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Wolfenden strikes as Reds rescue point against Marine - full


FC United came from behind to gain a 1-1 draw against Marine at Bower Fold on Saturday afternoon with Matthew Wolfenden equalising for the Reds just before the hour.

Ben Deegan was sent off late on for two bookable offences as United tried to overturn the Lilywhites’ half-time lead.  Controversy surrounding refereeing decisions unfortunately overshadowed much of the hard-fought encounter.

FC United were quick off the mark, looking like a side with a point to prove after last Saturday’s early exit from the FA Cup.


In Michael Norton’s absence, United returned to the 4-5-1 formation of the early stages of the season and lone frontman Deegan came close with a glancing header just wide as he latched onto Carlos Roca’s corner played in close to the Marine goal.

Deegan was a threatening presence once more inside the six yard box as Roca’s free-kick bounced off captain and keeper Ryan McMahon and fell to United’s centre forward whose attempted shot ricocheted out to Nick Platt.  Ardent penalty claims were then made as Platt appeared to be tripped; however the Mariners were let off the hook as FC were denied the chance to go ahead.

A miscommunication between the Reds then allowed Aaron Rey to run into space down the left flank and cut inside to strike from a very tight angle, testing goalkeeper James Spencer who was alert to parry the ball away to relative safety.

As the half progressed, play became increasingly broken up as the whistle became a regular and intermittent sound, leaving FC United struggling to play any sort of fluent football.

An individual mistake was punished in the 39th minute as Dean Stott failed to control a routine pass, inviting Stephen Johnson to pounce on the loose ball and take full advantage, firing beyond Spencer to make it 1-0 to the visitors.

Marine were straight at United’s defence as the second half began and a low cross fired into the unmarked Rey looked certain to threaten Spencer, however the Marine forward could produce nothing more than a miscued blaze over the cross bar.

Approaching the hour mark, a refereeing decision benefited the Reds as Roca’s free-kick from the far right hand side was met with Wolfenden’s downward glancing header into McMahon’s bottom corner to set the score level.

For those interested in post-match stats, it’d be far easier to list those not booked as the yellow card became a familiar sight to the 1,074 in attendance at Bower Fold.  

Deegan was shown his second in a further decision which appeared unfathomable to the Red support. A short ball from Platt as United looked to build saw Deegan head towards goal. The striker tumbled over as a result of what looked like a trip and the referee made sure that his cards made one final outing into the Stalybridge rain, dismissing a stunned Deegan for an apparent dive.

All in all, a draw was probably a fair result, as the encounter was evenly fought with both sides battling against a very stop-start format to the game.  This week the effort and endeavour was much more in evidence from the team and a point is surely a step in the right direction as the Reds look to climb the table and prepare to face one of their biggest obstacles thus far, coming up against a Chester side whom United have yet to beat.

Website man of the match: Matthew Wolfenden. Always a danger man and got the Reds back in the game.

Report by Victoria Fullen



First Posted ~ 17:34 Sun 9 Oct 2011
News ID ~ 3808
Last Updated ~ 01:52 Tue 16 Feb 2021