Man Utd Res 0 Liverpool Res 2 (Dec 5 2005)

[TLW]

Man Utd Res 0 LIVERPOOL RES 2

Report by Peter Schulz at Ewan Fields

Scorer(s) - Ramon Calliste, Besian Idrizaj Half Time - 0-1 Venue - Ewen Fields, Hyde United FC Date - Tue 5 Dec 2005 Star Man - Paul Willis

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Neil Mellor made his comeback, coming on for the final 18 minutes of the reserves’ deserved 2-0 away victory against Manchester United, but the game was marred by what initially looked a serious back injury to Darren Potter.

Man Utd fielded former Liverpool fan, Ole Gunnar Solskjær, for the first time since the FA Cup final in 2004, and the game was watched by a crowd of 2,738 – officially. I think it was a lot more. Solskjær was largely anonymous.

The game started with the home side putting the reds under a bit of pressure, but after 10 minutes, Ramon Calliste latched onto a long ball, and as Luke Steele in the Man Utd goal hesitated, he stole in, and was left with a simple finish to put Liverpool a goal up.

Man Utd again pushed forward, but the reds kept their cool and defended well. Then, after about 20 minutes, Darren Potter went in a 50/50 challenge in the middle of the park, and fell down clutching his back.

He was screaming when the physio tried to move him, so a stretcher was brought on, and Potter was taken to hospital having had back spasms. Lee Peltier was brought on in his place.

The reds, though playing in white on this occasion, were under pressure, but coped well on a poor pitch. After half an hour, Barragan collected the ball in the United half and cut inside before firing in a good left footed effort which was saved well by Steele.

Five minutes later, Lee Martin, the Man Utd left winger cut through the Liverpool defence and placed it towards the far corner. Fortunately, Dave Raven was on hand to clear off the line.

The reds were content to sit back in a solid 4-5-1 formation with Mannix operating behind Calliste and though the United side kept looking for an equaliser, after Martin’s chance, it didn’t seem forthcoming.

The crowd had quickly become restless and frustrated with the reds’ resilience, and having already gone through their two songs actually supporting their own team and players during the warm up (I would imagine), they instead started on their huge repertoire of anti-scouse songs. And then some about Wayne Rooney, who the last time I checked was from Liverpool. Never mind, it clearly backfired as the Liverpool players looked very motivated throughout.

In the second half the same pattern continued. Martin twice broke through on the Man Utd left and delivered low crosses to the centre. The first one was met by Ebanks-Blake, who had come on for Solskjær, but Paul Willis somehow managed to make a fantastic reflex save to keep the ball out. The second one was saved by a last ditch tackle by the ever impressive Ghanaian, Godwin “God” Antwi.

After the initial period of United pressure, Liverpool started to become a little bit more adventurous and launched a few counter attacks of their own. David Mannix had a shot saved on the hour mark and Paul Anderson scuffed his follow up shot.

A couple of minutes later, however, Willis again had to come to the reds’ rescue saving from Pique at full stretch and then somehow blocking Markus Neumayr’s shot from point blank range. Willis was there when needed the most.

20 minutes into the second half, Danny Guthrie was replaced by the Austrian winger/forward Besian Idrizaj. A couple of minutes later, Antonio Barragan’s throw in from his own half found Ramon Calliste, who played it into Paul Anderson stealing away from his marker with great pace. His shot from the edge of the box was well-struck but just over Steele’s cross bar.

With 18 minutes to go came the moment a lot of reserve regulars had waited a long time to see. Neil Mellor replaced Ramon Calliste. From the start it was clear to see that there’s not much love lost between Mellor and Manchester United and quickly, he committed two blatant fouls.

First he left his leg in in a challenge leaving a Man Utd player on the floor. Then, as the referee waved play on to give United the advantage, he barged into Pique arms first after the defender had already played the ball. Both were told off by the referee.

Only three minutes after his introduction, however, he made a really positive contribution, turning Pique and firing in a venomous shot which Steele could barely keep out at his far post. It would have been so sweet had it gone in, even though I would have lost my bet with my editor. Minutes later, Willis again had to be brave as he blocked Rossi’s attempt from inside the box.

Then with five minutes to go, Neil Mellor was fouled by the touchline in the United half on our left. David Mannix’s freekick was fired directly towards goal at the near post, but Steele turned it round the post for a corner.

The corner was delivered brilliantly to just outside the six yard box where Idrizaj rose high above everyone else to steer the ball home under the bar. An excellent header from the Austrian.

That signalled the end for most of the crowd, but the Liverpool players were clearly elated. They managed to hold on for the final few minutes without any real problems. It was an excellent defensive performance by the Liverpool youngsters, certainly the best I’ve witnessed this season.

It was great to see Mellor make his comeback and it was obvious his presence upset the defenders. He is a real handful and we all hope he has finally ended his injury nightmare so he can go on to challenge for a first team spot before the season is over.

There were good performances all over the pitch, however, and particularly at the back. Once again, Roque and Antwi, both 17-year-olds, showed great promise, but the pick of the bunch was goalkeeper Paul Willis who made some outstanding saves when the reds needed them the most at 1-0.

A very promising performance all round, but it remains to be seen when Darren Potter will be able to return.


Team: Willis; Barragan, Roque, Antwi, Raven; Anderson, Mannix, Hobbs, Potter (Peltier), Guthrie (Idrizaj; Calliste (Mellor):