Alderley Edge Men's 1st team kept up their fine form in North League One, with a 3-1 victory over Bolton. Bolton started brightly but caused no real problems to the Alderley back line and soon Alderley were able to get into their passing rhythm and started to cause the opposition serious issues, Miles McGoun going closest to scoring shooting narrowly wide after making himself some space and later hitting the post.
Alderley's dominance was being transferred into penalty corners rather than clear goal scoring opportunities with Bolton defending resolutely, Matt Hardy being a main contributor. It was a corner that gave Alderley the lead when the ball found it's way to Alex Morgan to fire home. Good passing meant Alderley kept firmly in control and Gregory was thwarted when the 'keeper raced from his line.
With the majority possession and due to fine defending from Scarsbrook, Bryant and Badger Bolton were unable to get into the Alderley D, it was a closer reflection of the first half when James McPherson kept up his fine run of goal scoring form firing in a penalty corner to make it 2-0.
The second half started the same as the first with even better movement from the Alderley front line, but to Bolton's credit they kept a very high work rate and refused to be overwhelmed. Alderley then became a little sloppy and turned the ball over too easily encouraging Bolton to come forward. Bolton eventually won their only corner of the game and soon followed it up with a genuine attack in numbers and as the defence backed off, they took advantage with a crisp strike to pull a goal back.
This lead to a frantic period of play with neither side maintaining possession or structure. Alderley had two strong penalty stroke appeals turned down when McPherson's goal bound shot appeared to strike a defender on the line and then an errant stick prevented a shooting opportunity.
The game was made safe when Gregory and McGoun combined to go past the keeper, and to prevent a certain goal he deliberately brought down the Alderley striker, giving the Umpire no choice but to award a penalty stroke.
Man of the match Ben Badger confidently converted. Alderley regained composure and could have had more goals if not for the resilient Bolton backline.
This keeps Alderley just 1 point off top spot and with other top teams dropping points it was a good weekend for the Moss Lane outfit.
