From Missed Penalties to Hat-Tricks: The Revival of Middlewood Rovers

A bottom of the table clash saw The Crown Inn lose 5-2 to visitors Middlewood Rovers with centre-back Blake Marshall scoring a hat trick for the away side.

The opening 20 minutes saw a quickfire double for the home side, the opener seeing a Crown Inn striker beat keeper Ben Asquith in a 50/50 before slotting the ball home. The second came when another Crown Inn striker spotted Asquith off his line and fired home, the ball glancing in off the underside of the bar.

On the stroke of half time Marshall scored his first when an attempted 40-yard cross found its way over the home keeper, giving the away side a lifeline.

The second half saw Rovers go on to dominate the game, winger Carter Harrison getting the perfect opportunity to equalise from the spot but blazing his penalty wide. Marshall bagged his second when a failed clearance landed at his feet, firing in across goal. Rovers eventually took the lead when captain Josh Draper scored directly from a corner to make it 3-2.

With Rovers firmly in the driving seat they were awarded another penalty, no mistake this time by Marshall to grab the away sides fourth. The game was sealed when striker Laughlan Price rifled a fifth goal, his first of the season, to give the visitors all 3 points.