Oswaldtwistle Immanuel extended their winning run to 7 games in the wind at Wilson's Playing Fields.
It was the first game since the 2-0 defeat of Ewood Blues prior to the christmas break and much of the week had been spent with players and management turning into weathermen as rumours surfaced that the game between Oswaldtwistle Immanuel and Rishton Rangers was going to be a victim of the weather. How would Match of the Day 2 cope without Sunday's big match?
As it happened, there was no need for worry. Despite the weeks' rainfall the pitches at Wilsons seemed in good condition and the players looked ready to play, the referee looked ready to referee and the groundsman looked ready for his medication! The excitement of the Blackburn Sunday League Division 3 was back and Wilsons was the place to be.
The game started slowly with neither team managing to get a grip of the ball and enjoy any real possession with the pitch visibly cutting up under the players feet. It wasn't pleasing on the eye. However, Immanuel have proved that football can be effective without necessarily being attractive and after 11 minutes Simon Hodgkiss saw his attempt blocked at the edge of the area only for John Spencer to steam through the bodies to smash the loose ball home. Just what Immanuel needed andsurely the game was Immanuel's now.
That wasn't to be the case. Minutes later, a clumsy foul on the right hand edge of the box by Fergus Heyes led to a free kick which caught the wind and dipped in off the underside of the bar past the despairing Matt Cook, leaving a livid Pete Riding to ask how a keeper could be lobbed from there. The luminous linesman clearly forgetting the game against Prince of Wales only a month ago.
The score stayed the same until half time as every Immanuel player chose the same day to put in their worst display of the season and manager Andy Parky was not happy. The half time teamtalk was a tantrum of epic proportions from Parky. What had caused this amount of anger in Parky? Was it a perceived lack of effort from his players? Was it having to share a changing room with Stanley Ultras? Had the christmas bout of man-flu had longer term effects than first thought? Was it the fact that he had overspent on Sally's engagement ring and thus couldn't afford a pint? Whatever it was, Parky was showing the signs of a man feeling the pressure.
The second half started in much the same lacklustre way and Parky felt the need to play his hand and before the hour mark Matthew Hodgkiss and the last games' no-shows Ryan Walton and Daniel Riding were all brought on to try to add some pace and increase the tempo in a game that was a challenge for the 6 spectators to watch.
The players that made way for the substitutes could count theirselves unlucky to come off as Parky could have brought anybody off and if he was allowed to make more changes he undoubtedly would. And amidst his anger, Parky was clearly wondering what if. What if Spenny had finished his other first half chance? What if their linesman wasn't as quick on the draw? What if James Leech was here?
The substitutions improved things slightly and Immanuel started to look like creating something although by this point the pitch was not helping the better passing side and was proving to be a great leveller for Rishton Rangers.
But, when Immanuel play football they play football, and some neat passing led to Spencer getting to the byline and he made no mistake as he squared the ball for Simon Hodgkiss to tap in from close range. The lead was restored and Immanuel were determined to hold onto it.
More good football led to further chances for Walton and Spencer before Daniel Riding swung his normally redundant left foot at the ball from the penalty spot. Was the unthinkable left foot Riding goal going to happen?
Was it bloody hell!
The ball just missed the post but in the end it didn't matter. Immanuel held on for the victory. It had been a poor day at the office but at the end of the season the league table will not say Oswaldtwistle Immanuel won the league but were poor against Rishton Rangers. The points are what matters and with that in mind it was a job well done. The players knew they hadn't played well but good sides learn from their poorer performances and get wins in spite of them.
Parky raced away from Wilson's to Ewood Park to watch Blackburn Rovers 1-0 defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers and by 4pm he had watched 3 hours of football and had seen about 5 decent touches. Not a day for a football purist!
