Senior Cup Loss At Lower Breck

By Simon Driscoll

An early exit from the Liverpool Senior Cup for Skelmersdale United after a 2-0 defeat at Lower Breck. Goals in either half from Oscar Billington and Peter Donnelly sealed a win for Breck on their debut in the competition.

Paul McNally welcomed James O'Hara, Louis Keegan, Leon Arnasalam, Declan Daniels and Luke Duffy into the starting 11 with Ishmael Banks returning from suspension on the bench.

An early chance for United saw Alex Griffiths drawing a low save from Joshua Molloy from close range before a long range effort from the Breck midfield cleared the bar. Leon Arnasalam flicked past the post from a tight angle before his low cross to Will Dunne saw the forward's shot creep past the post.

United continued to domiante the chances with Arnasalam hitting another effort narrowly past the post before Breck replied with a curled effort over the bar after a corner. United went even closer top opening the scoring as Dunne swept an effort across the goal which narrowly missed the far post.

A mazy run from Griffiths saw him swing the ball over the bar with Paul Mooney sending an effort past the post at the other end ahead of Lower Breck opening the scoring on 37 minutes. A quick attack down the right wing saw a low cross to Oscar Billington who slotted past Terry Smith for 1-0.

The second half saw United's first threat to equalise come from a Declan Daniels cross which was headed past the post by a Breck defender. Dunne drew a save from Molloy ahead of a stunning run and cross from substitute Sean Yeldrem finding Arnasalam who headed past the target.

Lower Breck doubled the lead on 67 minutes as a shot from range saw Smith tip the ball onto the bar with Peter Donnelly tapping the rebound past Smith for 2-0. United came close to cutting the gap as Phil Mooney found the side netting after connecting to a corner.

Breck went close to adding to their lead as a clever run and shot beat Smith but also sailed over the bar. A clever flick from Dunne looked to put Yeldrem in on goal he was denied a header by strong defence. Dunne and Duffy had further efforts saved by Molloy but to no avail as the final whistle sounded leaving United with an exit from the competition.