Neston South Wirral beat Manchester 9-6

Feb 23 2011 by Our Correspondent, Birkenhead News

ON a weekend when there was a high tide at Parkgate, there were a flood of goals as Neston South Wirral defeated Manchester 9-6 in an incredible game.

With both sides struggling with injury and unavailability, they produced a game that often lacked in quality, but was high on entertainment throughout. The visiting Manchester side took the lead early on when the unorthodox Kasim Mughal flicked past Rich Lowry from a penalty corner, and this set the tone for the afternoon. Lawrence McNeight and Rogier Van Der Ouderaa soon put Neston in front only for Mughal to repeat his party piece.

Van Der Ouderaa bagged his second of the game from a set play before Mughal again left Lowry grasping at thin air to make it 3-3. Dan Khedun gave the Parkgate men the interval lead when he slotted home.

There was to be no let up in the second half though, and with Neston unable to cope with the magical Mughal, he continued his one man show, flicking in twice in quick succession to put Manchester 5-4 ahead. With the game so open, more goals were inevitable, and McNeight restored parity from the penalty spot before Aled Jarvis slammed in to put the home team back in front. However, nobody was surprised when Mughal again found the roof of the net, to level the game with his sixth goal of the match. Neston's frustrations grew as Mughal led them a merry dance, and Barry Roberts and Rob Cookson were both sin-binned along with Manchester's Faisal Khan when tempers flared. Not that either team needed the extra space, but Neston actually took advantage with Van Der Ouderaa and McNeight's hat-trick goals sandwiching one from Ian Pringle, as Manchester - and particularly Moghul -finally faded.