AFC Liverpool scraped an unconvincing win thanks to Steve Corris’ penalty midway through the second half.

Harried and harrassed constantly throughout the game by a competent and well organised Abbey Hey side, the victory saw the Reds move up to third but the visitors will be cursing their luck after twice striking the woodwork. In a repeat of their previous game against Chadderton, AFC Liverpool were second best during the first half but improved their perfomance for the second forty five minutes.
In the first period, the Reds struggled to imprint themselves on the game, giving away possession too easily and their only effort on target came courtesy of James Thomas’ twenty yard strike that was a comfortable collect for Richard Broadhurst.
At the other end Abbey Hey continually probed, but perhaps indicative of team that’s only collected one point from the previous twenty one, they failed to turn their domination into more than a couple of chances. Liam Murray shot wide after catching Conor Murphy in possession and Sam Jones fired into the side netting after getting in behind the defence when he should have at least made Michael Christopher work. However, Remi Salisbury was unfortunate when he stuck out a leg to get onto the end of a Darren Green cross only to see his effort bounce off the crossbar and go behind for a goal kick.
A reshuffle of the team at half time saw the Reds begin the second half in a more positive fashion, instantly putting the visitors under pressure with a series of corners. Shuan Chart had a good claim for a penalty ignored when he went down under the challenge of Phillip Cooper and then Thomas put just too much on his attempted lob of Broadhurst.
It was the woodork that denied Abbey Hey the lead once again when Toby Ramsbottom’s twenty five yard strike came crashing back off the bar after Christopher had got a fleeting fingertip to his fine effort. Their misfortune was compounded soon after when David Mather was quickest to react to Darren Torpey’s partially blocked cross, getting to the ball just ahead of Salisbury, whose challenge resulted in the referee pointing to the penalty spot. For the second time this season, Corris scored from the spot against Abbey Hey, firing into the corner and sending Broadhurst the wrong way.
Two minutes later Chart almost diverted Mather’s cross past Broadhurst as he came off his line but the keeper did well to change direction and palm the ball to safety. Despite being a goal to the good though, the victory never seemed fully secured although Abbey Hey failed to create any clear cut chances. Jones forced Christopher into a routine near post save and some slack defending almost allowed Thomas Murray to benefit but the visitors couldn’t force the equaliser their perfomance merited.

AFC Liverpool 1-0 Abbey Hey
Corris (p) 67′
Attendance: 109