Linnets’ two out of three ain’t bad
BURSCOUGH defeated Darwen 1-0 on Saturday to take all three points and leap-frog their opponents out of the relegation zone.
Josh Dunroe scored the only goal of the game after forty minutes to give Burscough their fourth win in six games, propelling themselves out of the drop-zone by a point.
November was always likely to be a crucial month for the Green Army, as they faced Maine Road, Barnton and Darwen who are all in and around the bottom places. With three wins against each of those sides, Burscough can breathe a little easier for the time being.
The Victoria Park outfit have played more games than any other side in the division apart from bottom club Barnton, however, with 1874 Northwich having played an extraordinary nine games less and winning one game more.
Darwen have also recorded the same amount of fixtures as Burscough, and with AFC Liverpool and Maine Road- who both occupy places in the relegation spots- having two and three games in hand respectively, the Linnets will have to ensure they keep up their recent good form.
While defeat to Padiham on Tuesday night leaves Burscough hanging precariously over the drop-zone still, the Green Army now face two games in three days.
They travel to Blackpool to take on Squires Gate in the Macron Cup on Thursday- a rearranged fixture after last week’s postponement- before hosting Charnock Richard on Saturday afternoon, weather permitting.
Charnock will go into Saturday’s fixture with no shortage of confidence after they demolished Burscough’s relegation rivals AFC Darwen 9-1 on Tuesday evening. The unbelievable scoreline brought six separate goal-scorers, with Carl Grimshaw, Matthew Davison and sub David Sherlock all netting twice.
Burscough only faced Richard a little over two weeks ago- and were dispatched 5-2- and will be hoping for a reversal of fortunes in the home fixture. With two successive victories following that defeat, both sides are likely to go into the game high on confidence.
A win for the Green Army, however, would mean a little more as they look to distance themselves from another campaign of relegation scrapping. Padiham Defeat Burscough Burscough were defeated 3-2 in a thrilling, rollercoaster encounter at Padiham on Tuesday night.
Chad Whyte continued his impressive start to life at Victoria Park by netting the opener just after the half-hour mark before Spencer Jordan levelled on the stroke of half-time for the hosts.
Joshua Dunroe- who scored the winning goal for Burscough in Saturday’s 1-0 win over Darwen- then put the visitors back in front with a fine strike fifteen minutes after the restart, but Padiham’s top scorer Dominic Craig once more came to the rescue as he made it 2-2.
This set in motion a thrilling chain of events that ultimately left Burscough somehow returning home empty handed.
After Craig netted, Burscough immediately responded by winning a penalty. The spot-kick was missed, and Padiham then went down the other end and netted- but it was ruled out for offside.
The game was a pulsating, open affair, and when Adam Gilchrist ran through on goal, it looked as though Burscough would be returning with a precious three points.
The substitute dragged the gilt-edged opportunity wide, however, and Padiham punished his profligacy.
Danny Boyle done well to cut the ball back across goal and Kenny Taylor rifled the ball home with just five minutes remaining.
The result is likely to bruise the confidence of a Burscough side who will have played three games in five days by the time they take on Charnock Richard on Saturday.