Matthew Cook recovered from last week's debacle to put in an inspired performance to make sure Immanuel stayed top of the table.
The day did not start well for Immanuel. Short on players due to a mass alarm clock error that seemed to effect the Oswaldtwistle area, Parky was left with just 12 players and no sign of the famous Luminous Linesman of Pleasington. Those that had turned up were not necessarily in the correct frame of mind fror a game of football. This may have been over confidence after the results of the previous 2 weeks, or it could have been the christmas parties of the night before. Either way the Great Immanuel Hangover was going to be a great leveller in what was a 'should win' game for Immanuel.
Immanuel started slowly and struggled to find the creative spark that has got thm to the top of the table. Football isn't always pretty though, and manager Andy Parky knows that if Immanuel are to win this league then they will have to scrap for occasional result and today was looking like it was going to be one of those days.
Parky was fortunate to be ableto see his team as keeper Matt Cook had been kind enough to offer to transport a stone bird bath to Parky's Baxenden home. However, when arriving at Parky's Matt decided to listen to Sally and put said bird bath in the entrance to the shed so that Parky could go flying over it when putting the recycling in the shed that evening. It was that sort of judgement that led to Cook conceding that free kick last week and would have led him onto this week's subs bench had there been another keeper available.
The deadlock was broken on 23 minutes and it was a scrappy affair. Matt Malonie tenaciously bundling the ball away from the keeper after a fumble and Spencer prodding into the net from half a yard out. Not as attractive on the eye as some of James Leech's goals but Spencer's 14th of the season and they all count.
5 minutes later and the games real turning point came. A goalbound header from the Ewood Blues centre half looked to be the equalizer until Cook got a hand to push it to safety. A great save and from the resulting corner Immanuel broke quickly. This was the first glimpse of what Immanuel can do as Spencer squared for the inebriated Stephen Mooring to stroke it into the bottom corner. 2-0 after 28 minutes but it was going to take more than that to get Mooring into Parky's good books.
The bumper crowd of 4 thought that Immanuel would kick on from there but it was Ewood Blues that enjoyed most of the play in the closing stages of the half, Immanuel struggling to get out of their own box and but for another outstanding save and some great defending from Tom Leach and the in-form 'Caring' Tony Brereton Ewood Blues would have got themselves back into it.
Immanuel held on to their 2 goal cushion going into half time and as the referee looked concerned about the increasing rain and the possibility of having to go back to the changing rooms to avoid getting wet Parky set about lifting his players for the second half.
The second half wasn't the wonderful spectacle for the supporters that they saw last week but it was effective enough to see Immanuel home. The lack of creative spark balanced out by the effort put in by the Immanuel players, in particular Matt Malonie and Tom Dillon, who both responded well to being on the bench in recent weeks to give Parky a real difficult decision again in the next match.
As Immanuel coasted to victory, Ewood Blues got increasingly frustrated and began to fall out amongst themselves. There is really no better sound than hearing your opposition shout and scream at each other.
In the end 2-0 was enough to keep Immanuel at the top of the table and the result was made all the more important with the emphatic wins that rivals Stanley Ultras and Prince Of Wales registered.
All in all, another successful day's work for Immanuel and three important lessons were learned. Firstly, not all wins can be pretty in football. Secondly, if you don't turn up then there is always someone willing to take your place. Thirdly, and most importantly, if a job is worth doing it is worth doing well, if that job is for your manager it is worth doing bloody briliantly!
