Hatters have winnable tie at Edgeley
POTENTIAL banana skin avoided a nice bit of cash in the bank and, more importantly another great performance.
I know Danny Lloyd was given the man-ofthe-match champagne and I understand why, two goals, an insatiable appetite to get forward as well as do the defending when called on but against Bishop Auckland there were so many decent performances that it could realistically have been most of the starting eleven.
The Bishops, as you’d expect, started brightly, they had their fair share of the ball and could, with a little more guile have tested Ben Hinchcliffe.
We sat back, soaked up what little they had to offer, controlled the game and slowly turned the game around.
That man Lloyd, ever the opportunist, netted his first on the half hour with a shot from the edge of the box after the ball had landed at his feet, then five minutes later he double his goal count with an exquisite shot that effectively ended the contest.
Bishop Auckland knew it was all over, you could see it in their attitude.
Their game became more, “basic” the fouls started to get a little late and slightly more cynical, the more we took a hold on the game the worse it got. Lewis Montrose was the victim of several trips from behind as was Danny but we were confident on the pitch and that same feeling was held in the Cheadle End.
The sight of Gary Stopforth pumping the air on the hour mark showed how happy he was and that again lifted the home support to a higher level.
As the second half continued we increased the pressure without adding to the score.
We had opportunities, Josh Amis again put in a great shift for a full 90 minutes but missed a couple of chances that with a little more confidence he’d have scored.
Craig Carney, Courtney MeppenWalters had decent chances even Mark Ross and Montrose, both having a great game were looking to score, but we ended the game winners and in the bag for the first round proper where we pulled another winnable game. Neither Torquay or Woking are doing well in their division, so round two here we come.
The only negative was the amount of police in and around the ground.
Against Salford there wasn’t a sign, against Bishop Auckland, a team from three divisions below us and hardly the numbers Salford brought, they were everywhere and I bet I can guess who has to pay!