Report: Burscough Vs Kendal Town
Kendal came back from two goals down at the break to earn a point at Burscough, but will feel agrieved at the countless chances spurned..
Monday 29th August 2011
Kendal came back from two goals down at the break to earn a point at Burscough, but will feel agrieved at the countless chances spurned to take all three points, despite having striker Gary McEvatt dismissed late on.
The first chance of the game fell to Ashley Dunn on 4 minutes when he was put through one-on-one with the home goalkeeper by fellow midfielder Ciaran Donnelly, but the keeper saved smartly with his legs.
Burscough launched a counter-attack moments later and the resulting cross was hit into the side netting by Gerrard King.
Kendal then had a chance for dead-ball specialist Kieran Walmsley to deliver after Danny Williams was upended in the corner, but the resulting attempt on goal failed to trouble the home goalkeeper.
Burscough then had a magnificent chance to take the lead as their number 11's attempt rebounded off the post after he rounded Kendal keeper Craig Dootson.
A period of frustration in front of goal for Kendal followed as Jackson, Dunn, Donnelly and Walmsley all saw attempts on goal fumbled or fail to trouble the home goalkeeper. The best of these efforts was poked into the goal by Mark Jackson on 25 minutes, but the forward was ajudged to be in an offside position.
The lack of finishing was to prove costly as Burscough took the lead on 35 minutes. After gaining ground on the Kendal defence a quick cross was fired into the Kendal area which Burscough frontman Ashley Higgins dispatched into the roof of Dootson's goal.
It was to get worse only a matter of minutes later for the visitors. In a goal not at all dissimilar to Ryan Shotton's winner for Stoke City at West Bromwich Albion yesterday, Gerrard King was the striker to nip in and prey on the hesitation of Kendal's defence to send the home side in 2-0 at the break.
Kendal started the second half extremely quickly as Kieran Walmsley had a sweet strike on goal blocked away by the home defence, before Danny Wisdom will feel he could have done better with a headed attempt on goal whilst unmarked in the area. It was then the turn of Mark Jackson to fire a shot narrowly wide of the Burscough goal.
On 52 minutes the Kendal pressure eventually told as Ashley Dunn converted a well-worked chance by firing the ball into the bottom left of the goal after some fine wingplay by the in-form Danny Williams.
Burscough had an immediate chance to extend their lead as Craig Dootson was called into action. The Kendal stopper made a fine double save at his near post, to deny Gerrard King a second goal, sending the ball clear of his goal for a corner kick.
Shortly after Kendal Manager Lee Ashcroft made a double substitution; replacing Alex Taylor and Mark Peers with strikers Gary McEvatt and Tom Kilifin.
Kilifin almost made an immediate impact after slotting a neat ball through to Ashley Dunn, but the home goalkeeper smothered the ball as the Kendal midfielder attempted to tease the ball round for a shot.
Incesscant Kendal pressure followed with a sweet left-footed strike from substitute Tom Kilifin narrowly eluding the post and an effort from Jackson that ended up in the back of the net, before the referee blew his whistle judging that a foul on the goalkeeper had taken place.
The pressure was piling on the home side, but Kendal were finding it difficult to find the elusive equaliser as further attempts from Ciaran Donnelly, Mark Jackson and Danny Williams failed to trouble the scoreline.
A dogged Burscough defence captained by former Kendal Town player Jay Connolly was finally breached in the 79th minute as Mark Jackson prodded home from close range after some excellent work from winger Danny Williams and centre midfielders Dunn and Donnelly. The equaliser was much to the delight of the excellent numbers that had travelled from the Lake District for the Bank Holiday fixture, amassed behind the Burscough goal.
Soon after Kendal had equalised they were down to 10-men, as substitute Gary McEvatt was shown a straight red card against his former side, after being ajudged to have struck a home defender. The victim of the piece perhaps extremely fortunate to be only shown a yellow card, despite appearing to retaliate.
Kendal continued the extreme dominance of the second-half and Ashley Dunn was mere inches away from netting the winner after narrowly missing Danny William's cross.
Burscough had a chance to wrestle all three points from Kendal deep into stoppage time, however the resulting finish from the energetic Gerrard King was ruled offside, before the referee blew up for full time.
Attendance: 156
Burscough (2) - Higgins (35), King (41).
Kendal Town (2) - Dunn (52), Jackson (79).
Kendal Town Team: 1) C Dootson, 2) K Walmsley, 3) D Wisdom, 4) R Winters (J Tucker 45), 5) M Joseph (C), 6) C Donnelly, 7) M Peers (T Kilifin 70), 8) M Jackson, 9) A Taylor (G McEvatt 70), 10) A Dunn, 11) D Williams.
Subs Not Used: I Kilford, Newton (GK).
