West Auckland Town v Marske United
Tuesday 20th March, 7.30pm
STL Northern League Division 1

Match Preview Here: http://www.marskeunitedfc.com/match-preview.htm

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Marske United are the Real MUFC

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Marske United are the Real MUFC

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Marske United are the Real MUFC

Cracking point and a point nearer safety. Well done to Burto, Cappy and the players.

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Marske United are the Real MUFC

Right, better get this up while it's still vaguely fresh in my mind. I should really start writing this stuff down.


Marske made one change to the starting line-up from the Bishop Auckland game, with Charlo replacing the injured Tommy Marron. Charlo lined up on the left, with Burton coming into the centre of midfield.

We were under no illusions about how tough a game this would be and straight from the off, West looked dangerous with Lips having to tip over a shot from the edge of the box with just a minute gone.

West Auckland dominated possession in the early stages and we had to carry on from where we left off on Saturday, not allowing them time on the ball and not being afraid to hoof the ball out of the ground when necessary, and the lads did their job with at least six going over the fence in the first half hour.

West Auckland's best chance came midway through the half when an attack resulted in square ball into the box from the left. It missed everyone but was fed back in from the right and the resulting shot took a deflection off a defender and crashed against the bar.

There were almost echoes of a few weeks ago when Lips came rushing out of his goal but this time he didn't make contact with the attacker and by the time West managed to shoot, the keeper was back on his line, ready to gather the ball.

As half-time approached we started to keep possession a bit better and managed to spend some time in the West Auckland half but without creating a chance and the sides went in goalless at the break.

I gave Lips a bit of encouragement as I walked behind the goal at the start of the second half. He still wants to know who took that photo of him picking the ball out of the net...

We finally managed a shot five minutes into the second half after some good work from Bruno set up Burton, who fired over from the edge of the box. Bruno managed to carve out an opportunity for himself as well but he also missed the target.

But West Auckland continued to look dangerous put the Marske defence under increasing pressure.

Lips had to back pedal to reach a chip from the edge of the box and also pulled off a cracking save after a corner was headed towards goal by a Marske player and West had several other chances miss the target as the Marske goal continued to lead a charmed life.

As the game went on, you could see the belief and determination grow in the lads and you could even sense we might snatch a goal at the other end. Bruno had Skelly worked hard all night, supported by Gilly but the West Auckland defence was solid gave them little space to create chances.

The hosts continued to press for a goal and brought on Matty Moffatt for the last half hour. We had to defend a succession of corners and free-kicks but the back line remained sturdy and ensured Lips didn't have as much to do as West's possession would've suggested, though West did have a chance cleared off the line after Lips had come out of his goalmouth.

We nearly snatched it at the end after Gilly found space to shoot but he didn't catch it cleanly and the shot went just wide of the target.

The lads saw out the remaining minutes to earn a gritty, well-deserved point. Everyone on the park did their bit but the defence and Lips were rock solid all night. Basher played the full 90 minutes after suffering a groin injury in the opening 20 and with only Mitch on the bench, everyone put in a full shift to make sure we took home a point, which was rightly celebrated by the small Marske following at the final whistle.

I said on Sunday anything tonight would be a huge bonus and now we've got that we can go into Saturday's game against Stokesley with plenty of confidence and hopefully get that long-awaited three points.

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http://anorthernsoultravels.wordpress.com Latest update: Willington

Sounds like a nailbiter to me MJ but who cares how we get the points at this stage of the season.

The players deserve praise for these last two results but I find Burtos comments regarding unfair criticism quite interesting.

We had lost the previous eight games ( six of them against teams who had failed to beat us first time round ) and had changed to a
4 - 5 - 1 formation plus no striker has scored since January so some form of criticism is surely to be expected. I am one of those supporters who have criticised but always tried to make it constructive criticism and it is noticeable that in the last two games we have played 4 - 4 -2.

Let's hope we can get back on the winning trail on saturday against Stokesley.

With regard to Burto's comments in the Northern Echo, I wonder if the fans are criticising Burto (team selection and tactics) and not the players. After all it's the manager that picks the team not the other way around. 8 losses with 2 goals scored are enough to get fans concerned. Perhaps we could score more goals if the strikers had more service? And to get more service perhaps we could play with a couple of wide (winger) players. I for one was confused at Bishop Auckland when we took off the strikers (Skelly and Bruno) and put on the wide players (Dixon and Charlo) when playing them from the start may have created more scoring chances for the strikers. Many other examples to numerous to mention here........

Great report Martin, you should be a journalist

A cracking point and as has been rightly mentioned it was a "bonus point". Great report Martin too. Well done to the players and management on achieving that result. I'm sure that a win on Saturday is imminent and will secure the season for us.

Disappointed with Burto's comment to be honest. I wouldn't say the players have been unfairly criticised - and any criticism has been borne from frustration at seeing all of the defeats. I'd say almost all of the criticism I've heard in the last couple of weeks has been about selection. The fans aren't getting on the players backs either - they all still keep turning up and paying their money at the turnstile, and cheering as best they can.

Onwards and upwards for the rest of the season. We have a squad that always work hard to a man, and I have confidence in the management team to take things forward. Go on Seasiders!

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"I'm not finished when I'm tired, I'm finished when I'm done"