English Schools' Football Association

Lancashire v Greater Manchester

The Under 16 Inter County Trophy for Boys got underway under fine weather conditions with the sun glistening overhead.

The first chance of the game fell on 8 minutes when a shot from Lancashire’s Joshua Emmott was blocked by defender.

No real chances were created in the opening stages as both looked very solid at the back.

In the 15^th minute Greater Manchester’s Lee Knight showed great pace on the wing but was unable to get any cross away and the chance came to nothing.

A few moments later Greater Manchester’s Conor Ronan led the counter attack but his pass was inches short of meeting Loius Myers’ boot.

Goal for Greater Manchester!!! Free kick on 20 minutes for Greater Manchester 30 yards out taken by Conor Ronan, his vicious effort was deflected on to the post which fortunately landed at the boot of Alex Reid who rifles a shot of the crossbar and in from 12 yards out.

Ambitious effort from Conor Ronan was blazed over the bar from quite a distance out.

Mistake by Lancashire’s Joshua Emmott allows Greater Manchester in on goal, Conor Ronan managed to get a shot away under pressure but the effort was blocked and cleared.

After the opening goal Greater Manchester were very much controlling the game and definitely looked like scoring again before the break. Conor Ronan was a handful for the Lancashire defence.

On 30 minutes Lancashire’s Kit Gregory fired a quick free kick straight into Chris Renshaw’s arms in the Greater Manchester goal.

Moments later another free kick for Lancashire from 35 yards out was taken by Ben Anderson who ambitious effort was yards wide of the right hand post.

On 37 minutes a free kick from Lancashire’s Kit Gregory was put into danger zone but was headed clear out for a throw-in by Kisimba Kisimba.

Minutes later another free kick for Lancashire taken by Ben Anderson, the ball was whipped in to the box to Rahul Parmar whose effort was blocked and scrambled clear.

Great run down wing from Zac Cooper on 42 minutes but his cross was just short of finding Loius Myers on the edge of the 6 yard box.

Just before the interval Greater Manchester’s Conor Ronan saw his powerful but ambitious effort from 40 yards go just slightly above the bar.

Goal for Lancashire!!! Great run from Kit Gregory who managed to knock it past a few players before having a shot on the edge of the box saved by Chris Renshaw who could only parry it in to the path of Elliott Pond who slots it home for a Lancashire equaliser.

HALF TIME: Lancashire 1-1 Greater Manchester.

It was a game of few chances in the first half most of which were from set pieces or from range. Up to this point Greater Manchester had enjoyed the better spell for the first 30 minutes of the game but dropped off after that allowing Lancashire to get more bodies forward.

The first chance of the second half fell to Greater Manchester’s Sam Summerbee who managed to play in Johnny Diba down the wing whose cross was met by Rio Murray who failed to get it on target.

On 54 minutes a Greater Manchester free kick from corner of the box was taken by Conor Ronan fired a venomous shot just past the far post. The keeper was a spectator to that effort.

The next real threat in the game was another free kick for Greater Manchester’s Conor Ronan from the right flank; he curled the effort in to the near post to Jamie Stott whose acrobatic diving header fell agonisingly wide.

Johnny Diba on 63 minutes caught James Corbett napping and intercepted his pass and darted down wing, after a bit of trickery he managed to whip a ball in to Conor Ronan on the edge of the box who quickly flicked it in to the path of Loius Myers who wasted a golden chance by firing the effort wide.

Lancashire were being restricted to very little in the second half and it was no suprise when their next chance was from a set piece on the edge of the box. Robson Hall was the man who took it and his effort was parried by Chris Renshaw straight on to the thigh of Lancashire’s Jacob Anderson on the far post but luckily it fell wide.

From a great bit of possession play Greater Manchester manage to make a 20-30 pass move with the ball eventually landing at the feet of Conor Ronan but again he can’t find the target. Conor was a key player for Greater Manchester and if anyone deserved a goal on the pitch it was him. Everything seemed to be created by him, Lancashire just couldn’t handle him.

A golden chance was spurred by Greater Manchester’s Lee Knight as he controlled the pass put in from Sam Summerbee on the wing but just didn’t get a shot away in time before he was closed down.

In the 73^rd minute there was a stoppage in play as Lancashire’s Kit Gregory went down injured. He was down for a few minutes before play resumed.

In the 83^rd Minute a Bad challenge by Lancashire’s James Corbett gave Greater Manchester a free kick for GM on edge of 18 yard box. It wsa no suprise when their star man Conor Ronan took it with his effort being stuck against the wall before the rebound was blazed over the bar.

Greater Manchester was hammering the Lancashire backline but just couldn’t find a way through.

A bad tackle on 84 minutes from Lancashire’s Macauley Wilson on the by-line gifted Greater Manchester a free kick which was again taken by Conor Ronan. He drilled the cross in from far out only for his cross to be met by Jamie Stott whose header was again straight at the keeper. It was the second time in the match the two had linked up from a set piece and the second time Jamie Stott should have scored.

There was still time for a smash and grab victory for Lancashire as they were handed a corner in the 89^th minute. The corner was fired in to the box by Ben Anderson only for it to be headed over the bar from 6 yards out.

There were 2 minutes added time but the game looked set for extra time as neither team created anything in the dying moments.

FULL TIME: Lancashire 1-1 Greater Manchester.

Greater Manchester would be wondering how they didn’t manage to come away with the victory within the first 90 minutes and they restricted Lancashire to hardly any efforts on goal at all. With players dropping left, right and centre for cramp this was anyone’s game in extra time.

Greater Manchester’s Loius Myers fires into side netting after being put through on goal. It didn’t look to be Greater Manchester’s day with the amount of missed chances they had in the game up until this point.

Free kick for Lancashire on the edge of box on 97 minutes. Ben Anderson had his half effort deflected off wall for a corner.

HALF TIME EXTRA TIME: Lancashire 1-1 Greater Manchester.

The first chance in the second half of extra time fell in the 103^rd minute to Greater Manchester’s Noah Tetlow; his effort was easily picked up by the keeper Myles Boney.

GOAL for Greater Manchester!!! That man Conor Ronan again showing why he was man of the match with a superb run down the right flank taking on several Lancashire players his pass was then flicked on into the path of Loius Myers who smashed it through the keeper!

That looked to be game as Lancashire’s heads dropped and Greater Manchester were running down the clock.

FULL TIME EXTRA TIME: Lancashire 1-2 Greater Manchester.

Thoroughly deserved victory in my opinion as Lancashire failed to really carve out an opening in open play. Conor Ronan was the difference between the two sides and was unlucky to not end up with at least one goal. Overall it was a great effort from both teams.

Team Line-ups:

Lancashire County Schools' FA

Myles Boney, Joshua Emmott, Ben Anderson, Rahul Parmar, James Corbett, Elliott Pond, Macauley Wilson, Kit Gregory, Jacob Anderson, Robson Hall, Harvey Close, Matthew Read, Sam Skidmore, Charlie Carpenter, Mark Forshaw, Chris Finch. Team Management: Ben Lavelle (Team Manager), Andy Clitheroe (Assistant Manager), Stuart Booth (Assistant Manager), Luke Smith (Physiotherapist).

Greater Manchester County Schools' FA

Chris Renshaw, Kisimba Kisimba, Callum Scrullion, Nathan Chorlton, Jamie Stott, Robson Buckley, Conor Ronan, Alex Reid, Rio Murray, Loius Myers, Lee Knight, Zac Cooper, Noah Tetlow, Danny Paul, Sam Summerbee, Johnny Diba. Team Management: Matt Broadhead (Manager), Paul Ogden (Manager), Karl Dorney (Physiotherapist).

Match Officials

Nick Cornwell (Referee), Iain Southgate & Darren Withers (Assistant Referees), Daniel Lewis (Fourth Official)

To view photos and a match DVD please visit RWT Photography.

ESFA Under 16 Inter County Trophy Fixtures and Results.