Lass O Gowrie Vs AFC Didsbury (04/12/11 - Turn Moss Playing Fields, Stretford)

Lass O Gowrie  0  -  3  AFC Didsbury

AFC Didsbury: Hargreaves, Musson (C), Rogers, Battersby, Mackie, MacHugh (Robins), Creasey, Stiff, McDonald, Corbett, Harrison.

Goals: Corbett (2), Harrison
Assists: Harrison (2), McDonald
Man of the Match: McDonald

Didsbury go top of the league after a pulsating display of dominance against their title rivals

A brace from Mike Corbett ensured that AFC Didsbury overcame appalling playing conditions against a confident Lass O’Gowrie side to claim a valuable three points.

After a weekend of heavy rain meant both teams were greeted with a waterlogged pitch and torrential downpours, which would continue throughout.  Didsbury started very strongly dominating early possession and caused havoc from set-pieces, with Wayne Rogers denied by a brilliant save from a close-range header from a corner.

Didsbury continued to apply pressure throughout the first half and a neat interchange of passing culminated in Kieran MacHugh hitting the bar from the edge of the box.  Then came the breakthrough when a long ball up field was flicked on by Matt Harrison behind the last man and Mike Corbett nicked the ball off the defender’s toes and finished calmly past the goalkeeper to give Didsbury the lead just before the interval.

Conditions deteriorated throughout the second half but Didsbury still managed to impose their passing style on the game and kept the play clear of the waterlogged midfield areas for the most part.  When they got the ball wide, especially to the left, Colin McDonald was creating a multitude of chances.  Didsbury doubled their lead after McDonald skipped past his defender, hit the by-line and pulled the ball back for Harrison to drill low into the bottom left.

Lass O’Gowrie started throwing everything forward with 20 minutes to go and John Battersby did superbly to header the ball off the line from a corner kick when it looked certain to be drifting in.  Didsbury soaked up the pressure and sealed the win from a classic counter-attack, breaking forward with men over and Mike Corbett nonchalantly dinked the ball over the onrushing goalkeeper.

The win by a three goal margin sent AFC Didsbury top of Division 1 on goal difference with a game in hand over Lass O’Gowrie.

Words by David Hargreaves