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Alliance 4 Carter Rhodes 0

George Dodds
14/ 2/2008

PADDY Gamoury was a late arrival at Bowlee on Sunday, but Alliance were more than happy that he made it at all.

The big striker missed the first 10 minutes of the game but then helped himself to a hat-trick in the space of 12 second-half minutes as Carters pressed the defensive self-destruct button in spectacular style.

Player shortages due to the Manchester derby meant that the Premier League match-up was the only game to go ahead on Bowlee, and even then Alliance had to give up home advantage after their normal pitch was ruled unfit for play.

A goal-less - and largely uneventful first period - saw the central defensive partnerships of Stuart Nuttall and Danny Ingham (Alliance) and Denzil Evans and Anthony Kirby (Carters) protecting their goalkeepers.

Alliance made the majority of the clear-cut chances and they all seemed to fall to James Hampson who was busy and full of running but hadn’t packed his shooting boots.

The best of a string of opportunities came when Paul Lewis’s long pass over the top put him clear, but the ball got caught under his feet at he approached the penalty area with only Carters' keeper Gary Wilson in front of him.

At the other end Mike Rowan was inches wide with a thundering header from a corner, and Alliance goalkeeper Dave Matthews was alert at his near post to beat away a first-time shot from Nathan Da Silva after a long throw had caught the home defence flat-footed.

Having wasted the best chances of the game, Alliance were almost made to pay soon after the restart when they failed to clear a corner. It took a couple of fine blocks from Nuttall and Ingham to clear the danger.

Kyle White had a big shout for a penalty turned down, and it looked as if we were destined for a scoreless draw until Carters imploded in spectacular fashion.

In the 56th minute fullback Daniel Crowley sent a backpass towards Wilson only for the goalkeeper to suffer the kind of embarrassment which befell England stopper Paul Robinson in Croatia last year when the ball hit a divot and skipped over his foot to trickle into the back of the net.

Alliance couldn’t believe their luck and built on it five minutes later. Coogan anticipated a hopeful punt forward and stormed out of his own half and into the Carters' area before finding the unmarked Gamoury who opened his account for the morning.

It was all over minutes later when Evans, who had barely put a foot wrong all game, was caught out by a long ball up the middle and Gamoury fired his second.

Alliance took their foot off the accelerator and were almost made to pay when a 50-yard backpass from Steve Hall fell into the path of Lee Matthews, but he couldn’t find the finish.

Dave Matthews then produced a fine, one-handed save to keep out Scott Kelly’s shot, and he had to be alert again to claw away a couple of inswinging corners.

But it was Alliance, and Gamoury, who had the last word. Evans was judged to have fouled the lively Coogan and Gamoury completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot, albeit via a post.

For Alliance it was sweet revenge for the 8-3 mauling suffered in the reverse fixture in October. For Carters it was a morning which suddenly went horribly awry.

Alliance: Dave Matthews, Paul Lewis, Alan Marland, Stuart Nuttall, Danny Ingham, John Coogan, Marc Barton, Steve Hall, Paddy Gamoury, James Hampson, Kyle White.

Carters Rhodes: Gary Wilson, Daniel Crowley, Paul Kirby, Denzil Evans, Anthony Kirby, Scott Kelly, Nathan Da Silva, Andy Wardle, Lee Matthews, Alan Moore.