Saturday, March 28, 2009

Southport 3 Stafford Rangers 2

Only 40 seconds in and Southport were a goal down and on the back foot. After 25 minutes of hoofing the ball about Southport were 2 goals down and looked like they would conceed a lot more.
It was a terrible performance with no hope...
Watson made a first half substitution taking James Connolly off and bring on Neil Prince, changing to a 352 formation. Desperation surely...
Within minutes of Prince coming on he had scored and Southport went on the attack. A couple of minutes later Steve Daly scored, and a minute after that he did it again. Three goals in three minutes!
Half time came and the fans were in a good mood for once.
The second half didnt live up to the first, no goals.
It was a good game overall. Stafford were a very good side. It was great to see Prince back in yellow and playing well. Southport will have to play a lot better on Tuesday.

MOTM: Neil Prince, (Robbie Booth)

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Southport 3 Burscough 0

There was a hint of mist about tonight. A good crowd of just under 1000 came for the postponed New Years day derby. Chris Holland returned to Haig Ave in green for St Patricks Day.
The game was fairly even in the first half up to the last 10 minutes when Southport started dominating. Adam Flynn scored from a corner 5 minutes before the half time whistle.
In the second half with Robbie Booth playing up front as a striker rather than on the wing Southport were a lot more threatening. Obviously under orders to shoot on sight the Port attacked. Matty McGinn, having a great game, scored Southports second, a very nice goal.
Bootha nd Kilheeney were subbed for Smart and Leadbetter and the attack continued. Leadbetter almost scored a couple of times but it was Alan Smart who got the third goal 15 minutes before the end.
The attacking football certainly got the crowd backing the team again.

MOTM Robbie Booth (and Matty McGinn)

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Southport 1 Farsley Celtic 0

It was sunny with blue skies and a cold wind today. After scoring 5 on Thursday I expected goals today at Haig Ave.
Two former players returned today, Kevin Leadbetter for Southport and Dominic Krief for Celtic. Both players would have good games.
Southport dominated the possession and Celtic looked every bit the side that had let in 5 goals in their previous match. Their strikers didn't look at all threatening.
Southport started well with Leady playing behind Daly and Kilheeney. But as half time came there was no sign of a goal from either team.
Daly was subbed at half time, and Robbie Booth came on. Booth had scored twice on Thursday and looked good. Playing on the right wing he again had plenty of space. After a shaky start he made some dangerous runs down the wing and put some good crosses in. Unfortunately the ball was not played down the wings often enough despite Booth and Leady making the most of the opportunities they had.
The crowd were getting frustrated. There was the first call of the season for Watson to resign and lots of frustrated cries for the ball to be played on the ground. It was 10 minutes before the end that Southport managed to score, man of the moment Robbie Booth getting his third goal in 3 days.
When the final whistle went there were cheers and boos. The general concensus was that Southport were rubbish and it was a terrible match. I dont think it was that bad, the manager and coaches need to do some work on the good aspects of the match.

MOTM: First half: Leady Second Half: Booth

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Marine 1 Southport 5 Liverpool Senior Cup

I was one of the first Southport fans at Marines ground tonight. There weren't many people that bothered to come out to watch this match, fewer than last year.
The team Southport put out was a mixture of first team players like Davis, Lever, Booth, Gray and Powell, youth players like Peter Moore and John Hedges, coaches Price and Smart and out of favour keeper Drench. A strong starting line up.
It was the tiny John Hedges who took the lead just 29 seconds into the game. His lead didn't last long with Marine equalising with Shaun Tuck's goal after 9 minutes. There were three more Southport goals in the first half two from Robbie Booth, who had had a lot of the ball, and one from Shaun Whalley.
There were three subs in the second half and just one more goal from Shaun Gray. There were few highlights in the second half other than the goal. Both teams came together to discuss a Southport foul and there were a few bookings following that.

MOTM Robbie Booth

Saturday, March 07, 2009

Southport 2 Gateshead 3

It was a grey day and a grey first half. Michael Powell put the side ahead 5 minutes before the end of a boring first half.
The second half was better, Gateshead drew level and with Kilheeney on Southport looked more likely to score. I thought Kilheeney got the next goal but the players obviously thought Steve Daly scored it. At 2:1 Southport should have been comfortable but a poor clearance from McMillan and a desperate tackle from Earl on the edge of the area gave Gateshead a penalty. 2:2 would have been a fair result but Gateshead went for the win and were rewarded for their efforts with a goal 8 minutes. Southport tried to get an equaliser but ran out of time.

Southport dont have any flair. There are no players like Baker, Duffy, Prince, Holland etc and Leady was out injured. Southport look average and its hard to see how they can win the league or even get into the play offs playing like this.
Southport need to play two strikers and need some pace on the wings. The team looked better when they passed the ball on the ground but they clearly aren't used to it and need some practice.

MOTM: no one