Lido side

Rory McCreesh  Matt Lavis Chris Latham  Carl Edwards  Justin Williams  Craig Martin  Craig Jones  Paul Evans Chris Piper  Ian Jones  Greg Hurley
 
Subs  Liam McCreesh for Carl Edwards  59
        Shaun Best for Chris Latham 71
        Corey Thomas for Chris Piper 85

Booking Liam McCreesh 76    

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