A new season, a new manager, a new ground and some new faces to bolster the Grappenhall faithful as the 2011/2012 season kicked off at Fortress Egerton Park.
A perfectly manicured pitch and balmy summer afternoon greeted the barmy boys of Timperley . A new team who excelled in the lower division. How would they fair against the sterner challenge of accomplished first division veterans?
Manager Rob lined us up in Barcelonaesque 4-3-3. Fluidity the key. Alas as the afternoon wore on, too much 'fluidity' over the summer sojourn would prove to be the Grappenhall undoing.
The pitch encouraged passing. Both teams having a go as the first half got under way. Timperley looked comfortable in possession with some early long ball accuracy that had the centre half pairing of Bradley and Halliwell back pedalling at speed. Pem and Niven on sentry as full backs. Nothing too much to worry about. Coyne sweeping up anything going long. The midfield triumvirate of Orr Eales and Mecrow(magnificent) working out the new system. Mecrow(magnificent) sitting in the Makelle role. Orr looked good. Fit and keen to harass. Eales Leggy and not in a Kidman way. On point Razor, full of running.
Timperley pressed. Their barrel chested front man out pacing 'Sangria' Bradley on a couple of occasions. A raised eyebrow from us all. Bradley not often left on his backside. A couple of attacks from the Grappenhall boys showed the Timperley back line to be anything but solid. So how would it unfold? Timperley slightly on top got the first. A neat move and clean finish saw them 1-0 up. Grappenhall responded nicely within 10 minutes to level after a goalkeeper fumble from some good Orr work, gifting Leighton a tap in. Praise where praise is due though, he was up there sniffing whilst we were sat back watching. One all at half time.
Much needed water, a breather and the usual non productive post mortem.
Cookie was out, Hamstring. Tok 'ribs' Hussain sidelined..... Role out the twenty five pounders. Mark 'Gump' Hadland came on, Duracell like, running running running. Storming. Orr had to go. Missed. Rob Brown put in a shift. O'Donnell turned up to save us after his hugely important corporate golf weekend? The irishman clearly sober, impact negligible.
So the second half saw Timperley step it up and Grappenhall begin the long cling on. As the engines lost power the gaps opened up. It was Timperley who exploited them the most forcing Coyne to prove once again why he's made the green jersey his own. It was coming though. You sensed it. We managed to get to 4 minutes before the end though before the pressure became too much and Timperley got the winner. Nothing special. A speculative cross found a Timperley player in space with enough time to control and tap in. What little stuffing was left was knocked out of the Grappenhall boys. The whistle came to bring the curtain down on the season opener.
Timperley wanted it most. It showed. But so alas did the ghost of Warrington Grange in the guise of one or two of their players. Ho hum.
A fair result. One all would have flattered us. Plenty of positives. Much to work on. The facilities proving to be the only winner for the home team on the day. Hot showers, Flat pitch and onsite beers. The Egerton relocation clearly the right decision but a fortress already it's proving not to be.
SCE
