After last weeks efforts and a hard fought draw against the league leaders, Unsworth make the trip to Redvales to take on Elton and Walshaw Lynx. Earlier this season Unsworth trounced the Elton team with a league result showing 9 -2 but the true results was even more goals to the team in green. Could Unsworth pick themselves up from the new experience of dropped points last week, and would normal service be resumed?

For the first time in a few weeks the squad was lighter than normal with 3 unavailable due to illness. Friday saw both Alex and Khol fall out of the squad due to illness and on Saturday morning Oliver added to this. Hopefully all will be fit for next weeks rematch with Blackley.

The players missing left John with a few selection problems but with 13 to pick from the depth of the squad should ensure that this did not cause too many issues.

As John arrived at the ground at 9.00am he was met with an unusual sight, Elliot was already there. Well done Elliot and see if you can repeat this next week. With most there in time for a full warm up John toyed with a few different ideas and changes but in reality the team looked very familiar at kick off.

Luke dropped into centre half alongside the mighty Rob. Dom who was going to start in midfield had to drop to right back as the defence was shuffled a little. Kain started on the left with Dec ahead of him in midfield. In the centre we saw Mason start with a new partner in Liam as Jake dropped to the bench. Up front saw Joe get the nod over Tom to partner Charlie.

On a bobbly playing surface Unsworth seemed to be effected by the small changes in the team make up and looked a little unsure of themselves. Elton started the better and with the Unsworth team adopting the deaf- mute communication system the home team looked to take advantage and created a number of half chances. The midfield pair were working hard at closing down, however there was one small problem with this, in that they seemed to be closing each other down and not the opposition. On more than one occasion they got in each others way meaning Unsworth lost possession.

As with previous weeks the play was too narrow and Unsworth kept meeting a determined opposition in the middle of the part instead of using the flanks. That said Unsworth were slowly getting a grip on the game and fighting for each other. Eventually after 10 minutes we saw a nice one two on the right and Elliot received the ball back to slot in and make it 1-0 to the visitors.

Unsworth then continued to press into the Elton half and from a resulting corner the home team failed to clear the danger. After a bit of a scramble the ball was crossed in from the right and eventually the ball fell to Rob around 12 years out to smash in to make it 2-0. It looked like Elton would fold but to give them credit the continued to press, at least for a while.

Luke and Kain continued to communicate via telepathy and on this occasion this seemed to fail as they got in each others way (maybe if you speak on the park it might work!). Elton won a corner from the confusion and this resulted in some woeful marking only to see the Elton player drill in to make it 2-1.

Was it game on, no, as Unsworth decided to step it up. A few changes were made in the middle of the park and not long after there was some great play with Dec on the left releasing Joe who found Charlie to make it 3-1.

Elton were now rocking as Unsworth decided to kill the game off before half time. Unsworth were now playing great football with the boys knocking it about. The ball fell to Liam who dribbled and shimmied before removing the pitching wedge (right foot to you) that he had used last week to chip the ball in for the first of his well earned hat trick. 4-1

Elton looked out of it as Unsworth continued to push the pace. A throw in on the right side saw Elliot take one of the worst foul throw ins you will see, however the ref did not blow up and the ball ended up with Jake, who had replace Liam , swivel and smash the ball in form the edge of the box. 5-1 but Unsworth wanted more and Tom made it 6-1 before half time. The first 15 minutes hadn’t been great but the rest of the half showed just how good Unsworth can be when we get the ball down and play football.

The half time team talk was a relaxed affair and the boys were told to go out and enjoy themselves. A few changes were made for the second half with Jake slotting into centre half , Luke moving to his more traditional right back and Dom who was desperate to get up the park slotted in on the right of midfield. Unsworth kicked off but some of the boys seemed to have forgotten what to do. From the Unsworth kick off the ball travelled all the way back into the Unsworth box and again the lack of concentration saw Ethan pick the ball which the ref quite correctly adjudged a back pass. Indirect free kick to the home team. Luckily this did not result in anything other than a goal kick.

The change of shape again seemed to affect Unsworth with some sloppy play but we were soon on the break again as Tom broke away only to end the move with a poor effort, however minutes later Tom made amends with a chip over the top of the home goalie who managed to get a hand on it only to see Tom steam past him to make it 7-1.

Unsworth were back to a more solid shape as Luke reverted back to centre half and Dom, to no doubt his frustrations moved back to right back. From dead balls Unsworth tend to use Rob to clear the area but Elton seemed happy to let their goalie take the deadball kicks. On more than one occasion Unsworth won the ball and on one poor effort Tom took the ball under control to beat the keeper again making 8-1.

Time was ticking away but Unsworth kept going and a great solo effort from Charlie and nice finish saw 9-1 before Liam made it 10-1 with a shot off the post. Before the end we saw Rob take the ball from his own half, dribble most of the pitch past a static home team and if his shot had gone the other side of the post it probably would have been the goal of the match. Just before the final whistle Tom rounded off the second hat trick of the game to make it 11-1

Next week should see Unsworth in the next round of the cup, however the draw has been kind as we got a bye, so the next time we play in the cup will be in the quarter finals. As a result of the cup draw giving Higher Blackley a bye as well, the league campaign continues at home in what should provide a great rematch to the efforts of last week. Kick off time to be confirmed later this week but well done to everyone and see you at training on Tuesday