Stone Dominoes recorded their first pre-season win in their latest fixture on Wednesday, with a convincing 3-0 victory over fellow Division One side Longton Area at Wellbeing Park in Yarnfield.
With a large squad available there were plenty of new faces on show which added little towards consistency, although the scoreline could and probably should have been more emphatic come the final whistle.
Although the game started slowly, Dominoes took the lead after 5 minutes as Shane Lindop reacted to a loose ball on the edge of the Longton box to fire left-footed into the far bottom corner. The forward line of Hughes, Stevenson and Lindop were starting to cause problems and it was Lindop who could have doubled the lead soon after but fired over from close range. Longton threatened on a couple of occasions with balls over the top but were unable to quite create an opening of real significance.
The Dominoes’ full backs were starting to get forward to create problems for the away side towards the end of the half. Endon Adams linked up well with Greg Stevenson on the right to almost tee up Jake Hughes, before Stevenson slid in Marcus Thorp on the left who fired across from the byline for Lindop to double his tally and make it 2-0.
After the break Stone continued to press and create chances, with Ash Cooper working hard to put the visitors’ back four under constant pressure. Cooper himself missed a big chance when he could not sort his feet out in the six yard box, before Lindop ran clear only to be thwarted by the Longton goalkeeper. The away side continued to look for a way back into it but found Craig Bould in no mood to give up a clean sheet, firstly diving at the forward’s feet as he raced through and then acrobatically tipping wide a tremendous strike which headed towards his top corner.
As it looked like Dominoes would have to settle for two, youngster Harry White picked up the ball on the right side. Showing the trickery of a seasoned player he weaved past three Longton players before sliding a pass inside to Jack Steele. With space in front of him, Steele drove forward and unleashed a strike at goal, which the goalkeeper could only parry into the path of a waiting Cooper who made no mistake, tucking the ball away to increase the lead. The final whistle went not long after to bring to an end an entertaining game.
Dominoes will no doubt be pleased with the display, with numerous chances created and a satisfying clean sheet, the only negative being the apparent injury of goalkeeper Craig Bould as he limped off with five minutes to go.
