7.45pm 24 September 2021
Lancashire League, East Division
Shawforth Villa U23 0 Clitheroe Wolves U21 18 (att 12)
Just occasionally I question my sanity when it comes to watching football. The attraction of this fixture, beyond the chance to tick the 3G pitch at Burnley College, was that it was effectively a first team game.
The Lancashire League, once the preserve of young professionals in the 'A' teams of the likes of Manchester United and Liverpool, has gone through several rebrands and is now an under 23 league.
Neither Shawforth Villa nor Clitheroe Wolves have open-aged men's teams, so the home side's 'under 23s' and the visitors' 'under 21s' are both clubs' de facto first teams.
Shawforth had lost their opening three matches, failing to score while conceding 46. One reason was clear when I saw them warming up. They were all under 23, but in the same way I'm under 70. Most could probably still play at under 18s level, several with years to spare.
Clitheroe Wolves opened the scoring in the first minute. They went on to get nine in each half. Some of the goals were very good indeed, but it's impossible to judge the quality given the opposition they were up against.
While the Wolves showed little mercy to Shawforth, the referee did, blowing for full time with about 10 minutes left on the clock.
Credit to Shawforth for keeping going for the whole game. It must be demoralising for players and coaches, but the fact is they're likely to continue to be outclassed in a league that is primarily for reserve and youth sides of semi-professional clubs.
Comments
Post a Comment