FC United of Manchester FC United of Manchester FC United of Manchester Badge FC United of Manchester Pitch In

Reserves cup half empty at Hyde

Travelling to Abbey Hey to play Hyde in the Lancashire League Cup 1st round 2nd leg the reserves left with a 3-1 win. Goals from Chris Hill Dean Hope and Connor Martin weren’t enough to turn round a first leg deficit and Hyde went through 4-3 on aggregate.

FC United were quick out of the blocks and in truth dominated the game without ever being able to establish a large enough lead. A sharp cross from Hope in the second minute brought out a diving clearance header from a Hyde defender, fortunate to see it over his own bar. Will Harney also had two good early efforts before FC took the lead on 13 minutes. The ball was swept wide to Charlie Doyle on the left to Mike Norton. His head down broke for Hill who controlled it and fired home.

With the visitors playing most of the football chances came and went and a second goal seemed inevitable. It came in the 36th minute when Chris Hill tried to dribble his way through the defence and was fouled. Dean Hope rifled the free kick round the wall and into the corner of the goal.

It seemed as if all FC needed was to remain patient and the remaining goals would come, but just before half time; and before Hyde had even had a shot the referee awarded them a penalty. The referee said it was for holding but the decision mystified everyone in the ground. The kick was converted and the score at half time was 2-1.

The second half action took place almost exclusively in the Hyde half as an almost metronomic pattern of FC playing to the edge of the box, crossing and Hyde heading clear. There were occasions when Boateng managed to retain possession for Hyde and move forward. Some players were then able to join in but as soon as a moved looked likely to break down they retreated back to the edge of their penalty area.

With a quarter of an hour left Hope fed the ball forward for Daniel Cooke to cross from the left. This time Martin was able to control the ball and fire home. The rhythm continued for the rest of the game but FC United were never quite able to get a clear chance for the goal that would have taken the tie to extra time. A fine performance by the lads who had ultimately left themselves with too much to do after the first leg.

Hyde go on to face the winners of the Ashton Derby as United take on a Curzon side who have recently recorded two 10-1 wins in the league, in the next round.



First Posted ~ 15:21 Fri 2 Oct 2015
News ID ~ 6414
Last Updated ~ 00:47 Tue 16 Feb 2021