Spoils shared at the league leaders

By Brendan Doyle

The first few minutes of the game seen Bootle take a chance just outside the box as Michael Simpson attempted to curl the ball into the far corner but the effort only flew wide. After that effort from Simpson it took a while for the game to heat up and see any real chances, until a ball came into the Lower Breck area came in from Jay Roberts in an attempt to find Michael Simpson at the far post but Simpson just couldn’t reach the ball in time as it bounced out for a goal kick.

Courtney Duffus played a ball into Somto Ifezue towards the near post but former Bootle player Jay Cooper was there just in time to block the shot from Ifezue to deny the latter a goal in his first start for The Bucks. Minutes later Somto Ifezue carried the ball from out wide and played in Courtney Duffus across the face of goal and buried his chance with a first time effort to give Bootle a 1-0 lead, this would see The Bucks head into the tunnel ahead at half time.

The opening of the second half seen Lower Breck fly out of the traps putting immediate pressure on Bootle which paid off after eight minutes of play as former Bootle player Sam Burns found the net which was initially ruled out by the linesman for offside, but then after to a large protest from the Lower Breck players the referee awarded them the goal. After both sides attempt to get their noses back in front, Jordan Barrow seen a second yellow card after a late tackle on Sam Hughes and was forced to leave the field, causing a huge uproar from both dugouts.

Lewis Earl gained possession in the Lower Breck final third and attempted to feed the ball through to used substitute Luke Frost but the pass from Earl had too much weight behind it. Alex Cherera was a handful for Bootle down the right hand side in the second half and played a ball into Sam Burns but the former Bootle man failed to convert for a second time.

The match would finish 1-1 in a very tight contest between the two sides. Thank you very much all of your magnificent support home and away in 2025 and we hope to see you all at The Berry Street Garage Stadium against Wythenshawe Town on January 10th 2026. Happy New Year from everyone at Bootle Football Club. Up The Bucks!