Winsford United 3

Gretna 3

UniBond Division One

Saturday, January 13

JUST how many goals do Winsford United have to score to win a match?

Two wasn't enough to avoid defeat in the UniBond League Cup at Trafford last Tuesday and not even three, despite having scored them without reply going into the last 15 minutes, could give beleaguered Blues their first win since November on Saturday.

This was pretty hard to take even by Winsford's standards, especially as victory over fellow strugglers Gretna would have eased the relegation fears which have crept in with the New Year.

Instead, as the loss of Andy Burns left Blues short of recognised defenders, the Scots exploited it to the full to secure an unlikely, and unbelievable, draw.

Back to the issue of how many goals you need over 90 minutes. Three is usually enough, but it could, and with hindsight should, have been more.

From the moment Danny Worthington was held back by Mike Waller when trying to race clear on goal in the first minute, Winsford seemed to have regained their killer attacking instinct.

Waller somehow stayed on the pitch for the foul and would, over the full course of the match, make the most of his reprieve. Mike Scully was just over with the free-kick, the closest anyone came until Blues took the lead on the half hour mark.

Steve Shaughnessy, again forced to play himself at the back, floated a free-kick into the area where Troy Hayder leapt majestically to plant a header high into the net past Paul Heritage.

Six minutes later Waller made his second significant contribution to the drama when he swung his foot at Leon Mills' low centre and sliced into his own net from three yards.

Of course, we should never say that a match is ever wrapped up where Winsford are involved, but if Danny Crowley had made the most of Worthington's good work instead of shooting straight at Heritage on the stroke of half-time, it would have been difficult to see any way back.

Worthington and Crowley contrived to waste another opening on 52 minutes but seconds later the points appeared to in the bag.

Neil Morley bravely won the ball in midfield then sent Scully away down the right. His chip into the middle found Worthington six yards out and he stroked in his 13th of the season.

The lesson United should have learnt at this point is that if you take your foot off the pedal mistakes will happen, and even at 3-0 up this can be fatal.

It was one such error from Mike Lomax which let Gretna back into it, hopelessly scuffing a clearance to George Corrie, who had time to pick out the head of Rowan Alexander. 3-1.

There was a strange inevitability about things even then, but the nightmare scenario of a comeback became a distinct reality on 79 minutes when sub David Mawson latched on to a long ball and his deflected shot bounced over Karl Walton. 3-2.

There seemed to be an eternity left for Gretna to get their equalizer but they left it right until the final minute. Waller had the last laugh when he rose at the same end he had put past his own keeper, to make amends with the simplest of flick headers into the corner of the net.