25/08/2018

Whaley hang on to gain a spirited draw as the injury list mounts!

With both teams struggling to find any sort of form this was never going to be a classic and a classic it certainly wasn’t. Whaley, struggling to put out anything like a settled team in any 2 successive games for various reasons, were thankful that captain Sutton and the Broome both broke into their Welsh holiday to help the cause; a fantastic example in a difficult moment for the team.

With only sporadic interludes of football in a disjointed game the home side probably held possession slightly better in the first half and they did hit the post after some decent play down the right but otherwise created little and didn’t really put the visitor’s defense under any real pressure. In contrast Whaley, as seems to be the case, still managed to create chances without too much possession with the speedy Leadbetter and ever enthusiastic Tom Scorer always a threat; Leadbetter and promising new boy Hodkinson both hitting the woodwork.

However a high hopeful ‘up and under’ came down out of the sun to deceive the Whaley defense and provide the Congleton right winger with a clean break on goal which he duly dispatched hard and low to the advancing Tattersall’s left. This was a time to show some spirit and it was no surprise to anyone when it was Sutton who litterally rose to the occasion and above the crowd to head in from a corner to level the scores on the half hour. Unfortunately it was around this time that Sam Leadbetter took a severe knock only to hobble through to half time but didn’t reappear second half.

The second half started reasonably well for Whaley with Hodkinson linking well with Hodges and sub Wigg up the slope left side to provide a few goal mouth incidents. However Whaley’s game was then further severely disrupted when their influential midfield ‘engine’ Broome left the field injured on 75 minutes leaving the midfield short on energy. From then on it was always going to be tough with backs to the wall in a last quarter in which the visitor’s defense all get top marks; even so Scorer almost swung it with a typical break, surging through to see his 20 yarder hit the bar.

Recent success at Whaley makes for great expectation both on and off the pitch but as with any other team they will go through lean times and as a committed Will Bailey said ‘they have to stick together’ and pull through this rough patch.

Tattersall; Hodges; Turner; Sutton; Bailey; Dreyson; Streets; Broome; Leadbetter; Scorer; Hodkinson

Wigg(46); Baldwin(75)