Carter Clinches Cup Game!! Brereton Lion worked their way into the second round of the Brereton Town cup with a well deserved but hard fought win over Premier League side Yates Sports. An impressive display that featured lots of team work and willing running mixed in with some superb individual skill meant The Lion left the Yates ground the happy winners. A terrible start to the morning for the management team with Corrigan's detailed plans and tactics being ripped to shreds by FIVE players not getting out of bed for the big cup mat ch. Cunningham, Baker, Daley, Matyus and Houston all missed the 9:30am departure time with only Alex Houston eventually contacting Corrigan and making his way to the ground for the first half. Shocking, and a few people need to have a look in the mirror and have a word with themselves. The Lion were also without injury victims Crozier and Crutchley and the working duo of Cowlishaw and Dunn. The squad was stretched to breaking point. Luckily Stevey Phillips busted a gut to get Paul Dutton signed up in the week and Harry Wright was able to be a sub after missing the last few weeks through work and lovey dovey trips to Liverpool. The Lion opted for a 4/4/1/1 formation with Dan Cushen in goals and a now settled looking defence of Chandler, Cushen, Dutton and Franklin. On the wings were Keegan Grant and Simpson with Stockhall and Carter in centre mid. In attack was the returning Paul Dutton and last seasons top goalscorer Tommy Wright (The Pig!). This forward line were a massive success the last time they lined up for The Lion and lets hope they bring more goals this time around. Yates were obviously going to be well up for getting revenge on The Lion after The Lion hammered them 6-0 on their own ground in the league earlier this season. However The Lion were well fired up and started the match strong, with Carter and Stockhall in particular battling well in midfield. Keegan Grant was showing just what a talented young footballer he is by constantly grafting on the right wing, working up and down the flank. The Pig and Paul Dutton were looking sharp up front, and their pace always looked threatening when The Lion attacked. Yates were trying a route one approach from goal kicks, with the goalkeeper aiming his punts extremely long down the centre. JR and Ben Cushen were organising their defence superbly with Ash Carter dropping in to help combat the aerial threat from Yates. Yates looked decent at times, with Granty in the middle trying to get the ball down and play at times. Paul Dutton was putting in a great shift helping out the defence and then getting forward when he could. The Lion opened the scoring when The Pig busted a gut to chase down a through ball from Paul Dutton. The Yates defence got in a pickle, with the keeper and sweeper not sure who was doing what. Their attempt at a combined clearance hit The Pig who greedily tapped into the empty net. 1-0 LION Yates were rattled by this goal but could not find a way past this spirited Lion side. Full backs Franklin and Chandler were in no mood for letting crosses in, with both defenders putting in mighty strong tackles on the opposition wingers to stop them in their tracks. The Lion were on top and Wright, Dutton and Carterl all tested The Yates keeper, who was having a good game. Simpson started to pull the strings from the left wing, with The Yates right back being absolutely bamboozled on numerous occasions. Simpson was really in the mood for this match and was whipping in many dangerous crosses and setting up The Lion forwards. The Lion added a deserved second goal when midfield battler Ashley Carter made up for last weeks red card with a superb goal, his first competitive goal in The Lion colours. Chandler whipped in a superb cross from the right flank and Carter bravely smashed in a powerful header past the stranded keeper. Great goal. 2-0 LION The Lion were looking like repeating their last display on this ground with some great football being played at times. HT 0-2 LION The Lion had put a lot of effort into the first half and were up for not letting this game slip. There were some tired players in the second half and a few faces who had not completed 90 minutes consistently for a while. The Lion should have had a third and wrapped the game up when Wright put a good chance wide early in the half. Simpson was carrying on his great 1st half form and had a great penalty shout turned down by referee Nigel Kerr on the 60th minute. Simpson was trying to recreate the Paul Gascoigne Euro 96 goal by flicking the ball over the defenders head but the defenders arms were high and blocked the ball. A decent penalty shout ignored by the man in the middle. Keegan Grant should have scored when he blazed over from close range just after. Paul Dutton had a strong individual run into the box that was only stopped by a superb last ditch tackle. This seemed to rattle the Yates centre half Sanga who started to try and wrestle Dutton on the floor, causing both teams to get their handbags out. Needless and out of character for this otherwise well behaved match. This cup game was in the balance with Yates starting to get a bit more into the match. The Lion just could not get that third goal and Yates were starting to launch in some dangerous long throws. It was from one of these long throws that got Yates back into the game. A ball into the box was not met and a Yates player bundled it over the line from close range to make it 1-2. The Lion introduced their only subs at this point with a visibly tiring Dutton replaced by the youthful Harry Wright and the late Alex Houston replacing Keegan Grant on the wing. Belated credit to Houston who got out of his pit and drove to the ground. Great to have Harry Wright back inthe mix and he will pulling on the number 3 shirt soon with Franklin off on a Winter break to Mexico. This was now a real test for The Lion with Yates battling away and getting a massive lift from their goal. The Lion defence were screaming at the attacking players to get back and help out. Credit to the whole side, even the lads who looked shattered towards the end kept on trying to close down and stop Yates playing. Whenever Dan Cushen was tested he was a safe pair of hands in goals. No one was letting Yates have an easy route to goal. Once again a round of applause to Ash Carter who just never stopped grafting all game. Stockhall, who was an injury doubt pre game had a great game full of composure and steel in the centre. Yates just could not break The Lion down and The Lion seen the game out 2-1. Even nicer to win the game in front of Rugeley United keeper Russell Todd, who has started an online hate campaign against The Lion. MOM= A lot of strong candidates again, with every player busting a gut and producing the goods. The battling characteristics of Ash Carter were impressive again, JR never put a foot wrong in defence and Paul Dutton always looked like making something happen. But the award this week heads to Stuey Simpson who was simply on fire all game, the free role from the left wing allows him the time and space to really hurt teams and his positional sense was top notch. Wel done Stuey!!
