Eagle progress to quarter finals despite missed penalty

EAGLE Sports FC reached the quarter-finals of the Cheshire Football League’s JB Parker Cup with a 2-1 win at AFC Knowsley.

The Gulls got out of the blocks quickly and took an early lead, with Luke Sutton scoring well in the bottom corner, but after the goal the side seemed to sit back and let their hosts in the game.
The home side equalized just before half-time, with their first real clear chance as the No. 9 overtook the Eagles defense and headed home past Liam Marlow.
In the second half, Eagle came out with more vigour, earning a penalty after Sutton was dragged down by the defender as he tried to get a shot off. Captain Adam Coleman then unusually hit the penalty over the bar to tie the score.
Still, it was Eagle who pressed on, with Kian Cooper forcing a good save from the home keeper before they snapped their winner when a good work by Callum Burgess created the opportunity for the shot, which deflected into the net to give Eagle the goal Victory.

Joint Manager Richard Chinn said of the win: “First of all we are happy to be in the next round. That was the goal at the beginning of the week and we achieved it.
“We started the game well and Sutton scored the goal but then we seemed to go into our shells a bit and started dropping lower to give their midfield more space. After all, they wanted to create a chance that they took seconds before the break and that was their only real chance of the first half.
“We wanted more energy in the second half as we looked really lethargic in the first 45 despite controlling the game so we had to increase the tempo and work rate.
“It was much better in the second half and we created a lot of chances. The penalty, I’m not sure why it’s not a sending off but we missed the chance which is different to Coleman and in a cup game you wonder if sometimes you’ll be lucky enough to get one over the line , which we ended up leading to victory with a superb goal through Burge, who I thought was outstanding.
“We’re in a decent place and it was nice to bring Owen Ellis and Danny Hutchins back in as we’ve been missing a striker this season. Everyone’s pushing each other and we’ve got some big games coming up now so Nico (joint manager Danny Nixon) and Shaun (first team coach Shaun Staniford) will be working hard with the boys.
“We did what we came for, which was in the quarter-finals, so we’re leaving happy.

The Gulls are not in action next Saturday but on Saturday 11 February they will head to Lower Breck to take on Joey Orrs FC of Liverpool County Premier League Division One in the Liverpool CFA Challenge Cup quarter-finals, a trophy , the Eagle remains the only team at Warrington to have previously lifted.
Eagles: Liam Marlow, Callum Burgess, Joe Murphy, Tom Griffiths, Adam Coleman, Owen Duncan, Luke Sutton, Lewis McEvatt, Owen Ellis, Jack Mercer, Matty Saunders. Substitutes: Ed Shaw, Henry Carver, Kian Cooper, Ste Robinson, Danny Hutchins