Melbourne show fighting spirit but lose to Carnforth

Carnforth made the brighter start and man of the match Johnny Ash went close to opening the scoring when he fired a shot against the crossbar after being played in by a long clearance from his own keeper.

It was Ash who broke the deadlock not long after though when the ball was won back in midfield and the Rangers man beautifully knocked the ball over the advancing keeper from the edge of the area and into the top of the net.

Peter Myerscough had a couple of half chances to equalise for Melbourne, but in the 19th minute it was 2-0 when Corry Parry raced through the middle and reached the edge of the box where the keeper had come off his line to try and clear the ball. However, the keeper’s attempted clearance hit Parry and the ball rebounded into the net.

Carnforth went into half time 3-0 up when Ash scored his second of the game, prodding home from close range after some brilliant work from their left winger.

Melbourne scored early in the second period though to keep the game alive when Peter Myerscough scored directly from a corner.

However, straight from the kick-off Carnforth went up the other end and restored their three-goal advantage, Ash completing his hat-trick with a right footed finish past the keeper.

Melbourne weren’t done yet though and Adam Knowles got on the scoresheet with a lovely header into the bottom corner to give his team a lifeline, and minutes later he scored again to make it 4-3 , finishing from close range.

However, despite a late onslaught, Carnforth held on to win.