Liverpool Res 1 Man Utd Res 0 (Apr 30 2006)

[TLW]

LIVERPOOL RES 1 Man Utd Res 0

Report by Peter Schulz at the Racecourse Ground

Scorer(s) - Antonio Barragan Half Time - 0-0 Venue - Racecourse Ground, Wrexham Date - Sun 30 Apr 2006 Star Man - Miki Roque

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Liverpool reserves completed a league double over rivals Man Utd as they ran out deserved 1-0 winners courtesy of a superb second half strike by Antonio Barragan at Wrexham’s Racecourse Ground on Sunday afternoon. The game was marred, however, by a stupid tannoy request for Michael Shields to go to the nearest steward.

Following a stunning display in midweek, Herrera and McAuley kept faith in two-goal hero Bezian Idrizaj. He was upfront on his own with a 5 man midfield including (from left to right) Foy, Peltier, Guthrie, Hobbs and Anderson. The back four had Barragan and Smith in the fullback positions and Roque and Antwi in the centre.

Knowing they had already wrapped up the Barclays Reserve League North title, Man Utd fielded a completely different side to the one that was beaten before Christmas in Solskjær’s comeback game. This time there was no Pique or Rossi.

Still, the first half was a pretty tight affair with only a couple of chances for each side. Idrizaj was sent through by Peltier, but the defender got back and dispossessed the Austrian.

Immediately afterwards, Danny Guthrie took the ball off a defender, but his cross for Idrizaj was too long. The Austrian still managed to cut it back for Foy, but his shot missed the target.

The visitors’ best chance of the half came when full back David Gray (who would no doubt be well-equipped to sing his own praises) combined well with Fraizer Campbell but his shot from a good position just inside the box went well wide.

On the half hour mark Danny Guthrie embarked on a mazy run which saw him go past 2-3 defenders on his way into the box, but his attempted chip was poor.

The visitors ended the half on top as Miki Roque had to block Campbell’s shot and shortly afterwards Jamie Mullen’s effort was deflected goalwards, but Martin saved comfortably.

The second half was 6 minutes old when a long ball in the left channel found Robbie Foy who cut inside, but his shot was deflected out for a corner. The corner was met by Antwi who stretched at the back post. His looping header was awkwardly tipped over by Steele.

Five minutes later another corner, this time a short one, found Antwi at the near post. His lay off was wasted, however, by Anderson, who was not enjoying his best game for the reds.

Former Man Utd reserve Ramon Calliste was brought on for Idrizaj on the hourmark. The Austrian had been back in character, with another rather disappointing display.

The reds backline was keeping the visitors well in check and Liverpool now looked the most likely to win the game. Robbie Foy’s 66th minute dipping effort from long range went just over, and Calliste also lifted an effort over Steele’s goal.

The breakthrough came on 73 minutes when a corner from the left was met by Hobbs who could only head it up in the air. The ball landed outside the box for Barragan.

He took one touch to steady himself, one to move it inside, and one to hammer an unstoppable shot into the top corner. Steele got a hand to it, but could not keep it out. The Spaniard then went in front of the away fans to celebrate.

8 minutes later, Michael Shields was asked to go to the nearest steward as his family were looking after him (or some lame excuse like that).

With ten minutes to go Adam Hammill was introduced in place of Paul Anderson and a couple of minutes later, Danny Guthrie was replaced by Ryan Flynn.

In stoppage time Markus Neumayr saw a freekick from the left go agonisingly (for some) wide but the reds were never under any kind of sustained pressure in the second half.

The best player out there was difficult to pick out and I’ve noted that the official site gave a joint award to Lee Peltier and Danny Guthrie. They both had decent games, but I thought they were both outshone by Miki Roque who was once again back in his preferred position in the centre of defence.

The reserves play their last game of the season on Tuesday night away against Man City. This season has seen a massive improvement from last season and for most of the time, following their progress has been a great experience. There has been a series of disappointing performances, but there’s enough promising players in the squad to suggest next season will be even better.

With the addition of a promising young forward or two (heard that one before?) this side will be up there at the top next season. I’m quite certain of that.


Team: Martin; Barragan, Roque, Antwi, Smith; Anderson (Hammill), Hobbs, Peltier, Foy; Guthrie (Flynn); Idrizaj (Calliste):