Andy Parky's makeshift Oswaldtwistle Immanuel side slumped to their second consecutive defeat in the wind affected cup match against The Station in the cup.
After last week's defeat against Stanley Ultras, Parky was looking for a reaction against the unbeaten second division side. Immanuel weren't helped by a lack of players. A mixture of injuries and people not turning up meant that full back Toby Hodgkiss had to fill in at centre forward and parking attendant Pete Riding had to fill in as goalkeeper.
With the wind against them in the first half it was backs to the wall stuff for Immanuel against a strong side. Immanuel were equal to it though, Tom Leach and Tyrone Archer in particular, putting everything on the line to keep The Station out.
And they were successful, The Station only managing to carve out two real chances in the first 45, a curling effort which beat Riding but hit the bar and a goalmouth scramble.
0-0 at half time. An excellent first half from Immanuel but The Station felt hard done by after the referee had turned down their appeals for a penalty on 15 minutes when Tyrone Archer clumsily challenged from behind. Immanuel had got some luck that they had been missing so far this season.
The major talking point of the half had come on the half hour mark though, when Daniel Riding cleared from inside the box with his left foot. A scene which brought a stunned silence from the spectators from both sides. What had caused Riding to lose all his usual composure and resort to using his left? 'It is one of those moments we'll never truly understand and never forget!' said Parky of the incident.
The second half saw the wind behind Immanuel and they began to create more. Spencer, Mooring and the Hodgkiss brothers linking up well to cause some problems for The Station. And on 57 the deadlock was broken. John Spencer latching onto a well weighted ball over the top and finishing beautifully into the top corner. The sort of finish we've come to expect from James Leech!
Immanuel were good value for their lead and were looking the likeliest to add to it. However, on 68 minutes disaster struck. The impressive Stephen Mooring chased a ball into space when he felt a twinge in his thigh. With no substitutes this left Immanuel with 10 men and gave The Station the boost they needed and 6 minutes and 3 good moves later and Immanuel were 3-1 down. Expertly ruthless from The Station and incredibly harsh on Immanuel.
Mooring showed the fight that Parky wanted to see by coming back on to finish the game but with his injured thigh his contribution was always going to be limited.
Immanuel weren't finished though, Spencer firing in another Leechy-esque finish to pull it back to 3-2 with 15 minutes. A reaction is what Parky asked for and a reaction is certainly what Parky got.
2 more late goals from The Station as Immanuel pushed for an equaliser meant that the final score flattered The Station who will be massively relieved to have come through this game.
Parky came away from the game proud of those who played their hearts out for the club and confident that future performances like that would get the wins they deserve. His only disappointment was with the players who didn't turn up and up and played a big part in this cup exit.
