North Lancashire League
Lancaster off to a flyer in North Lancs League
Lancaster 15 Fleetwood 3
Lancaster commenced the 2009 season with a comfortable home victory over Fleetwood. The youthful enthusiasm and superior fitness of the home side proved too much for a Fleetwood side that quite clearly did not relish the wide expanse of Lancaster’s Salt Ayre pool.
Lancaster’s side featured six players from the Under 17 side who were warming up to play Invicta in the ASA National Age Group final the following day, Decland Ellwood, Lawrence Daykin, Robert Simpson, Stef Detko, Jake Starkie and Elliot Trafford. The warm up proved a useful experience as the youngsters went on to claim a comprehensive victory with a confident and impressive performance.
After Ellwood scored a minute into the game, although resolute in defence with Sam Liver and Rysz Detko at the back, the home side stuttered in attack, suffering from poor decision making and ball control in the final third of the pitch. Several potential openings were wasted until the ageing Steve Smith lent hand with a powerful back hand shot from the centre forward position.
The second period continued in a similar fashion. Robert Simpson and Lawrence Daykin provided continued impetus in mid bath. Michael Brown became the rock in defence leaving Zak Sly a relative spectator in goal. Up front Jake Starkie combined well with Anthony Trafford and it was Anthony who grabbed Lancaster’s third goal.
Regular changes of personnel maintained the impetus, Lancaster’s back up keeper, left hander Stef Detko and new part-time coach Alberto Bertolloti joining the fray. Left hander Detko gave the side more balance on the right hand side whilst Bertolloti showed some skillful touches with the ball. Further goals came for Ellwood, too strong in the pit for the Fleetwood defence and, from Liver on the counter attack.
Fleetwood continued to work hard to test the Lancaster defence and to their credit pulled a goal back at the start at of the third with a close range shot which left Sly with little chance. Lancaster quickly re-established control and goals flowed regularly. Brown hit the back of the net first followed by efforts from Stephen Smith (2), and Anthony Trafford. As the period neared its close Fleetwood doubled their tally taking advantage of Anthony’s temporary exclusion to again beat Sly.
The final quarter belonged to Lancaster. A change of home keeper saw Stef Detko taking over in goal for Lancaster and Sly making an appearance in the outfield. Both players showed some nice touches, demonstrating their potential to play in either area. Lancaster’s goals came form Brown, Starkie, Anthony Trafford, Ellwood and, Rysz Detko with Fleetwood finding a way past Stef Detko just once.
Team: Z Sly, M Brown, L Daykin, J Starkie, E Trafford, S Liver, R Simpson, A Trafford, Steve Smith, D Ellwood, R Detko, A Bertolloti, S Detko
Seaside teams cannot halt Lancaster progress in North Lancs
Blackpool & Fleetwood report
Lancaster faced challenges from both Blackpool and Fleetwood recently in their bid to retain the North Lancs League title which they have held for the past three years. Neither side managed to dent Lancaster’s prospects however, despite a spirited attempt from Fleetwood who lost out by the odd goal in nine.
The Lancaster side are developing more and more as the youngsters gain in strength and experience and there is far more of a tighter shape to the side than even six months ago. Decland Ellwood is becoming a more rounded centre forward player demonstrating good ball control and awareness whilst the likes of Michael Brown and Sam Liver are also gaining in strength adding to their defensive prowess.
Jake Starkie, Elliot Trafford, Lawrence Daykin, Robert Simpson, Sam Smith and Stef Detko are all becoming much more of a threat all around the pitch and improving their contributions with each game. All this making things a little easier for the older generation of Zak Sly, Rysz Detko, Anthony Trafford and Steven Smith.
Lancaster 15 Blackpool 2
The first match involved a home game against Blackpool. Although both sides had players missing, Robert Simpson, Stef Detko, and Rysz Detko who refereed the game, the Lancaster players ran out comfortable and deserved winners. Blackpool struggled to cope with the large pitch and they never looked as if they would create any threat to the home sides dominance
Lancaster were 6 – 0 by half time with Blackpool having failed to score. Goals had come from Anthony Trafford (2), Decland Ellwood (2), Sam Liver and Steve Smith.
Ellwood netted his third in the third quarter before Blackpool finally got on the score sheet. But their joy was short-lived with three more goals during the quarter for the home side, a fouth of the game for Ellwood, Jake Starkie and Elliot Trafford.
The final period continued in a similar vein, Lancaster dominating possession with fleeting visits to Zak Sly’s goal. Although Blackpool netted their second a minute into the final period, goals from Ellwood (2), Steve Smith, Lawrence Daykin and Anthony Trafford put the seal on Lancaster’s victory.
Lancaster 6 Fleetwood 4
Lancaster’s second game involved a slightly more tricky visit to Fleetwood who know how to exploit and enjoy the benefit of their shallow/deep pool. Lancaster’s players, primarily still used to all deep pools still have trouble adapting to playing in a shallow end and this contrived to make the recent game a close and exciting spectacle.
The Trafford brothers were also missing from Lancaster’s squad for this game but the team welcomed Rysz Detko back into the water and it was Detko who opened the scoring attacking the shallow end after Lancaster had wasted a couple of good chances.
Fleetwood pressed them selves and were only denied by a couple of good saves from Zak Sly with Lancaster’s defence managing to hold out from resulting corners. Fleetwood were not to be denied however and they continued to press. Lancaster’s defence lost concentration and the home side scored two quick goals in succession.
A quickly re-organised defence involving Steve Smith and Sam Liver tightened up on the situation and with Michael Brown and Jake Starkie linking well with Decland Ellwood, Lancaster continued to create their own threat. A good passing movement amongst the three resulted in Starkie netting Lancaster’s second and the first period ended all square.
Neither side breached the others goal during the second period as strong physical defences dominated. In the shallow end Sly had very little to do in Lancaster’s goal whilst Fleetwood’s defence also restricted the Lancaster attack. Lancaster picked up the pace in the third and Michael Brown netted to put Lancaster 3-2 ahead Fleetwood continued to battle and levelled the scores.
Ellwood scored a couple of minutes into the final period to give Lancaster the lead but a couple of close efforts from Lancaster were punished as Fleetwood levelled again after managing to rob the ball. This only spurred on the Lancaster side however and with two minutes remaining Detko crossed for Ellwood to score. With Steve Smith slotted into the main defensive role Fleetwood were unable to find another way back and the game ended with a narrow victory for Lancaster.
Squad: Z Sly, Steve Smith, Sam Smith, A Trafford, E Trafford, J Starkie, M Brown, R Detko, S Liver, J Starkie, L Daykin, D Ellwood.
Lancaster 7 Kendal 9 LANCASTER produced a disappointing display in their first competitive North Lancashire League fixture after the summer last Thursday when they entertained Kendal at Salt Ayre. Unfortunately last Thursday the majority of players appeared to have left their minds on the beach daydreaming resulting in a significant lack of cohesion amongst the side, silly basic errors, slow and bad passing, poor shooting and lazy defending li ttered within the play. Kendal may have featured a couple of people, Matt little and Dan Barker from Carlisle, who have represented Lancaster at National League level as well as several other strong and experienced players but this was no excuse for the overall team display and although the scoreline suggests a close game, the players need to use the better teams as a measure and be prepared to raise their game to beat these sides. The first quarter ended with Lancaster trailing 2-1 Barker having scored both Kendal goals having been a persistent nuisance to the Lancaster defence after Sam Liver had put the home side ahead. The deficit could have been higher but for some fine saves from Zak Sly in goal as Barker was able to unleash several testing shots. A change of personnel saw the experienced Steve Smith take on the defensive role of managing Barker and Lancaster looked to be more in control. Unfortunately the passing and shooting in the final third of the pitch remained below standard. Polo team back on track Lancaster’s North Lancs side soon got back on track to retain their North Lancs League title with back to back victories against Burnley and Preston last week. Although two of the three remaining fixtures are away from home against tough opposition in the form of Radcliffe and Kendal, this side are capable if they play well, of comfortably securing the necessary points. The Burnley and Preston games were not ones that could be taken for granted either, with both matches away from home against sides quite capable of creating an upset on their home patches. To their credit however, the players came through with flying colours and now have just three more games to play to finish the season. Three points should secure the title. Burnley 7 Lancaster 10 The first game against Burnley was a tough affair with two or three of Lancaster’s inexperienced youngsters being sucked into the physicality of the game and the ref having to issue a verbakl warning to the team captains to calm their players down. A tight first quarter ended with Lancaster leading courtesy of a goal from Rysz Detko two minutes into the game. Keeper Zak Sly had a fairly quiet quarter, only having to deal with a couple of speculative efforts thanks to some solid defending form Robert Simpson and Michael brown. Lancaster had an opportunity to go further ahead half way through the period from a man up situation but the chance was missed. The second period saw a bit more action A Ply opened up. Burnley equalised, Stef Detko used his left arm to good effect slotting one from the right wing, and Uncle Rysz Detko netted his second of the game before Burnley pulled two back to reduce the deficit to one. Sam Smith scored with a powerful shot from the left and Lancaster almost crept further ahead but Jake Starkie was unlucky not to follow suit a minute later. Within 30 seconds of Starkie’s miss Decland Ellwood did extend the lead with a well deserved goal after his marker was sent out. Burnley got right back into the game as their players used their physical strength to their advantage and half way through the third period the deficit was down to one goal again. The older Detko and Ellwood took it upon themselves to lead by example and a goal a piece established a three goal lead at the start of the final period. Within a minute the deficit was two but this was the closest Burnley were to come. Although the home side did score twice more further goal for Lancaster, one each for the two Detkos and a second for Sam Smith kept Lancaster in the ascendancy. Preston 8 Lancaster 14 The following day Lancaster made the short journey down the M6 to Preston. After a tightly fought first quarter Lancaster’ superior overall fitness gradually enabled them to pull away from the home side. The first quarter ended 4-3 to Lancaster with goals from Ellwood (2), Michael Brown and Rysz Detko. Preston tried to stick to a game plan of dropping but the Lancaster players proved up to the challenge with some good counter attack and short driving work around the centre forward area. The lead had been extended to three by half time, further scores coming from Ellwood, Brown, Sam Liver and Stephen Smith. The third quarter continued in much the same vein. Simpson and Steve Smith marshalled the defence well whilst Ellwood was causing a nuisance of himself up front. The Preston defence became unsure of what system to play to with all Lancaster’s players looking dangerous in attack. Jake Starkie waded in with two quick goals with Brown, Detko and Ellwood also netting. Lancaster dominated the final period scoring 6 without reply largely thanks to Preston running out of steam and a fine penalty save from Zak Sly. Lancaster’s goals came from Brown(2), Stef Detko, and Sam Smith who finished with a final quarter hat trick. Team: Z Sly, M Brown, L Daykin, J Starkie, E Trafford, S Liver, R Simpson, A Trafford, Steve Smith, Sam Smith, D Ellwood, R Detko, S Detko Shock Defeat Threatens Title Lancaster’s retention of the North Lancs League title is suddenly looking vulnerable after a surprise 7-6 defeat away to Radcliffe last week. Before the game Lancaster were sitting pretty at the top of the table with a four point lead over nearest challengers Kendal. Now with just two games to go Lancaster need 3 points if they are to secure the title again and one of their remaining games is away to Kendal.The Lancaster players were not helped by the absence of the experienced Stephen Smith or the unusually hot pool which soon started to sap the energy from the young, fitter Lancaster team. This helped to even up the contest with Radcliffe’s older players making the most of the shallow/deep pool. Lancaster started well with Decland Ellwood immediately causing a Radcliffe defenders exclusion and Jake Starkie scoring with a powerful shot into the deep end goal. Unfortunately Radcliffe came straight back down to the shallow and despite the efforts of Robert Simpson and Sam Liver in defence Radcliffe’s tall centre forward’s back hand shot beat Zak Sly’s dive in net and found the goal. Both sides were struggling to handle the ball with errors at both ends eventually leading to the ref changing the ball. A repeat of Lancaster’s first goal occurred, Ellwood and Starkie repeating their respective roles but with 30 seconds left on the quarter clock Radcliffe equalised again. The second period went Lancaster’s way with first Rysz Detko then Decland Ellwood scoring for Lancaster but unfortunately in between Radcliffe sneaked a goal of their own. The third quarter proved significant as Lancaster, despite efforts from Sam Smith, Elliot Trafford and Starkie failed to score into the deep end whilst Radcliffe scored twice into the shallow At the start of the third Radcliffe went further ahead but goals from the hard working Michael Brown and Trafford levelled the scores at 6-6. Stef Detko then Ellwood went close to snatching the lead but Radcliffe were also still threatening and it was the home side who snatched the winner into the shallow end with just over a minute to go. Lancaster must now go to Kendal for their next game knowing they need at least one point unless results elsewhere go their way. Team: Z Sly, Sam Smith, M Brown, S Liver, E Trafford, R Detko, J Starkie, R Simpson, S Detko, D Ellwood.
Radcliffe 7 Lancaster 6