EFC Reserves  1 – 1 MCFC Reserves

Reserves Part One
I am sure if Frankie Bunn had Danny Sturridge, Ishmael Miller, Kelvin Etuhu and even Ched Evans to select from we would have had a real chance at victory against Everton at Widnes last night as we did not have one single forward in the squad and it really showed as the final ball had good quality most of the time but there was not a striker to meet and connect with it.
Those of you that read my blog will be well aware that I am not Marc Laird’s biggest fan, well I know he has been out of the game for a little while with injuries but he really was poor last night and I think or hope the only reason he stayed on the pitch for the full ninety minutes was due to an Adam Clayton injury.
The lad tries very hard, but he just gets so many things wrong and he has not got the strength or pace to get out of his mistakes and now you could say that he is holding back the progress of Paul Marshall who at this stage has shown that he has a real future at the higher levels of football.
City did take the lead through a great curling shot from Ashley Grimes who if he improves his temperament has a good future in the game, the problem is that he is played up front, but that is not a natural position for him and so its slightly a square peg in a round hole.

 

 

No Strikers Cost City(II)

City seemed to sit back a bit after scoring the goal and invited pressure from Everton who duly made that pressure count after just over ten minutes after City had scored when a cross came in from the right and it the ball was hammered towards goals three times without crossing the line but the ball came to Mark Hughes at the far post on the fourth occasion and he was able to head the ball home.
City continued to play decent football but with Marshall on the left and the central midfield lacking a little bite it invited Everton to continue to press for a winner and it was they that finished the game stronger with decent shots at Hart’s goal.
One good thing we saw out of the game was that Nedum Onuoha played the full ninety minutes and did look like he had lost some much needed weight as he seemed far more mobile than the last time he played back in August.
City do not play another premier reserve game till the 22nd November, but I am sure it will be a similar team that faces Manchester United at Hyde on Thursday 16th November in the Manchester Senior Cup.

City: Hart(GK), D’Laryea(Capt), Jordan, Onuoha, M Mills, Johnson, Clayton(Marshall 79), Laird, Grimes, Ireland, Moore.

Subs: Matthewson(GK), Mee, Williamson, Williams.

Att: 748

MotM: Grimes – scored a great goal and never stopped running for the full ninety.