Alsager Town 2-2 Congleton Town
Alsager Town took on Step four side Congleton Town in their first home pre-season friendly at Wood Park. The Bullets were looking to make it two wins from two after recording a 3-2 victory away to Egerton last Tuesday.
First half
It did not take long for Alsager to warm into the game and one of their players had an early half-chance. Congleton lost possession and faced a shot on goal when their goalkeeper was out of his net. However, the effort was fired wide.
Moments later, Alsager did take the lead and the goalkeeper was once again at fault. He came to the edge of his box, but failed to get rid of the ball. It fell to the striker who made it 1-0 with a composed finish.
It seemed as though the Bullets would have a chance to go two ahead soon after, when their forward was involved in a collision with the Congleton shot-stopper in the penalty box. However, the referee awarded a free kick the other way.
Congleton then began to build some momentum and got a number of shots on goal, but the Alsager keeper continuously made save after save to keep his team ahead.
His efforts in goal were matched by the forwards, who quickly closed down Congleton and gave their defenders very little time on the ball. The defenders also chipped in with some strong tackles, in a first half where Alsager did not have much possession, but still managed to be effective.
The Bullets had another chance, when Congleton again lost the ball in a dangerous position. However, a brilliant sliding challenge stopped Alsager’s first goalscorer from adding to his tally.
Just before half time, the home side came close with a shot just outside the box which went narrowly wide of the Congleton goalkeeper’s left post.
Half time: Alsager Town 1-0 Congleton Town
Second half
Congleton looked much stronger at the start of the second half and did not take long to find an equaliser through Ethan Hartshorn. His effort from close range was fired hard and low and was too good for the Alsager keeper, making the scoreline 1-1.
The Bears had the ball in the back of the net again a few minutes later. Their first shot was saved by the keeper, but the defence failed to make a clearance and a second effort went in. However, the linesman raised his flag to disallow the goal for offside, keeping the score at one apiece.
Alsager began to have a lot of joy on the left wing, as Congleton repeatedly gave the ball away and left far too much space at the back. They managed to get a couple of shots on goal, but none of them did too much to challenge the man between the sticks for the away team.
It was Congleton who had the next big chance, when a great cross into the box was headed over the bar by a narrow margin. Really, the forward should have put his side ahead.
Congleton would regret not taking that chance, as Alsager scored a second goal with 10 minutes left to play. The goalkeeper was unable to get rid of the ball from a corner and the Bullets made it 2-1 with what should quite rightly be labelled a bullet of a strike.
This looked like it could be the winning goal, but Congleton responded with a superb effort. George Sankey struck the ball from range and it curled towards the top left corner, away from the keeper.
Full time: Alsager Town 2-2 Congleton Town
A solid Alsager Town performance
Alsager were unable to see out the win, but the performance was what mattered. The Bullets defended well and looked to be effective through counter attacks. Compared with the second half of last season, this is already a significant improvement.
After the match, Alsager manager Warren Jones told Moorlands Radio: “It isn’t about the result at all. The performance, chances created, the shape, and how we defended as a team was all good and more important at this stage. I’m happy overall with that.
“We were looking at this game thinking it could be very difficult. We knew we’d have to defend well and hit them on the counter with our speed up top which we did very well.
“I didn’t think we’d do as well as we did, so that’s very positive and encouraging.”
Alsager play again against Bollington on Tuesday at Wood Park. Kick off is at 19:30.
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