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| Trotters move off bottom after thriller |
Wondering Trotters league campaign was finally kick-started after they secured a thrilling 4-2 victory over division leaders Liverpool Super Stars. Lone Trotters striker Jaime Santana was the hat-trick hero as the team moved off the foot of the table.
Fan were shocked to see the home team set out with a 4-5-1 formation – usually reserved by the boss for away fixtures but the risk paid off, with the team scoring four times in the league for the first time in nearly four months.
It was the visitors who got the first chance, Calvino Espina missing the target when well placed. Zachary Tucker then narrowly went wide for the hosts but it just took a few more minutes for Santana to score his first, lobbing the keeper from close range to leave Espina regretting his missed chance. Tucker then misfired from another opportunity, before a through ball from Danny Tolley left Santana one-on-one with the visiting keeper and the Spaniard made no mistake.
The Trotters went into the break firmly in control but let the visitors back into the fixture shortly after the break. Tucker committed a reckless foul, leaving Espina to make amends for his earlier misfire, curling the ball round Taylor Gritt in the Trotters’ goal.
The comeback was short-lived. It took just a few more minutes for Nat Hattersley’s perfectly judged through ball to find Santana. The terrace favourite, now high on confidence, made no mistake, beating Paul Sandkvist for the third time. The hat-trick was complete and the vital three points looked secure.
However, the once impenetrable Trotters’ defence has looked hapless at times over recent weeks. Super Stars reduced the deficit back to just one when Espina headed in from close range. The goal left the Trotters supporters, who hadn’t seen their side win a home league game since the end of November, nervously biting their nails. It was left for Hattersley to turn goal scorer, scoring his side’s fourth goal of the evening to the joy of the terrace behind the goal.
It was the last shot of the match but the result was marred by a late injury to centre-back Ralph Craven. The veteran, who was left on the pitch after a slight injury early in the match sprained his ankle after tripping over a rabbit hole. It left the manager ruing his decision not to take the defender off after the earlier knock.
‘I took a gamble in not taking off injured players. In the previous five and a half years as boss I had always had the opinion that it wasn't worth the risk. That changed - I was looking to improve results – and that happened – we’ve dropped so many points in the past when highly skilled experienced players have been replaced by juniors. Was keeping Ralph on the pitch and now have him missing the next three league fixtures worth the three points? That remains to be seen, but with the state of the side after the opening few games, I would say yes.’
‘This result will give us a huge boost. The last month has been a very worrying time. We got relegated after an atrocious finish to last season and carried on the run of poor results. The cup draw helped us – thrashing a poor lower tier side gave us confidence and form and we were able to carry that into last night’s match. We have two challenging away games coming up which we need to be looking to take some points from. Asking for wins is extremely optimistic but I’d like to think we could come away with at least two points. We came into this season aiming to bounce back to the top flight at the first opportunity. We got taught a harsh lesson in the opening games and the aim now is simple – avoid relegation. We’re much better placed to do that after last night.’
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