Under 11's. Stockport Metro League. 3rd Division.
Home v Stockport Vikings

  Result - Reddish North End 2 Stockport Vikings 3

Match Report: Andy Johnson

After the superb win in the cup for the last game Reddish were looking to build on their impressive league form. But this would be difficult against a Stockport Vikings side, which contained a familiar face. Phillip (or Pip as he was known to a lot of people) was in SV midfield and back to face his old club.

The game kicked off and Reddish were slow to start, which is very uncharacteristic. SV were given an early chance after a mistake by Chris O. Reddish were still sluggish but were able to carve out an opportunity as Khaleal made space for James. But James couldn’t put the ball away. SV broke on the counter and punished Reddish for there slow start, side-footing the ball past Joe from 6 yards. 0-1.

This was the wake up call that Reddish needed as they burst into life. James and Dillon H linked up brilliantly as they tried to put Reddish back in the game. Reddish heaped more and more pressure on SV and eventually they got their reward. James used all his strength to hold off the defence and coolly slotted the ball in the back of the net to level the score. 1-1

After the goal, Reddish started to move into top gear and was looking to go in front before the break. Khaleal, Dillon H and James all had chances but they couldn’t find the net. The players came in at half time looking very frustrated that they couldn’t find the second goal.

HALF TIME: 1-1.

In the second half, Reddish continued their domination of the match as they, again, looked for the second goal. But, as at the end of the first half, this was proving luckless. Chance after chance was being created, James going close with a deflected header. Jack also had a shot blocked from a well-worked corner kick but nothing seemed to be going RNEs way. SV then dealt Reddish a cruel blow by scoring a rare chance for them. This time it was from the penalty spot after Emi made a rash challenge. 1-2.

As soon as the penalty was scored the third followed shortly behind. Reddish failed to clear their lines and SV capitalised on some collective, bad defending to slot the ball past Joe in the bottom right hand corner. 1-3.

The score-line looked really harsh on Reddish, as they had been the better team for most of the game. For the next 10 minutes Reddish regrouped and put an awesome amount of pressure on SVs goal. There seemed to be an invisible wall in front of their goal as no one could get the final touch into the net. Still Reddish never gave up and they rained shots on SVs goal. The pressure finally paid off as James managed to grab his second. He poked the ball into the back of the net after a scramble in the box. 2-3.

There was no time to celebrate as the game quickly resumed. Reddish sensed a comeback but this wasn’t to be as the final whistle blew. It was a quiet ending to a thrilling game of football and, although they lost the game, Reddish should take some spirit from the way they fought and battled their way back into the game. The only thing lacking today was the finishing and, on another day, it would have been a different result. Hopefully, that will be the case when they face a tough game away to Great Moor County next week. See you all there.

Scorers : James (2)

Man of the match : Joe