Billinge in Sixy football showcase

Fourth-placed Barnton visited Barrows Farm this weekend for a match that saw the hosts and the visitors meet for the first time this season.
And it was going to be a tough afternoon for the visiting team.
Manager Geoff Parr has no questions of the lads ability but found the first-half frustrating as he watched his side play with the high wind and over-hit and miscontrol lots of passes.
Although this was difficult it was Billinge that dominated.
The biggest chances fell to Rob Ablewhite - who was slipped in at one point by Jamie Anderson only for the striker to hit the shot directly at the keeper and for Anderson who also raced one-on- one to lob the keeper only for the wind to take it onto the bar and over.
With Billinge pressing hard and continually turning the Barnton defence it would not be long before something had to give and it did. Ablewhite was found with a through-ball putting him in on goal with Barnton defender Hough on the wrong side.
Just as Ablewhite went to unleash a shot the defender clipped his heels - it what was a blatant foul to keep the score at nil-nil.
With the next defender nowhere in sight and the foul being on the edge of the box, referee Graham Marsh had no option but to send the player off.
And this is how the half ended...
Billinge went into the second-half a man up but had the task of playing into the wind: However the boys made it look like a walk in park on a sunny afternoon.
Within minutes of the restart the ball had found its way to Phil Burrows and in a packed box he smashed the home side in front from around ten yards.
One–nil and Billinge never looked back.
Next up was Ablewhite to score the first of his brace.
The ball broke to him from a Barnton defender only for Rob to turn and run at the goal before unleashing a thunderbolt that clipped the bar on the way in.
Then came a wonderful header from Joe Ratcliffe: The midfielder had started on the bench for The Storks after a knee injury but came on at half time to replace the ever- hardworking Dan Hague on the left hand side of midfield.
Ant Higgins picked the ball up deep in his own half and his first couple of touches were something a baby elephant would have been ashamed of but he steadied himself on the run and whipped a delightful ball across the goal that Ratcliffe met like a flying fish and redirected the ball back across goal into the bottom corner! 3 – 0.
Geoff was then able to bring on the rest of his subs for a good run out with young Luke Twist and debutant Chris Parr for the outstanding-on-the-day Elliot Twigg and Adam Dickinson.
All the subs did was add more pressure on the Barnton team. Captain Ablewhite added his second of the game from an inch- perfect free-kick to the back post from Anderson, before Anderson himself bagged a lovely goal after great play between the two players allowing him to wrap his foot around the ball and knock it past a well-beaten keeper.
Then the moment of the match: A fairytale some might say.
The story of Chris Parr is a long one but basically in a nutshell he suffered from a quite common disease called Spectatorism, where the person finds themselves going watching football instead of actually playing the sport. Sometimes, like in Chris’s case, the standard will be poor and has seen him following Preston North End for many years.
At 28, and many tears shed he decided enough is enough and Chris has found his way back to his boyhood club Billinge FC to the delight of manager and long-time friend Geoff Parr.
Chris Parr showed some wonderful touches in the last 30 minutes and really gave the lads an extra physical presence and was able to cap his debut with a 20 yard smash in to the back of the net.
Martin Rennox found Chris Parr on the right-hand side of the box.
He quickly moved the ball to Ablewhite who then equally as quickly returned the ball to Parr who hit a rocket from the corner of the box to the opposite corner of the goal!
An absolute peach and the end of the scoring and a convincing 6-0 victory.
Manager Geoff Parr said: “At half- time I was worried that the lads would take the foot off the gas and feel like the game was going to be easy to win.
"All I asked was they picked it up another 10% and make that extra space and the game would be ours and they went out and did the job. Again 1- 15 were class and it was a great debut for Chris Parr and we are all glad that he is recovering well from Spectatorism."
Geoff Parr also added: “In Jay Parkin, Twigg, Ratcliffe, Dickinson and Hague we have lads that are all 18 and under and the fact that four of these started the game is a testament to how good they are. "They say if you're good enough you're old enough and this is true with these guys.
"That mixed with the experience of Sean Latham and Burrows mixed with the skills of Rennox, Anderson and Ablewhite is a match for any team.
"Also a big thank you to Mark Jones who stepped in goal today.
"Mark was injured back at Christmas and it's great to have him back.
"He pulled of a couple of good saves in the dying minutes of the game”
Meanwhile Chris Parr said: “I just want to thank Geoff Parr for today, I loved it.
"I just did not realise how far off being match-fit I was.
"Hard work will get me there though.”
And when asked about his goal he said: “It flew in didn’t it, I am well made up with it”
 
Geoff's MOM: Ant Higgins
Opposition MOM: Jamie Anderson
Wooden Spoon: Chris Parr (for not playing football for so many years on a Saturday DUHHH)