Sandbrook Rd, Southport
Scorers: Mahmood (1)
Ventura's trend of conceding crucial late goals continued to haunt them in this fixture against top of the table West Lancs Utd. Once again Ventura came out flying & gave the current third division leaders a shock as they dominated the possession & created a host of chances that ultimately they squandered. It is possible that West Lancs looked at the current league table & saw this as an easy fixture. They were given a reality check ten minutes in however as Ventura deservedly took the lead, Ali Frank being released down the right flank & after his shot struck the near post the rebound fell invitingly for Mahmood who smashed home.
Playing 4-5-1 with O'Malley being moved to centre-midfield, Ventura then bossed the game & were only held back by some dubious offside decisions before Hand put Conkling through on goal. Expecting another offside call he then found himself one on one but his finish was straight at the keeper & West Lancs survived. Ventura were hoping it would not prove critical and their cause was helped by the impressive goalkeeping debut of Matty Slocombe who dealt comfortbaly with anything thrown his way. Frank then put an inviting ball across the six yard box but Conkling was unable to make a contact as he was trying to stay behind the player and onside.
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| Miller makes his debut for Ventura |
The start of the second half saw little change in the play & soon enough both the West Lancs players & management started to argue their differences as frustration set in, the referee even having to book two of their players for dissent. They did however, on around seventy minutes, claim an equaliser as Ventura failed to clear their lines. A deep cross was then put in & two West Lancs players were able to work an opening between them to level. It was harsh on Ventura but they replied well & created some more chances, Frank lashing home only for the referee to rule it out for offside. Following a free-kick on their left-side, Ventura then conceded a second goal as the ball fell to a West Lancs winger whose shot was parried by Slocombe & their striker hit the rebound home.
Again it was harsh but again Ventura responded in the right way & pushed for the equaliser, their best opportunity being when Lang sprang the offside trap to go one on one again, only for a moment of hesitation to ruin the attack as he opted to pass rather than shoot, the keeper having committed himself. The fact that the score remained 2-1 was then largely down the West Lancs keeper as he palmed away two Trecharichi strikes & Frank hit a post. The introduction of the 'Orang-Utan' Damo Ginginho for his debut nearly paid dividends too as his long range strike seemd destined for the bottom corner only for the keeper to pull off a stunning save. Despite the late surge of pressure & forcing a series of corners, Ventura just couldn't quite grab their deserved equaliser & ultimately the result will not help what they perceive to be a false league position. Certainly their performances so far have justified better.
Also, congratulations to both Dan O'Malley & Allison Frank on their MOTM performances against Banks & Chatsworth respectively.
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