Goals from Caleb Jones and Brad Shearwood sent The Non-League Reds in to the next round of the FA Cup, after a battling Friday night performance. After performing poorly in the two previous FA Cup campaigns, AFC were keen to get through this Extra Preliminary Round tie, at home to Abbey Hey and they got off to a great start when Caleb Jones converted after 8 minutes, after great build up play involving Joe Cunningham and Adam Moorcroft. Despite creating the better chances, AFC couldn’t extend their lead and Abbey Hey started to have a few themselves. Jack McGovern saved well from one effort but was left stranded as a deflected shot from the edge of the box looped over him into the net. Both keepers then made good saves to keep the score level at the break.
The 2nd half was always going to be tight, as quality gave way to battling for the win. AFC edged ahead again on 56 mins, when a defender cleared high into his own penalty area, where Brad Shearwood was the first to react, deftly glancing the ball into the net with his head. McGovern was called upon again to produce a fine save a few minutes later. The Reds held on for the rest of what was a quite scrappy half and secured themselves an away trip to Campion AFC of the Northern Counties East Football League in the next round.
Final Score: AFC Liverpool 2 v 1 Abbey Hey
Team: 1. McGovern 2. Fisher-Jones 3. Cunningham 4. Moorcroft 5. Sudworth 6. Murphy 7. C Jones 8. Shearwood (c) 9. Lancaster 10. Brown 11. Rhami
Subs used: Giblin, Bavelock, S. Smith, Flight
(Pic courtesy of Billy Stirrup)
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