Dock reached The Wirral Premier Cup Final for the fifth time in ten years on Sunday but made rather hard work of it in a definite game of two halves. The return of ‘The Goose’, who was rather upset that Pleavo got last weeks Man of the Match award, ensured that we were not too far behind at the break because we were not at the races for much of the first 45mins.
The Goose was in action as early as the sixth minute when he come out on top in a one on one situation after a O’Hanlon slip let The Brow forward in on goal. Jamie Kenyon quickly replied with a shot that was saved by the Brow keeper after being put in by the lively Mark Head. Almost immediately after this , Liam Simon was making a saving tackle in his own box as a dangerous ball was played in across the face of goal.
Quarter of an hour on the clock…….Enter Brunty! Deep in our own half, playing tippy- tappy football, Brunty had a chance to get rid but elected to give it to O’Hanlon. Vidic duly lost the ball and we were on the back foot as the cross came in, Goose done well to save the resulting shot but could only parry into the path of the oncoming Brow forward who could hardly miss from two yards out. 0-1.
Ten minutes later Brunty is booked for taking his opponent from behind (make your own joke up). Overhearing a touchline conversation, it transpires that Brunty blamed Woody for the reason that they were ten minutes late arriving for the game. Bit difficult to believe when Brunty was driving and was late in from Garlands the previous night.
On the half hour mark it was nearly curtains as The Brow almost made it 2-0. As the forward was put through, he evaded the attention of Paul Byrne and was set to score until ‘The Goose’ came to the rescue with a close range save.
It was going downhill fast for The Dock and we were in need of the half time whistle as ‘The Hairdryer’ was getting ready to put his arm around the shoulder of a few of the players and offer some words of encouragement to the others.
Ten minutes before the half, Brow again had a chance from 15 yards but shot wide and five minutes later, Liam Simon, who was struggling with an injury, put himself on the line with a great tackle after some comical defending by his team mates almost set The Brow up again.
Right on the 45mins, Saunders had a run halted by a foul on the edge of The Brow box resulting in a free kick in a dangerous position. Mark Head stepped up an blazed over ! Summed the whole half up.
After a gentle team talk it was back to it but ‘The Goose had to claw the ball back into his grasp after he saved but let it slip towards the goal line when he dropped it. A minute later Josh Dures put a ball through for Reay to do something with but he and the keeper both thought it was for the other player and it harmlessly went out for a goalkick.
Dock earned themselves a throw in inside the Brow half in the 50th minute. Byrne took it and found Brunty’s deft , cushioned lay off to Saunders, who in turn flipped it across the box where Reay man was lurking and he headed home from one yard.
Dock got hold of the ball straight from the re-start and Saunders put Mark Head in with a clear run at goal. ‘The Head ‘drew the keeper and finished superbly keeping his composure to make it two goals for The Dock in less than a minute.
Saunders was having one of his little spells as he put Jamie Kenyon in but the ball just ran on to the keeper. One wonders what happened in last summer’s week long trail with ‘The Arm’ and why it never came off for Mick. It is a remarkable turn around for the lad when it seemed set for him to leave for the European giants, maybe next year, maybe not.
Dock had a grip on the game by now, although Liam Simon still had to be on his toes as he somehow got a foot in as the ball was pulled back across the Dock box to a forward who was lining up a shot on goal. On 85 minutes, the same player injured himself with another saving tackle but shrugged it off for the cause.
Reay man crossed for Kenyon with a minute left but he couldn’t get there and in the resulting five minutes of injury time, Dock had a bit of defending to do as The Brow gave it one last shot. Just as The Brow player was shaping to shoot from the edge of the box, Liam Simon, again, put in a great tackle to avert danger with Tony ‘ The Wardrobe’ Sample doing likewise to put the ball out of play from the resulting loose ball.
This proved to be the last action and it is left to Brunty to organise the Cup Final suits and Cup Final appearance on Top of the Pops. Dave V. Lately could come in handy after all!
Man of the Match :- Ian Brunt…….But closely followed by ‘The Goose’ and the outstanding Liam Simon.
Report: Mike Stephens
Photos: Chris Stading
