Match Report

The long awaited M41 Derby ended with Trafford victorious in front of a bumper crowd of just under 700.
The hosts dominated possession in the opening stages but Flixton always looked dangerous on the break with Wahad Damphat making some great runs down the right.

Trafford striker Kevin Spinelli blasted over from 15 yards in the 14th minute but the best chance fell to the visitors Will Jones who lifted the ball into Ollie Culkin’s hands with only the keeper to beat.
However, just sixty seconds later Yasser Salim opened the scoring when he outpaced the Trafford defence on the left and fired past the advancing Culkin.

Five minutes later Trafford were level when Spinelli fed Josh Woods who brilliantly skipped past Ellis Allen and ran the ball into the empty goal.

Karl Marginson’s team were now on top and forged ahead in the 36th minute when Cian Donohue was fouled on the edge of the Flixton penalty area and Hilal Khan stepped forward to curl the free kick into the bottom corner.

On the stroke of half-time Trafford carelessly gifted Flixton the equaliser when Jack Higginbottom and Ollie Culkin got into a mix up and Abdul Salim had the simplest of tap-ins.

Manager Marginson made seven changes to the Trafford line-up at the start of the second half and for long periods there was little or no goalmouth action.

The hosts gradually got on top though and on the hour a Matty Lusakueno pile-driver was superbly blocked by Allen.

Campbell Reid and Henry Brown both shot over as Flixton visibly tired and in the 75th minute Lusakueno made amends for his earlier miss when he stepped inside a Flixton defender and curled a stunning 20 yard drive into the top corner to make it 3-2.

Henry Brown waltzed past a visiting defender but fired over once more before the scoring was completed in the 82nd minute when Harrison Bickerton rounded off another incisive move with a low drive into the bottom corner from 15 yards.

A hard fought and thoroughly entertaining game came to a close with both teams emerging with great credit and re-igniting their intense but friendly rivalry in front of a large and appreciative crowd of 679.