Wirral's independent local news website
On Saturday 13 August Cammell Laird 1907 FC were hoping to improve on their 3-3 draw away at Maine Road FC as they entertained Stockport Town, but poor finishing and defensive errors resulted in yet another defeat.
Good openings were created throughout the fixture with one-on-one situations were wasted in both halves and Stockport took full advantage when capitalising on poor defending and they ran out 3-0 winners.
Not helping the cause were three more injuries to Laird’s depleting squad as they lost influential players Kieran Hamm, Gabriel Kubwalo and captain Jake Hulley.
So a much-changed team was selected on Tuesday 16 August at home versus New Mills FC who provided what is best described as a robust challenge to gain the points, as they deployed some rather aggressive tactics throughout the fixture.
Lairds opened the game brightly and within four minutes Jack Kelly put the home team ahead, who looked really confident with Danny Stephens and Jake Doran providing a good partnership at the back, but as usual, chances were created and wasted and the visitors levelled before the break with dubious penalty being awarded and scored and the scores remained level at the break.
The second period saw Lairds again start on the front foot and on 53 minutes regained the lead when Lee Rodgers rifled an excellent goal from just inside the box.
Play now swung both ways in this battling encounter, but midfield dynamo Ryan Smith increased Laird’s lead when scoring in the 61st minute, with his effort being helped home by a defender.
An almost immediate response saw the visitors capitalise on slack defending to reduce the arrears and set up a thrilling finish, but Lairds held on for their first victory of the season. This did come with a cost as injuries to Jake Doran and Kalif Koura further reduced squad numbers.
Laird’s next fixture is away on Saturday 20 August versus Barnton FC and hope some of the injured players return to bolster the team.
North West Counties Football League
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