A Rad day at the office
LOSING 4-1 to a team that are below you in the league is a bad result – but the outcome could have been so different for Skelmersdale before an own goal changed the course of Alan Rogers’ last game as manager.
That came in the 34th minute, then Skem were unlucky with one shot and somehow wasted another golden opportunity all before Radcliffe turned the game with a second goal to make it 2-0 in the 68th minute, and followed up with two more on 75 and 85 minutes.
In the early stages Skelmersdale had most of the possession and after only eight minutes they went near to scoring, Michael Vaughan-Muscat missing connecting with a Danny Ventre free-kick by inches when his header would surely have made it 1-0.
Radcliffe got the ball into the net on 12 minutes but it was disallowed, Carl Peers changing down a Jack Sims clearance and the ball bounced off him into the net, the referee deciding that Peers’ foot was raised.
Skem dominated the next quarter-hour and it could be said that Radcliffe lived a charmed life. Kevin Cringle had a shot saved by home goalkeeper Ryan Jones, then Lewis Codling cleared the crossbar with a shot on the turn, a scenario he soon repeated with a vicious volley, the Radcliffe defence also blocked a number of other efforts.
But on 34 minutes Skelmersdale shot themselves in the foot with a bizarre own goal that was against the general run of play.
Jonathan Crane sent a back-pass to keeper Sims who was not where Crane thought he was. Sims got back to clear the ball but a goal was given by the assistant referee who said it crossed the line.
Skelmersdale went back on the offensive as Radcliffe defended solidly but on 42 minutes Skem got unlucky again.
Andy Owens was put in by a neat through ball, he rounded a defender and smashed a blockbusting right-foot shot that missed the post by a couple of inches and hit the stanchion instead.
Between the restart after the interval and the hour mark Skelmersdale went near to levelling three times.
Andy Owens free-kick went over the crossbar, then Codling put a volley wide, but the best chance fell to Richard Brodie on 60 minutes when the big striker looked to have the goal at his mercy, but hit the bar from around 10 yards out. It proved to be crucial.
In the 68th minute Radcliffe put a bit of pressure on the Skem goal, Peers held the ball up on the 18-yard line then played it to Stanislav Zhekov, and from a wide position 10 yards from goal, with almost no backlift at all, he hit a shot across Sims and into the net via the far post to make it 2-0.
The second Radcliffe goal appeared to knock the stuffing out of Skem and it certainly raised Radcliffe’s confidence as they became livelier in midfield.
The third home goal came in the 75th minute and it was very well crafted.
An early ball from the right caught Skem’s defence out and the ball found its way to Zhekov on the left of the penalty area. Sims left his line to close Zhekov down and Jason Jeffries joined him, however the number 11 cleverly dummied the Skem pair and dinked the ball over them and over the line to make it 3-0.
Radcliffe made it 4-0 five minutes from full-time. A corner was driven into the six-yard box from the right; Gavin Ellison held off a Skem defender and flicked a header into the net.
Skelmersdale didn’t stop and Radcliffe were forced back in the dying moments. Ventre saw a free-kick blocked by a defensive wall and Codling had one cleared off the line.
Finally, two minutes into added time they got a goal, as Brodie scored from eight yards.
Confidence was a big issue on the day. Radcliffe started the day noticeably lacking in confidence and the bit of luck they got via the own goal and surviving the Skelmersdale pressure raised them greatly. On the other hand a mixture of recent form and the bad luck they had earlier on in front of goal arguably sapped Skelmersdale’s confidence.