Marine AFC 2-0 Bootle FC: Match Report
- Aug 1
- 2 min read
By Brendan Doyle
After a close encounter with National League North side Marine for most of the game, Bootle fell short at the later stages as James Potter and Charlie Jolley pop up with the goals.
After a brilliant show of hold up play from Saul Fox-Akande, he then laid it off to Ryan Beigan who’s close range shot on goal was blocked to deny Bootle an opener after just four minutes of play. Soon after, Finlay Sinclair-Smith cut in on his right foot to try and get Marine in front but his shot blazed over the crossbar after a dangerous looking run into the box.
After a slight defensive error from Marine, Saul Fox-Akande found himself one on one up against Marine keeper Jack McIntyre but at the last second he lost his balance and failed to get a clean shot on goal, a huge missed opportunity to score on his Bootle debut. Just at the very end of the first half, former Bootle player Sonny Hilton tried his luck but his shot rolled just inches past the far post, the half would end 0-0 in a competitive first half.
Bootle entered the second half fairly well and after nine minutes Jack Lenehan put the ball in the back of the net after brilliant link up play with Saul Fox-Akande, but sadly the linesman’s flag went up for offside. After a Marine corner was whipped into the area, Joe Mason made a fantastic save to keep the game level.
As the game entered the late stages, James Potter struck an effort from outside the box and bent it into the top far corner to give Marine a late 1-0 lead, a fantastic goal to James Potter’s credit.
Just minutes later, after being fed a fantastic through ball, Charlie Jolley took the ball past Joe Mason and buried his effort to double Marine’s lead. The game would finish 2-0 to Marine despite Bootle’s decent performance throughout the game, but unfortunately for The Bucks it was Marine’s quality that shone through in the later stages.
