As inevitable it was, even though over the last few weeks it looked like it would be a long way off. FC United were eventually going to lose, and on Saturday that day came. FC came out with quite a few changes in the starting lineup, Daz Lyons coming in upfront for Joz Mitten, Cardon and Holt getting a game in Midfield and Billy McCartney starting his first game of the season as captain in defence with Nugent. It didn't take the new look lineup long to start some attacking moves, but it was the familliar face of Torpey that made a jinking run into the box only to be brought down by the keeper and duly be awarded a penalty. Torpey stepped up confidently and slotted it into the bottom left corner and ran to celebrate with a cartwheel. The ref was having none of it though, he ordered a retake due to a FC player entering the box before it was took. Torpey stepped up again, this time opting for power down the middle, but the keeper diving to his right made a reaction save with his fist to tip it over. His penalty miss only spurred Torpey on as he continued to harry the oposition defence with his weaving runs. Eventually almost in the same vain as the first penalty was conceded, another was given. This time it was Rory Patterson who stepped up to take. he dispatched much in the same way as his last penalty, a cool chip that nestled up in the roof of the net as the keeper dived to his right. So 1-0 to the reds at half time, the second half saw FC enjoy lots of possesion but a distinct lack of chances. It seemed everytime FC tried to commit men forward they were leaving themselves expossed at the back to Norton's counter attacking style they had adopted. The longer the game went on and it remained 1-0 you started to feel somethings gonna go wrong. On 85 minutes it did, the referee who had a bad game with his overwillingness to blow for fouls and slow the game down, gave Norton a penalty for a reason I still don't know. McKendrick slotted the penalty home into the bottom left corner just out of reach of George's dive. McKendrick then wheeled away cupping his ears to the crowd to get a reaction, he sure did, alot of people felt a reaction to knock the little bastard out. The Manchester Road end were in full voice, to try an will FC onto a winner, but as they tried to press forward, the back door was left open, Norton Utd duly broke in. On the 89th minute Norton broke away on another counter attack and Machin was left in the clear to slot under the despairing Barrie George and complete Norton's smash and grab. Much like the first Norton goal, the goalscorer and the rest of the team ran up to the FC fans to continue to antagonise them. This time they were met more with silence and shell shocked faces than anything else. The final whistle saw the MRE in full voice to show they're appreciation to the team as them and the coaching staff came over to clap their fans. The manner of the defeat was really hard to take, but sometimes its the games like Saturday that make all the great days weve had so far so much sweeter.
2 Mark Rawlinson
3 Gareth Ormes
4 Steve Spencer
5 Billy McCartney (captain)
6 Rob Nugent
7 Scott Holt
8 Simon Cardon
9 Darren Lyons
10 Steve Torpey
11 Rory Patterson
Subs:
12 Tony Cullen
14 Kevin Elvin
15 Jonathan Mitten
Attendance 2442
Scorers
Patterson 33(pen)