It was a tough afternoon in the pouring rain for Bootle Under 18s as they bowed out of the FA Youth Cup at the hands of a dominant Pilkington FC performance.
By Patrick Bratin
Bootle travelled to the Ruskin Sports Village for their Preliminary Round encounter and were immediately forced into setting up camp in their own half; the Pilks’ press was relentless and suffocated and passage of play that the Young Bucks threatened to start.
The home side’s pressure was instantly rewarded with a goal - goalkeeper Ruben Lanen, a very busy player on the day, got a hand to a lethal outside-of-the-box strike but could only parry the shot onto the inside of right-hand post. Despite heroically blocking a shot on the line, the Bucks couldn’t prevent a second Pilkington effort from creeping over the line to double their lead shortly before half-time.
A strong Pilkington defence and blunt Bootle attack restricted the away side to two half-chances in the whole game, both coming in the first half with striker Carl Morgan only able to direct his two headers onto the roof and side of the net.
The home side’s tails were up in the second half, and with Bootle’s players becoming increasingly leggy, they took full advantage and added three goals to their tally to make it 5-0. Lanen was in the thick of the action in the second 45 - his attempted punch of a Pilks free-kick ended up in the back of his net for the third goal, but he wasn’t deterred and produced two world-class saves to keep the Pilkington strikers out.
Pilkington showed their dominance and flair throughout, and the young Bucks struggled to live with them in worsening conditions and on a difficult pitch.