Marine FC move up to 3rd place in the BetVictor Northern North West Division after a 4-1 win over Kendal Town FC at Rossett Park on Saturday.
On a cold, yet sunny afternoon in Crosby, The Mariners put on a confident performance against their visitors to move into 3rd place of the Northern North West Division. After their 4-1 victory, they are now level on 27 points with Trafford and Clitheroe.
Marine FC manager, Neil Young said, “it’s good to get a win, it’s always good to win football matches, particularly after our performance midweek in the Liverpool Senior Cup. Overall, we asked them to go about their job in a certain way, get off to a fast start and they’ve done that.”
First half
Marine began the game exactly how their manager had intended, fast. In fact, their first goal came inside the opening 5 minutes. A shot from outside the box looked to be going wide. However, Marine captain Niall Cummins, showed great intuition and managed to get on the edge of the initial shot, only to slot it in the bottom right hand corner and give his team the early lead.
In the opening 10 minutes of the match, Marine maintained control of the game. Kenny Strickland played a good ball forward to Niall Cummins, who then forced a good save from Kendal Town’s goalkeeper, Morgan Bacon. However, Brett Mbalanda was there to capitalise on the opportunity and managed to slot away the rebound and double his sides lead in the opening 20 minutes of the match.
Kendal Town didn’t make it easy for the hosts. Some clever play from Kendal Town forward, Emil Jasskelainen, forced some commanding defending inside the box from Kenny Strickland, who had to make an emphatic challenge to prevent a possible goal. The referee, Richard Abson, was quick to dismiss calls for a penalty.
Kendal Town continued to apply pressure for the remainder of the first half but were unfortunate as they finished the first half down by 2 goals.
Second half
Marine began the second half in the same fashion as the first half, and were unlucky not to extend their lead. Niall Cummins got on the end of a free kick, but sent his header narrowly wide of the post.
The visitors were quick to respond with their own attack, as some clever build-up play resulted in Marine keeper, Shamal George, having to make an emphatic fingertip save to deny Kendal Town a certain goal.
However, Marine were then awarded with a 77th minute penalty after Morgan Bacon was booked for bringing down Brett Mbalanda inside the box.
Niall Cummins stepped up to take the penalty. Although, he needed a little bit of luck, as his shot initially cannoned off the crossbar. However, the ball did bounce back down and over the line, and fortunately the linesman correctly spotted it and the goal was given.
However, Kendal Town answered quickly. Emil Jasskelainen made a clever pass to Joseph Dickson, which allowed the forward to clinically slot the ball into the bottom corner and bring the score back to 3-1.
Though, it didn’t end there. Marine had a shot from outside the box that ricocheted off the post and fell nicely to Craig Lindfield, who made no mistake with the opportunity and scored the final goal of the game, bringing the final result to 4-1.
Full-time
After the game, Neil Young, expressed how his sides careful preparation was a factor that led to their victory. He said, “We always analyse every team, we give everyone the respect they deserve. We have every opposition watched, then I’ll watch them myself.
“So, we knew that having two centre forwards for us was very important, in terms of getting at their centre halves. We knew they were younger lads, and we’ve got two centre forwards who are big and strong.”
Marine have endured a mixed set of results in their recent matches, when Neil was asked how he intends to carry on this momentum into their next fixture, he said, “If we set ourselves mentally right, and the attitude is right from the off, we are a tough team to beat, I think we’ve proven that on numerous occasions.
“We’ve got to make sure we prepare correctly, attitude wise, to make sure we win every game. The league is very tight, but we are up there and that’s the main thing, we’ve just got to keep going.”
In their next league fixture, Marine are up against 4th place Clitheroe. Follow @merseysportlive on social media for all your latest sports news and updates.
Attendance – 359
