UOL Men's 1st draw 1-1 vs Edge Hill Away

 

26/01/2021, Edge Hill University Sports Centre:

 

UOLFC were back in action today after a well-earned Christmas break. The boys took on Edge Hill for the second time this season. After having won 4-1 in the first fixture, UOLFC were hoping to repeat this performance today, but it wasn’t to be in the end and UOLFC had to settle for a 1-1 draw.

 

First half:

Like the first game, Edge Hill was very aggressive throughout the whole game. As shown by a terrible challenge on Theo Hayford in the 3^rd minute which should’ve been a red, but the referee decided to go with a yellow card.

⚽ This excess aggressivity paid off for edge hill just a minute after when they committed four men to their frontline to challenge the Liverpool defenders. Edge Hill kept pressing and played a long ball into one of their strikers and subsequently scored in the 4^th minute.

1-0  to Edge Hill.

The first 25 minutes of the game were marked by a very high level of intensity by both teams, but that intensity lowered to a more reasonable level after the 25^th minute.  

In the 27^th minute, coach Jack Edwards decided to make a change to his tactics and switch from 4 defenders at the back to 5 defenders and the back to stabilize his team.

Dan Heald who was man of the match put in some amazing tackles in this game. The most notable were a ball recovery in the 21^st minute and an outstanding slide tackle in the 39^th minute. Both occasions were crucial moments which allowed Liverpool to stay in the game.

Edge Hill played many long balls in the first half and caused Liverpool a lot of problems. Liverpool had very little chances on goal and overall Edge Hill dominated the first half. 

 

Second half:

Early in the second half Edge Hill seemed to have decided to resort to timewasting. A tactic they would later regret after a Liverpool equalizer would cancel out their lead. 

👋 James (GK) pulled of an incredible save in the 53^rd minute from a 1 on 1 vs an Edge Hill striker.

⚽ Just two minutes later Liverpool saw themselves awarded with a free kick just on the edge of the box which would change the game for good… Joe Ctori stepped up and crossed the ball into a dangerous area. The Edge Hill players couldn’t clear the ball and Dan Lewis half-volleyed the ball into the back of the net.

1-1.

Edge Hill committed more men forward following the goal and it was 4 v 4 at time for Liverpool at the back after having reverted to a back 4.

Shomari Healy often found himself having to cover two Edge Hill players at the same time, so Toby Cogswell often dropped deep to help his team cope with the overload.

🔄 Substitution 67^th minute: Matt Molyneux on for Theo Hayford.

Some Edge Hill players started showing significant signs of fatigue later on in the second half, but Liverpool were unable to capitalize on this.

The next biggest chance for Liverpool in the second half would come in the 71^st minute when Matt Molyneux put in a dangerous cross for Dan Lewis who was just inches of getting a touch on the ball.

🔄 Substitution 80^th minute: Jack on for Louis Jarvis.

Edge Hill pushed hard in the last ten minutes which were nerve racking for the Liverpool coach and players on the bench. In the 86^th the edge hill striker had a golden chance to get the winner but a fired a powerful shot from the penalty spot which went wide from the Liverpool goal.

The referee blew the final Whistle shortly after, 1 – 1 draw final score.