AFC Liverpool went down 3-0 away to Maine Road on a rainy evening in Manchester.

Though they had plenty of possession, AFC Liverpool couldn’t find the attacking verve to put the Maine Road goal under any real pressure, and though on balance the home side deserved to take all three points, it was a scoreline that reflected a little harshly on the Reds’ performance.

AFC Liverpool started brightly enough, with Shaun Harris putting in two or three crosses and James Buckley seeing his shot deflected for a corner but the front pairing of Carl Furlong and Liam Nethercote were too isolated and never received the service to cause problems to the Maine Road back four.

Until Robert Brocklehurst’s stunning volley from thirty yards gave his side the lead on twenty four minutes, Maine Road themselves hadn’t really troubled the AFC Liverpool back line, with only one quick counterattack ending with Edward Moran blasting high and wide from the edge of the box to show for their endeavours.

However, they twice came close to extending their lead in quick succession when firstly no-one made contact with Moran’s ball across the six yard box and secondly when Joshua Gittings’ header from Brocklehurt’s corner clipped the outside of the post.

Buckley came close to an equaliser two minutes into the second half after good hold up play from Furlong but a series of blocks and a save by Gregory Hall saw him unable to force the ball over the line.

Reprieved, the home side extended their lead two minutes later when a burst from midfield by Andrew Kilheeney took him past the Reds back four before he slotted the ball past Joshua Molloy.

Plenty of time was spent inside the opposition half but the Reds couldn’t combine to create much to get themselves back into the match and were reduced to a few long range efforts with Buckley, Francis Barry and Darren Torpey all striking off target. The one piece of good play saw Buckley smash home after a Harris cross dropped to him but the goal was chalked off for reasons that those watching found difficult to fathom.

The result was confirmed on eighty one minutes when Paul Arrowsmith struck a twenty five yard free kick beyond the reach of Molloy and though a deflected Barry shot required a good save from Hall to keep his clean sheet intact, had it gone in it would have been too late to for an epic comeback.

Maine Road 3-0 AFC Liverpool
Brocklehurst 24′
Kilheeney 49′
Arrowsmith 81′

Attendance: 90