EAGLE Sports FC progressed to the Quarter Finals of the Cheshire Football League’s JB Parker Cup with a 2-1 victory at AFC Knowsley.
The Gulls were quick out of the blocks and took the lead early on, with Luke Sutton finishing well into the bottom corner, however, after the goal, the side seemed to sit back and allow their hosts into the game.
The home side equalised on the stroke of half time, with their first real clear chance as the number 9 got ahead of the Eagle defence to head home past Liam Marlow.
Second half, Eagle came out more energetic and were awarded a penalty after Sutton was pulled down by the defender as he attempted to strike a shot. Captain Adam Coleman then uncharacteristically hit the spot kick over the bar to keep the scores level.
Despite this, it was Eagle who pushed on, with Kian Cooper forcing a good save out of the home keeper, before they grabbed their winner as good work from Callum Burgess created the opportunity for the shot, which deflected into the net to give Eagle the victory.
Joint Manager Richard Chinn said of the win ‘“Firstly, we are delighted to be in the next round. That was the aim at the start of the week and we’ve achieved that.
“We started the game well and Sutton got the goal, but then we seemed to go into our shells a bit and started to drop deeper, allowing their midfield more space. Eventually, they were going to create a chance, which they took seconds before half time and that was their only real chance of the first half.
“We wanted more energy in the second half as we looked lethargic really in the first 45, despite controlling the game, so we needed to up the tempo and work rate.
“It was much better in the second half and we created plenty of chances. The penalty, I’m not really sure why it’s not a sending-off, but we missed the chance, which is unlike Coleman and in a cup tie, you wonder if you are going to have the luck sometimes to get you over the line, which in the end we scored an excellent goal to win it through Burge who I thought was outstanding.
“We are in a decent place and it was nice to get Owen Ellis and Danny Hutchins back involved as we’ve lacked a forward this season. Everyone is pushing each other and we’ve got some big games to come now so myself, Nico (Joint Manager Danny Nixon) and Shaun (First Team coach Shaun Staniford) will be working hard with the lads.
“We did what we came to do, which was to be in the quarter finals, so we leave happy.
The Gulls are not in action this coming Saturday, but on Saturday February ll will make the trip to Lower Breck to face Liverpool County Premier League Division One side Joey Orrs FC in the Quarter Final of the Liverpool CFA Challenge Cup, a trophy which Eagle remain the only team in Warrington to have previously lifted.
Eagle: Liam Marlow, Callum Burgess, Joe Murphy, Tom Griffiths, Adam Coleman, Owen Duncan, Luke Sutton, Lewis McEvatt, Owen Ellis, Jack Mercer, Matty Saunders. Subs: Ed Shaw, Henry Carver, Kian Cooper, Ste Robinson, Danny Hutchins
