Good start - bad finish!

Radcliffe Olympic 2 Holwell 1

The visitors started off well and for the first 25mins looked comfortable and in no danger whatsoever. The home side had plenty of chances and after a series of three corners following a free kick would have thought they could have been in the lead but on 10mins after a Jay Kirby cros moved on by Foster and Stevenson, Scott Mooney was on hand to slot the ball in for Holwell to take the lead.

On 12 mins Foster should have put the visitors clear when he delayed instead of shooting allowing the defence to deal with the threat.

Radcliffe got back on top and on 20mins Richard Cragg had to be strong to save from Tian Walton after breaking clean through.

For the second match in a row, Sam Muggleton had to leave the field with injury and this disrupted Holwell’s set up.

Holwell always seemed second best from here on in and could think themselves lucky to be in front after some woeful finishing by Radcliffe.

Mooney also had chances but was misfiring and with a second substitution of Tom Muggleton coming on for the injured Chris Hibbitt the visitors began to struggle and looked jaded against an insurgent Radcliffe.

A sloppy start to the second half by Holwell let Radcliffe take charge and Ryan Smith fully tested Cragg within 5mins of the restart.

It seemed all one way traffic and but for some desperate defending Holwell should have been behind by now and on 65mins the home side got the breakthrough they deserved with a headed goal by Ryan Smith following a harsh free kick given away by substitute Randall on the edge of the 18yd box.

The inevitable winner came on 81mins leaving no time for Holwell to get back in the game when substitute Pashley was left unmarked as yet another cheap free kick was not dealt with by Holwell and he slammed the ball into the net leaving Holwell out of yet another competition.

The performance left some to question the wisdom of First Team players playing so much football with Sunday League and weekly 5-A-Side League matches as this league is proving very tough for Holwell.