Hoole United 1st team have crashed out of the Lancashire Cup on Penalties following a scrappy affair at Hoole Rec.
A frustrating, but relatively even game struggled to get going with both teams plucking away, a game limited by chances struggled to excite the watching Hoole supporters. Hoole did however take the lead first, when some good work from Roy Sermon released Dave Tynan down the right, he delivered one of the better balls of the match to a waiting Andrew Taylor who readjusted his position perfectly to beat the opposition goalie to the cross to glance home half way through the first half.
HT - Hoole 1-0 Higher Ince
After the break, Inch made a change to their line up and put 'fisher' in goal. They came out fighting and eventually got themselves into the match when a whipped free kick landed perfectly in front of an Ince player who slotted to make it 1-1.
The game was there for the taking from either side, and Hoole could have won it with 15 mins to go, when some good work by Joe Bamber released Taylor. Unfortunately Ince were able to see off the danger, with the game fizzling out into the draw penalties followed.
With penalties being very much a lottery, it just wasn't meant to be for Hoole as the ever reliable John Smith was introduced to take a pen, fired wide. Ince took all of theirs like Germans and in the end won 5-3 on pens.
Liam Molyneux after the game said the following:
"It was frustrating, no one likes to lose, let alone lose on penalties. Performances across the park could have been better, we tried to urge a higher tempo and better quality passes but it just was not there. They upped their work rate in the 2nd half and they fully deserved their equaliser"
On penalties:
"You know it's not going to be your day when the usually clinical John Smith fires wide, maybe today it just was not meant to be. Ince came and got a result and good luck to them in the next round"
Let's hope they have finished celebrating . . .
MOM - Alan Kelly, "He tried to make stuff happen in the 2nd half"
Next up for the 1sts: Newman College (Away)
