AFC WULFRUNIANS 0-1 1874 NORTHWICH: THE MOWDOG'S INDEPENDENT, HONEST MATCH REPORT + SCREENSHOTS...

 Fenton Rises Above The Mediocrity…

AFC Wulfrunians 0-1 1874 Northwich

The Mowdog’s thoughts…

It was really cold spectating at Castlecroft but the facilities there were really decent, as was the view from the grandstand, despite the racket which constantly emanated from a drum and from the shrieking voices of a bunch of kids, who to be fair supported their Wulfs throughout the 90 minutes.

Their enthusiasm was all the more remarkable when one considers that the contest was not very good at all. Plenty of effort was evident certainly but surely there was too much long kicking by both teams and there were so few moments of attacking action to excite those watching. Hence there was very little goalmouth activity and only one of the goalkeepers made a direct save, which was a midriff catch by AFC skipper Sam Arnold from a John McGrath free-kick.

ARNOLD HOLDS MCGRATH'S FREE-KICK...

A rush by 1874 striker Eden Bailey saw him veer right past Arnold in the opening period of the game but shoot into the side-netting from a tight angle, then late in the game, he sped past home defender Mo Sajad on the right but drove a low effort across the face of goal.

BAILEY'S ANGLED SHOT GOES INTO THE SIDE-NETTING...

Wulfs were gifted a few free-kicks late in the opening 45 and also as the game stuttered towards an untidy close but the defensive heading ability of Northwich skipper Matt Fenton and his colleagues Tom Morris, Owen Harrison and Niall Osborne, largely dealt with the ensuing aerial set-pieces by AFC and protected their rather redundant goalkeeper, Michael Shorthouse.

Added to all the long kicking, Fenton utilised his long throws too but the home defence managed well against the aerial threat posed by Morris and Fenton, although midfielder Lucas Weir did head one 1874 set-piece over the target at the right stick.

WEIR HEADS TOO HIGH...

The goal…

A left-flank, left-booted corner by McGrath reached the huge, impressive leap of Fenton and he headed the ball downwards powerfully and the ball flew up into the top left corner of the net, taking a touch off a defender’s boot en route.  

FENTON CONNECTS WITH A HEADER...

...& IT'S 0-1 TO 1874...

The final words…

A powerful effort from downtown by 1874’s Liam Fitzpatrick swerved well wide as the second period advanced, left-sided attacker Ryan Bright miscued for the hosts with a half-chance but home replacement Curtis Cocking will be wondering how he failed to convert when two colleagues challenged for a Jay Holdcroft free-kick and the ball dropped in front of him just three yards out. He somehow lifted the ball over the crossbar… 

COCKING MISSES HIS CHANCE...

Left-back Wulf Hayden Seymour was prominent for his team and midfielders Kie Houlihan and Holdcroft were industrious, whilst winger Jake Webb had several decent moments.

Substitutions interrupted the latter stages of the encounter but subsequently, Fenton drove his team on to prevent AFC from regaining parity, although late breaks by the visitors were fluffed by inaccurate passes. To his credit, late 1874 replacement Josh Oultram made two or three relieving gallops for his team, as time ran out. 

The three points were important for play-off hopefuls Northwich but despite the efforts of midfielder Weir and one or two neat pieces of skill by colleague Ben Guest, the contest was a difficult watch for their fans, in truth.

At times the match reminded me of a Rugby Union game in the 1960s when punting the ball was allowed from anywhere, which made some games look rather like long game of rugger-tennis, as some kicks failed to find touch…