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Ten men FC United triumph over Kendal Town - full report

An early Michael Norton goal was enough for FC United to claim a hard fought 1-0 victory over Kendal Town at Gigg Lane on Wednesday night as Jimmy Holden was sent off for violent conduct.

Norton pounced inside the first seven minutes to give the Reds their fourth straight win but they had to dig in deep against The Field, especially when they were reduced to ten men in the second half.

The game began in cagey fashion with neither side gaining control but it was the Reds who took the lead when a flowing move found Carlos Roca on the left whose sublime cross was met by the head of Norton who directed the ball emphatically past visiting goalkeeper Craig Dootson.

Two minutes later, Kendal had a good chance but Jordon Connerton shot straight at United custodian James Spencer. The ever dangerous Astley Mulholland was next to come close, playing himself in behind the defence before forcing Dootson to pull off a great one-on-one save.

Spencer was in action again on the half hour as Ciaran Donnelly was played in but the FC United shot-stopper blocked well. A minute later, the Reds should have doubled their lead when a crisp passing move saw Norton cross in for Mullholland who fired over when well placed.

Five minutes before the break, United had a loud handball appeal turned down, the officials deeming the contact to be accidental meaning that the Reds took the narrowest of leads into the interval.

Five minutes after the restart, Mullholland had yet another chance. Norton worked himself into the box and saw his shot tipped up by Dootson and Mullholland headed the rebound against the woodwork.

The game exploded for minutes later when a series of challenges on FC United players went unpunished, the second of which saw the shirt almost yanked off Mullholland’s back. Jimmy Holden was clearly frustrated by this and launched himself into a tackle on former FC United winger Danny Williams, which prompted a mêlée from both sides, during which Holden was alleged to have head-butted an opponent. Once calm had been restored, Mr Southwood produced a red card in Holden’s direction.

Being down to 10 men showed a different side to FC United in that were had to soak up much pressure, though chances for the away team were kept to a minimum, Ashley Dunn seeing a shot from the edge of the box well saved by Spencer.

In fact, if anything the Reds were still coming closest to scoring, substitute Ben Deegan being played through but he ran out of steam before he could get a shot in and Danny Grimshaw heading at Dootson from a Roca cross, after also coming off the bench.

In the end, one goal proved to be enough for FC United to finally beat the Kendal hoodoo. This was the first time that the Reds had gained anything against Kendal at Gigg Lane and will give the players full confidence going into Sunday’s FA Carlsberg Trophy game with Altrincham.

Website man of the match: Greg Stones - stood up to the visitor’s threat and was solid when his side were reduced to 10 men, marshalling the defence superbly.

Report by Steven Wood


First Posted ~ 11:05 Thu 24 Nov 2011
News ID ~ 3892
Last Updated ~ 01:52 Tue 16 Feb 2021