Lostock turned up for tonight’s match in a confident mood after beating Poulton Yth in the LFA semi last week plus it was also only a few days away from the biggest game in the clubs history in the Lancashire Cup Final. This was the last chance for players to impress manager Tat and force their way into the starting 11. Conti turned up with a stronger team than the one we spanked 9-0 on their own turf only 11 days earlier, so before hand Tat had warned the players about thinking this was going to be another easy 3pts.

With the big match looming Tat decided to make a few changes to the starting 11. Walshy started in nets with Kev Nutter at right back for his first start since signing back on for the team he loves. Jake started at left back with Greeny and Luke in the centre. In midfield Ben began on the right, Belly back on the left and starts in the middle of the park for "the animal" Will Yates and Dan "Choccy" Mac. Keeping their places up front were Steady and Roddy. Taking their places on the bench for tonight’s game were John and Jamie Sanderson, Alex Randell and Diz.

The game was slightly delayed because the Ref got lost en route to the pitch even though he lives in Walton Park. Eventually the game got under way with Conti getting stuck in early doors; obviously looking for some revenge after the beating they took last time out. It wasn’t long before Lostock took charge though with Dan Mac and Will Yates bossing the centre of the park and Kev Nutter proving Blackburn were wrong to let him go by spraying some wonderful passes down the right flank. It wasn’t long before Lostock took the lead through good work on the left flank by Belly and Roddy. The latter crossing to the back post for the on rushing BEN YATES to climb highest and fire Lostock into the lead. 1-0. Shortly after that Lostock thought they had won a penalty, Steady was hacked down inside the 6yard bo.x The ref pointed to the spot, only for the Conti linesman, (Boulders) to rule that Steady was offside. Not only is he a dodgy Keeper, he is also not too clever at being a liner! It wasn’t long though till Lostock doubled their lead, Belly dropped his shoulder on the left hand side and swung in a delightful cross for top goalscorer STEADY to plant his 12 stone head on and put Lostock further in the lead 2-0. Lostock continued to press Conti, with Kev Nutter impressing at right back, however there were no further goals as the ref blew for half time.

With Tugger still away on holiday Tat encouraged the players to keep applying pressure on the poor Conti defence and get the 3rd goal which would surely kill off any hope of a Conti comeback. Nutsy complained that his hamstring was tight but agreed to continue after an impressive first half, so Lostock continued with the same team.

The 2nd half got under way with Lostock firmly in control; good passing and possession play meant Conti were chasing shadows for most off the half. Lostock put the game to bed with a Roberto Carlos style rocket from HORNBY. He picked the ball up 25 yards out and unleashed a rocket which flew pass the struggling Conti keeper to make the score 3-0. With the game all but over Nutsy came off with Diz taking over, this meant a slight shuffle with Ben going to right back and the pacey Diz to right midfield. With Lostock taking their foot off the gas Conti seemed to grow in confidence and this attitude enabled them to get back in the game. A nice through ball from midfield sent their striker through, Walshy made a smart save only to see it fall for the other striker to nick in and slot the rebound home 3-1. This gave Lostock the kick up the backside they needed to ensure the 3 goal lead was restored. More good work from Will Yates in midfield who passed to Roddy on the edge of the Conti box, RODDY side stepped a couple of Conti defenders before cooly placing the ball under the Conti keeper to make the score 4-1. Steady then made way for Alex Randell, Alex took his place in the centre off the park with Yates going up front. With Lostock back in complete control and Alex starting to pull the strings in the middle of park, getting the 5th goal was just a matter of time. The ball found its way out to the right to the pacey Diz, he skipped past the Conti full back and supplied a cross with caused confusing in the Conti bo.x With the Conti defenders unable to clear the ball it broke for RODDY and there was only going to be one out come 5-1. Tat made his final change with John "The Egg" Sanderson coming on for the final 10mins in place of the ruthless Roddy, and it was John who made the 6th goal for Lostock. Alex played a lovely ball to John who did his usual step overs, John fired the a low cross which the Conti defender got in the way off and it deflected passed the luckless keeper to make the score 6-1. With only minutes remaining Lostock again became sloppy at the back and as a result of some bad defending Conti won a pen which their striker made no mistake to give the score a bit of respectability 6-2. Lostock re started and went straight up the other to win a pen of their own, a ball from the impressive Dan Mac into Yates feet, Yates turned sharply and as he was about to pull the trigger the Conti defender pulled Yates down, up stepped Captain Greeny who blasted the ball off the bar and it went to safety. Finally for Conti’s sake the ref blew the final whistle and now they won’t have to play us till next season!

Another good performance for Lostock, several changes made tonight just proving how strong our squad is at the moment. We look forward with confidence to the Champions League Final against Rochdale outfit, Success to the Plough; the Tardy Ultras will be there in full force to hopefully see us lift the biggest trophy in Lancashire Sunday League Football.

SCORERS:
Ben Yates (11 mins)
John Stead (26 mins)
Chris Hornby (54 mins)
Sean Roddy (68 mins)
Sean Roddy (76 mins)
OG (83 mins)

MAN OF THE MATCH:
Dan McCarthy