Clifton Casuals 5 - 4 Bamber Bridge Vets

The Vets suffered a rare defeat on Sunday at the hands of Clifton Casuals.

Some of the lads clearly didn't fancy the bracing weather of the Fylde Coast on a Sunday afternoon, with Vets manager Chris Singleton only managing to scrape together a 13 man squad for the trip to Clifton Casuals.

The limited availability also extended to the match officials, with reffing duties being undertaken by one of the home side's subs!

Despite the limited squad, and the potential issues with the impartiality of the ref, the Vets were looking on course for another win, looking comfortable with a 3-2 lead.

However, five goals is never enough for a Vets game and with the final minutes of the game ticking away, and the score at 4 - 4, it was looking like the spoils would be shared. That was until Brig's Jamie Nay decided to let his hands do the talking. He handled a ball from the sky, resulting in a free kick being awarded to the home side.

With the final seconds of the game ticking away, up stepped Jamie Milligan to take the kick (yes, that Jamie Milligan!), firing the ball home to make it 5-4 to the Casuals.

Speaking after the defeat, Vets manager Chris Singleton said

'It was a tough one to take today, but a great game played by two great sides. Obviously the Vets "Committee" will have to consider Milly's future with the team. He turned out for us the other week and did alright. We were prepared to give him another go. However after he turned up for the opposition today, it puts his commitment to the Vets in to question.'

Vets goal scorers:
Tom Ince
James Clegg
Leonaldinio Reid
Jamie Nay (somehow found himself on the end of a cross and managed a superb two yard tap-in)

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Player Ratings (by our anonymous assessor):

Wayne Dixon - 6
Beaten by some good goals but a little quicker off his line needed in future

Craig Banks - 8 (MOM)
Pretty solid other than a couple of occasions

Kenny Mayers - 7
Slotted in at centre half, shored it up

Chris Singleton - 7
Stood in at centre half, nice and steady.

James Clegg - 7.5
Good game, up and down, tucked in when needed, nice composed finish

Jamie Nay - No score due to assessor being annoyed with him conceding the free kick.
Apart from costing the Vets the game he had a good bit of joy down the right. Managed to get on the end of a cross for a 2 yard tap in

Chris Mckenzie - 7
Good shift in the engine room, tired late on as did a couple

Neil Crowe - 7
Good shift from the stalwart of the Vets against a strong midfield of Milligan & McCann. Splayed some lovely balls.

Tom Ince - 7
Got in to pockets to hurt them, always a threat. Denied a blatant penalty!

Leonaldino Reid - 7.5
A solid performance and a goal from the team's resident fashionista.

Simon 'The Bald Eagle' Carey - ermmmm….7
Ran his socks off, needed a bit more support at times but left his finishing boots at home.

Jon Bolton (Sub) - 7

Shane Jessop - No score but he looked nice and was well turned out.

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All Vets match reports are a parody. Scorers and goalscorers are correct to the best of our knowledge. Some of the match content may have been embellished for artistic purposes.