Danny Hull
Evo Stik Division One North Burscough overcome their travelling problems to secure a vital victory at Throstle Nest and Farsley AFC boss Neil Parsley admitted his side were “not at the races”, writes James Grayson.
Burscough arrived at Farsley at 7.30pm following a problem with their coach which meant the game kicked off at 8pm.
Despite their late arrival, the visitors took the lead after 14 minutes through Mark Beesley. Danny Hull equalised for Farsley in the second half, but Conor Roberts scored late-on to earn Burscough a deserved win.
Parsley said: “It was a flat and lacklustre performance and disappointing.
“Football has a tendency to find you out when you’re not at the races and tonight was one of them evening. We couldn’t get going and we sluggish and we got over-run.
“Turning up late looked like it helped Burscough. But, I’m not making excuses we didn’t perform to the levels that we have set ourselves to perform at.
“You can pick fault with any goal, but we had got lucky a couple of times before their first goal. We got the equaliser after half-time, but I don’t think we did come out well for the second half.
“We got an equaliser because Ryan Serrant burst a gut down the left-hand side and put the ball in the box for Danny Hull to finish.
“At no stage did I think we were building up a ascendancy and a head of steam to put them under pressure. I couldn’t feel it tonight.
“At no time did I feel we had Burscough on the rack, it was one of them evenings.”
Ben Higginson replaced Tom Morgan in the warm-up
Whilst waiting for Burscough in the warm-up, Farsley lost named goalkeeper Tom Morgan from the starting line-up due to a shoulder problem. Substitute stopper Ben Higginson replaced Morgan and he was called on to make a good save from Liam Caddick after just two minutes.
Burscough started really well and were putting Farsley under real pressure and when Higginson, out of his goal, made a mess of clearance, Beesley took full advantage by scoring from the easy chance.
Farsley survived a string of half Burscough opportunities as the half progressed and only Paddy Miller’s well-saved free kick was the only talking point for the home side going forward in the opening half.
Farsley managed to respond nine minutes into the second half. Ryan Serrant’s perseverance down the left-wing allowed him to cross into the penalty area. Hull was allowed to control the ball and from eight yards, the winger had an easy finish.
Despite the equaliser Farsley never caused Burscough further problems and the game looked set to fizzle into a draw until the 75th minute. Darren Brookfield’s free kick seemed destined for the bottom corner until Higginson made a fantastic save to parry the ball away. However, the ball stayed in play and Roberts was on hand to score the rebound and win the game for Burscough.
Farsley AFC: Higginson, Hardy, Serrant, Daly, Etherington, Miller, Hull (Thompson 83), Young, Ellington, Savory, James (O’Brien 70). Subs unused: Grant, Riley.
Burscough: Horn, Clarke, Short, P Williams, Duff, Brookfield, Roberts, Connolly, Beesley (Robinson 87), Caddick, J Williams. Subs unused: Nwachukwu, Russell, McLaughlan.
Referee: Mr T Bramall (South Yorkshire)
Attendance: 112
Man of the match: Mark Beesley (Burscough)