Recap
Brandon Taylor and Adam Burnicle both came straight into the starting line up after being signed in the lead up to the game, at a sunny Palmersville Sports Complex.
Bishops started brightly and almost took an early lead when Mills crashed a shot against the face of the bar of the ‘portable goal’ they were attacking. Another good chance followed when the keeper spilled a shot and then smothered the follow up effort by Waters from point blank range. The home side then hit the bar with a dipping shot from outside the box with Liversedge beaten. The final chance of an action packed opening 15 minutes went to Adam Burnicle as the forward was played in on goal and after rounding the keeper a covering defender got back to thwart his goalbound shot yards in front of the line.
The ‘Allotment’ keeper was tested again midway through the half when he palmed around the post an in swinging free kick that was heading into the bottom corner. This was to be the best it got for Bishops and after Mills was replaced by Parnaby on 27 minutes the home side started to get on top but were mainly limited to harmless long-range efforts. However, the lead up to half time saw Liversedge make an excellent low diving save before two quick goals as Bishop’s defenders were pulled out of position. Firstly Hayton rifling into the roof of the net from an acute angle and then minutes later Higgins slid the ball into the left corner after a number of weak attempts to clear the ball. HT 0-2.
Bishops almost found a route back into the game on 58 minutes when a corner kick was diverted onto the bar and out of play. There were several good opportunities for ‘Allotment’ to kill any unlikely hopes of a Bishops comeback, but some wayward finishing held off what seemed to be inevitable.
Ciaran Banks and Oliver James were both introduced from the bench for Bishops but with 5 minutes remaining a quick break saw two ‘Allotment’ players exchange passes and Baltazar finished clinically past Liversedge from just inside the box, the home side demonstrating the conviction that was sadly missing from the two blues on another disappointing afternoon. FT 3-0. ATT 115.