Marske United 1-0 City of Liverpool

Teams:

Marske: Norton, Martin, O’Sullivan, May, Burgess, Wheatley, Blackford
(Brockbank), Maloney, Waters (Johnson), Stephenson (Garbutt), Round

Subs not used: Pritchard, Watson

City of Liverpool: Johnson, Denson, Foy, McEllin, Dalton, Brown, Jeffries, Clair
(Dawson), Peterson, Hazlehurst, McGrath (Nevitt)
Subs not used: Roberts, Moore

With new signing Leon Scott and Glen Butterworth suspended and Craig Gott
injured, Marske manager Carl Jarrett opted for a 4-2-3-1 formation with Andrew
May partnering new signing Lewis Maloney in the centre of midfield. At the back,
Jack Norton made his debut in goal with Kevin Burgess playing alongside skipper
Adam Wheatley in the centre of defence. Andrew Stephenson, making his second
debut for the club, played in the hole with Jack Blackford and Curtis Round either
side of him with Matthew Waters up front. Recent signings Mathew Garbutt, Liam
Pritchard and Louis Johnson had to be satisfied with a place on the bench.
Marske got off to the best possible start, on a blustery day, taking the lead with a
superb goal from Round on 5 minutes. The ball was played down the left to Round
and with Liam O’Sullivan making an excellent dummy run, this allowed Round to
fire a left foot shot across the Purps keeper Matthew Johnson and into the top
corner. Marske were on the front foot for the majority of the 1 st half and, on 14
minutes, Stephenson picked up a knockdown from Wheatley and made an excellent
run on the right hand side of the box but the attack was well defended by the City
of Liverpool back line. Five minutes later, the move of the half by Marske,
involving Stephenson, Maloney and Blackford ended with a shot by Round which
was well saved by the feet of Johnson. Stephenson was at the centre of most of
the Marske attacks and, on 21 minutes, he showed great skill to get to the by-line,
but his cross was well saved by Johnson. Just before the half hour mark in the
game, the away side had their first chance of the half when a low free kick from
30 yards from skipper Luke Denson went just wide, though Norton appeared to
have it covered. On 38 minutes, the first caution of the game was shown to City of
Liverpool’s Jason Jeffries for a clumsy challenge on Maloney in midfield. With 5
minutes until half time, Francis Foy fired a cross across the face of goal and, at the
other end, neat build-up play from Stephenson created an opening for Maloney
who fired high over the bar. The final chance of the half fell to Marske, in injury
time, when an O’Sullivan cross was met by Wheatley but his header went over the
bar.

Half Time: Marske 1-0 City of Liverpool

The second half started with a 2 nd booking of the game, this time for Callum Martin
for a foul on the tricky Jack Hazlehurst. It should have been 2-0 to Marske on 49
minutes when Blackford outpaced Daniel Dalton and reached the by-line where his
cross was dropped by Johnson into the path of Stephenson, with his back to goal,
but he was unable to hit the target after turning neatly. Marske were piling on the
pressure and had another chance on 51 minutes when a trademark O’Sullivan long
throw found Round at the back post but his shot was well saved by the legs of
Johnson. A second Marske player found his way into the referee’s notebook on 54
minutes when Burgess was booked for a foul on Thomas Peterson. From the
ensuing free kick Jeffries headed over. With the game approaching the midway
point in the half, Marske made a double change with Waters and Stephenson
replaced by Johnson and Garbutt. Shortly after, the away side made their first
change with John McGrath replaced by Elliott Nevitt. As the game entered the
final 20 minutes, the away side piled on the pressure and had a great chance to
equalise on 72 minutes when Hazlehurst made a great run forward and got on the
wrong side of Burgess, but his shot went wide of Norton’s goal. A minute later,
Peterson put the ball in the back of the net from close range but Marske were
saved by the assistant referee’s flag. On 75 minutes, Marske had a great chance to
make the game safe when Johnson did superbly to hold the ball up in the left hand
corner and played in fellow sub Garbutt, who did brilliantly to flick the ball into
the path of Round, who fired over from 10 yards with only Johnson to beat. On 78
minutes, Wheatley became the third Marske player to be booked for a foul on
Hazlehurst, a decision that looked harsh as the Marske skipper appeared to win the
ball. It got worse for Marske moments later when Norton fouled Karl Clair, who
was going away from goal, and referee Conroy had no hesitation in pointing to the
penalty spot. However, Norton redeemed himself saving Clair’s spot kick superbly,
diving to his left. The penalty save led to a coming together between both
technical areas with sub keeper Watson and a City of Liverpool substitute both
shown yellow cards. On 82 minutes it was 11 v 10, when Marske broke quickly from
a City of Liverpool corner and Jeffries hauled down Round on the halfway line and
was shown his second yellow card. With 4 minutes left, it should have been 2-0 to
Marske when a mistake from centre back Anthony Brown saw Round clear on goal
but his shot went wide. With the clock showing 90 minutes, Marske made their
final change shoring up their defence with Lee Brockbank replacing Blackford. The
game ended with a further yellow card apiece with Hazlehurst booked for a poor
challenge on Round and Round was then booked, assumedly for an accumulation of
fouls, for a foul on Denson, but Marske held on for a valuable victory to get their
League campaign off to a winning start.

Full Time: Marske 1-0 City of Liverpool

On a windy day, Marske secured a valuable 3 points in a game they arguably
wouldn’t have won last season, thanks to an excellent strike from Curtis Round and
a penalty save by Jack Norton, who was selected as the Supporters’ Club Man of
the Match. Both Kev Burgess and Andrew May, playing out of position in the centre
of midfield, both played very well, and were worthy of consideration for the
award, but Norton’s penalty save won the day.