Longridge Town 2 v 2 Garstang

Longridge Town won 4-3 on penalties

Wednesday 27th September 2023, Kick-off 19.45
Lancashire FA Challenge Trophy Round One
The Mike Riding Ground, Longridge
Admission: £7.00
Programme: None
Attendance: 164

Following a very enjoyable two night stay in the Lake District - which was obviously nowhere near long enough - and following a four mile lunchtime walk from Wray Castle taking in a short stretch along Lake Windermere, I started the long drive home this afternoon to base myself close to Preston, with a view to taking in this game.

After enjoying a very pleasant evening meal in the Derby Arms, I then made my way to The Mike Riding Ground, which has an amply sized, if not wonderfully maintained, car park outside the ground. Payment for access is made at a booth along one side of the ground, where I was advised that there were no printed programmes produced for this game, although usually Longridge do issue, and printed team sheets were freely available this evening. As Longridge have quickly risen from the feeder leagues, it is perhaps not surprising that facilities here are modern, with not a lot of character about the place, although it is pleasing to see plenty of club signage around. A modern metallic all-seater stand straddles the half way line, beyond which is a brick clubhouse, with a fairly small but cosy and nicely decorated bar inside. A further stand is located beyond the clubhouse, which is more interesting, and has four steps to stand on, with bench seating along the rear. A lime coloured portakabin is located in the corner, which has a tea bar window to one side, and contains hospitality facilities in the remainder, while beyond the corner flag behind the end, there is a modern stand covering a few steps to stand on. The remainder of this end, and behind the opposite end, there is just hard standing, while the remaining length is officially out of bounds to spectators. The ground is very exposed to the elements, but the Lancashire hills in the background make for a pleasant backdrop, albeit that I could only see this in rapidly fading light.

In this relatively local derby, with ten miles separating the two clubs, the visiting club would very much be the underdogs, with Longridge Town competing in the Premier Division of the North West Counties League, while Garstang were in Division One. Neither club have made particularly good starts to their league campaigns. Longridge had won two and drawn five of their 14 league games and were in 20th place in the 24 club division, while Garstang had won four and drawn four of their 13 league games, and were in twelfth place in the 18 club division.

A match report posted on the Longridge Town website has been copied and pasted below, and video highlights can be viewed by clicking here :-

Match Report: Longridge 2-2 Garstang (Town win 4-3 on pens)

Barry heroics seal second round

It was a game of goalkeepers as Kier Barry's fantastic display in both the 90 minutes and the shootout proved crucial to Town's night.

Rearranged from last week, Garstang travelled the short distance to the Recycling Lives Ground.

Ashcroft made a few changes with new lads Alex Welsh and Malik Alwi coming in for their debuts.

Meanwhile Aaron Hewitt returned to the starting XI, this time in an attacking role.

Longridge started as they meant to go on, on the front foot and playing some good football.

Leighton Hewitt, on his first start since Burscough, turned and shot into the goalkeeper's arms around 4 minutes in.

Town continued their early pressure as Jack Anderton received the ball just to the left of the penalty area and hit a powerful effort which was palmed wide.

Garstang's James Craig found himself through on goal on 10 minutes but was brilliantly thwarted by Kier Barry.

New boy Alwi took his first shot 5 minutes later but it was another comfortable one.

Ryan McLean did well on 26 minutes to reach his heavy first touch in the box to then bounce it back off the near post.

Not even 5 minutes later and Longridge had the lead.

Alwi latched onto a loose ball in the middle of the park and fed it through to Hewitt. Aaron didn't think twice and lashed it into the bottom left corner from 20 yards to grab his first Longridge goal in emphatic style.

Not much happened from this point up until the break but Barry was called into action on one occasion to keep Town ahead.

Ashey made a double change at the break with the two goal creators withdrawing.

Both Aaron Hewitt and Malik Alwi were replaced by Jeffery Adubofour and Rio Pemberton, who made his debut.

The new lad immediately got into action, having a close shot parried away.

Then, just after the hour mark and completely against the run of play. Josh Hall slotted home to level the scoring.

Longridge looked to respond as Pemberton hit a shot that deflected wide from 12 yards. The resulting corner was poked over by Mitch Marshall.

Two minutes later and Town retook the lead courtesy of Jack Anderton.

Homson-Smith spotted Jack's darting run and slipped him in. The forward fired home at the near post to give Longridge a deserved lead.

20 minutes left on the clock and Pemberton would now be starting to feel hard done by.

Rio got on the end on a cross field ball and had his effort denied again.

The missed chances would come back to haunt us, as Joel Darley headed into the back of the net from a tight angle with two minutes remaining.

The full time whilst was blown and off to penalties we went.

Ryan McLean scored the first spot kick, whilst Josh Hall blazed his over the bar.

Town took a 2-0 lead in the shootout as Pemberton sent Kitchen the wrong way.

Daniel Squires got Garstang's first penalty goal as he fired down the middle.

Daniel Wilkinson set the standard when he stepped up and floated it into the top left corner, leaving Kitchen with no chance.

Jones scored for Garstang, Homson-Smith hit the bar for Longridge.

Kelly scored making the scores now level again at 3-3

Jack Anderton picked out the far left corner, this proved to be huge.

Substitute Jack Barmby's 12 yard kick was palmed away by Kier Barry to confirm Town's place in the next round of the LFA Cup.

Whilst it is unknown when the next round will take place, we are back at home again on Saturday 30th September when we face up to AFC Liverpool.

With a decent crowd on tonight for a exciting penalty shooting victory, let's get behind the boys as we look to take this win into the league.

#UpTheRidge

Goals

Longridge: A.Hewitt (31'), Anderton (66')

Garstang: Hall (61'), Darley (88')

The Teams

Longridge line-up: Barry, Marshall, Olawumi, Welsh, McLean, Wilkinson, L.Hewitt (Linighan 79'), Alwi (Pemberton 46'), A.Hewitt (Adubofour 46'), Anderton, Homson-Smith

Garstang line-up: Kitchen, Abdella, Backhouse, Bailey (Jones 79'), Reader, Kirnon, Lewis, Darley, Squires, Howarth (Kelly 46'), Craig (Barmby 59'), Hall

Kendal Town 2 v 1 Squires Gate

Tuesday 26th September 2023, Kick-off 19.45

North West Counties League Premier Division
Parkside Road, Kendal
Admission: £6.00
Programme: £2.00
Attendance: 211

As I was spending a couple of nights in the glorious Lake District, I certainly planned to take in at least one game during my stay. And although Penrith Town, the closest club to where I was based, were unfortunately playing away this evening, I had plenty of other options to choose from, all very attractive in different ways. Carlisle City's county cup game against Carlisle United was particularly tempting, however in the end I opted for this game, partly because I had already been to a ground in Carlisle (Brunton Park) whereas I had not been to a ground in or around Kendal, and I had heard reports it was a friendly club with an interesting ground. And so after an eight mile walk around Gowbarrow Fell, climbing to the top of Airy Crag, and viewing some rather spectacular waterfalls on the way to Aira Force, I made my mind up to head south to take in this game.

Parkside Road is located to the south west of Kendal town centre, and after the car park filled up very early - partly thanks to some very inconsiderate parking - I had to park on a side road some distance away. A fixture board is located at the entrance of the car park and close to the turnstiles, located in one corner of the ground. There is plenty of character about the ground, with the end closest to the entrance having a quite a large bank of mostly uncovered terrace steps to stand on, with a small section having some covered seating , in front of the clubhouse building. It is quite a climb to reach the clubhouse, but is very pleasant and spacious inside, and decent views of the pitch can be had from inside. A reasonable range of hot and cold drinks and refreshments were available from a window adjacent to the bar, and on a visit to the north, a portion of chips and gravy, for £2.50, was too hard to resist. Along the length closest to the entrance, an old fashioned stand covering standing area runs between the corner flag and half way line, whilst the other side of the half way line is a bank of uncovered terrace steps. Along the opposite length there is a further old fashioned stand covering a couple of rows of seating, while yet another old fashioned stand straddling the half way line contains 6 rows of quite steep wooden top seating. There is just hard standing behind the remaining length. The ground has a pleasant rural and tranquil location, and is pleasantly naturally enclosed. 

Kendal Town had an excellent start to their season, winning their first four league games, and wiining eight of their first nine league games, before losing twice. They bounced back with a 6-1 home win in their last league game, but bowed out of the FA Vase on Saturday with a home defeat. They came into this game in second place in the table, and a win this evening could see them go top. Squires Gate are having a much more difficult time, and they cam into this game second bottom, picking up just two wins and two draws from their opening 15 league games, and lost 0-7 away at leaders Wythenshaw on Saturday.

On a mild and mostly dry evening, except for a brief shower midway through the second half, this game was surprisingly even, particularly during the first half, as the visitors carried their share of a threat to open the scoring, and indeed it was they who had the first two stand out chances around the ten minute mark, first lashing a shot just over the bar, and then a free kick likewise, before later seeing a low free kick parried wide. But the scoreline re!aimed goalless at the break, and Kendal could, despite their moments too, could feel slightly relieved about, as the visitors defied their lowly league position.

However, the second half turned out to be a different story, as Kendal were much more on the front foot. They took the lead on the hour mark, when Jacob Gregory dispossessed a defender before passing the ball to Josh Winder, who drilled it home from the edge of the area. Although Kendal were in the ascendancy by now, the visitors still carried an occasional threat, but on 84 minutes, Kendal were awarded a penalty when Gregory was tripped in the box. Despite slipping as he took it, Rob Wilson struck the ball down the middle to double Kendal's lead. The home side had a great chance to make it three in the second minute of added on time, when a shot was well blocked, but in the eighth minute of added on time, Squires Gate got a consolation goal that they certainly deserved when the ball was played forward for Josh Few to run into, and he eventually slotted the ball past the keeper and into the net.