Droylsden F.C.-The bloods on the net!

FLEETWOOD TOWN 2 - 1 DROYLSDEN

Blue Square North – Saturday 28 February 2009

Report by Gary Owen

Two pieces of sloppy first-half defending were the ultimate undoing for The Bloods, against a poor Fleetwood side inspired by man-of-the-match Danny Hurst in goal.

The first goal arrived on 9 minutes when Ryan Elderton fired in a low cross from the left, which eluded all of the Droylsden defenders, but home debutante Steve Connors found the bottom corner.

The Bloods looked to put this early set-back behind them by creating chance after chance, but when they managed to hit the target, they found Hurst in fine form.

Firstly, Jamie McGuire's header from Sean Newton's free kick was blocked by Richard Mercer, before Hurst tipped Carl Lamb's header over from Tony Gray's cross.

Lamb then returned the favour for Gray, but the former Southport striker headed over from a central position.

Those misses proved costly on 28 minutes, when Colin Cryan was penalised for handball, and from Jamie Milligan's resultant free kick, Adam Warlow headed home at the second attempt – two attacks and two goals for the home side!

Droylsden then almost gifted Micky Mellon's side an immediate third goal, when a terribly short back pass was intercepted by Michael Wilde. Craig Mawson dashed off his line to block, but the loose ball fell to Warlow, who let The Bloods off the hook with the goal at his mercy by shooting over.

Dave Pace's men clearly wished to pull a goal back before the break, but Hurst tipped McGuire's header over whilst frantically back-peddling and Gray saw another header go too high before volleying a yard over moments later.

The one-way traffic continued after the re-start, with Hurst turning a dipping volley from Steve Beck over the bar.

Droylsden's profligacy in front of goal was enough for Dave Pace, who made a triple substitution just after the hour mark, including the exchange of Kevin Townson and Ian Fitzpatrick for Gray and Matthew Tipton. Neil Sorvel also made way for Steve Pickford.

However, the substitutions failed to make any real impact, save for a couple of late chances for Townson.

Mike Byron tried his luck from distance, but Hurst unsurprisingly held on with Lamb, Townson and Fitzpatrick all hoping for a spill.

Hurst again saved from Beck with Pickford closing in, but the breakthrough finally came with ten minutes left, when McGuire showed Droylsden's goal-shy forwards how it was done by shooting low into the bottom corner from the edge of the box to set-up a tense finish.

Nathan Pond tried his luck for Fleetwood in a couple of rare counter-attacks, but Mawson remained largely untested.

Hurst saved a deflected shot from Townson, and from the resultant flag kick Hurst threw himself low to his right to turn away Townson's far post header.

A final counter-attack from the hosts saw Ashley Dunn force a near post save from Mawson.

Whilst Droylsden enjoyed lots of possession, the lack of a cutting edge in the final third must be causing concern, particularly in games like this one where the opposition lacked quality to the extent that their number of meaningful attacks could be counted on one hand.

TEAMS:

Fleetwood Town

Hurst, Beeley, Elderton, Mercer, Taylor, Pond, Connors, Milligan, Wilde, Warlow (Maylett, 69'), Williams (Dunn, 90').

Unused Subs: Bell, Walmsely, Hale.

Droylsden

Mawson, Roche, Newton, Cryan, Byron, Sorvel (Pickford, 61'), Beck, McGuire, Gray, Tipton (Townson, 61'), Lamb (Fitzpatrick, 61').

Unused Subs: Ruffer, Brownhill.

Referee: Mr. A. Scregg (Liverpool)

ATTENDANCE: 1,407