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Match Details: Saturday 29th December 2001 Northern Premier League Premier Division
Attendance: 276 Burscough: M.Taylor P.Taylor Molloy Molyneux McMullen Lawless Knowles Dugdale Furlong Bowen Subs Birch ( for Molloy) Alty (for P.Taylor) Hanson - not used This was a critical match for the Tigers having lost the previous six, but the team responded magnificently with a hard-earned victory to lift them off the bottom of the table and give notice the season is far from over. Chris Young and John Foster were forced to sit it out through suspension whilst David Felgate, on loan from Leigh RMI, was introduced in goal, and Tom Brookes made his debut in midfield. Right from the outset, the Tigers were on top, but as usual failed to take their chances and make their superiority count. Brookes had an impressive first half until he pulled a hamstring right on half time, whilst Felgate brought some stability to the defence as well as using the ball well on clearances. Gareth Rowe replaced the unlucky Brookes and played well as the Tigers produced a storming second half display. They took the lead on 52 minutes when Kevin Leadbetter hammered home and it could and should have been more. It was not until the second minute of the six minutes added time that Simon Yeo added a second after good work again by Leadbetter. In between Hyde worked hard and controlled the game with just the occasional scare. Felgate did the business when he needed to and Matty Taylor was outstanding again as sweeper. Leadbetter was the star up front and it was good for Simon to get on the scoresheet as it looked it was not going to be his day as Taylor had produced a breathtaking save to thwart him earlier in the half. Overall a tremendous performance and something to build on for the New Year. The only disappointment was that Steve Foster and Yeo picked up bookings and will now miss the Gateshead game. |