Brown feeling upbeat despite Trophy setbacK

Lancaster City boss Phil Brown believes his men will not dwell too long on their disappointing Lancashire FA Trophy exit on Tuesday night.
Phil BrownPhil Brown
Phil Brown

The Dolly Blues reached the final of the county competition last season – losing agonisingly on penalties to Chorley at the Macron Stadium.

However, there will be no repeat of their fine run to Bolton Wanderers’ home ground this season after they were well beaten 3-0 away at Radcliffe Borough in the second round.

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Although disappointed to see his team go down to defeat at Stainton Park, Brown is looking at the bigger picture.

City are currently on a run of eights wins from their past nine league games – including excellent away wins over derby rivals Clitheroe and high-flying Brighouse Town on Saturday.

The accumulation of 24 points out of a possible 27 means City have moved to third in the NPL First Division North table – just a point behind leaders Farseley Celtic.

And confidence will still be high when they welcome Colwyn Bay to Giant Axe on Saturday.

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“On Tuesday night at Radcliffe, we did not quite get to the levels that we are capable of,” he said.

“I am not too sure why that was, but I don’t think it was a 3-0 scoreline in terms of performance.

“We made some basic errors but we created enough oportunities to score ourselves.

“Radcliffe deserved to win because they took their chances and we didn’t.

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“The scoreline makes it look like a bit of a drubbing but it was quite a close game.

“I am not looking too much into the result because we are coming off the back of two really good away performances in the league.

“Saturday’s 1-0 win at Brighouse was a great result for us coming after a terrific away win at Clitheroe the previous Tuesday.

“To get six points out of two tough away games was really positive and really good to be fair.

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“Brighouse was always going to be a difficult game for us. They have been top for a number of weeks.

“They are solid at the back and have players capable of

pinching goals at the other end.

“We managed to keep a clean sheet and ultimately came away with the three points thanks to an outstanding effort by Billy Askrigg in the second half.

“It shows that on our day we are more than a match for any team in this division.”

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Tomorrow’s visitors Colwyn Bay currently reside in a midtable position, but Brown is expecting the Welshmen to provide stiff opposition.

“Colwyn signed some good players at the start of the season and it’s going to be a tough gameon Saturday,” Brown added.

“There’s no easy games in this division and you see how tight it is. I think there is just a win between the top seven teams .

“We have seen teams who were in the top five not that long ago are now in 12th and 13th position now and teams who were midtable are now in the top five.”

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On the injury front, midfielder Ricky Mercer could come into contention for a place in the squad this weekend after suffering from a groin problem over the past few weeks.

However, defenders Rob Henry and Jacob Davies are still struggling to shake off respective groin injuries.