Lancaster City 1 Winsford United 1 CITY travel to Worksop Town on Saturday in the FA Umbro Trophy with their fans wondering where the goals are going to come from. The Blues took the field at Giant Axe against Winsford United on Tuesday night with no manager on the sidelines and no recognised striker on the pitch. Caretaker boss Mick Hoyle was left with selection problems up front for his first game in charge with John Coleman no longer at the club, Stuart Diggle still out injured and Peter Borrowdale at work.

That meant they lined up with wingers Mark Shirley and Stuart Gelling the furthest men forward as a diminutive strike force line but they still managed to stop the rot and pick up their first point in four league games.

In fact, Lancaster could and should have taken all three from a Winsford side short on ideas and midfield grit after going in front in the 19th minute.

Mark Shirley whipped a corner in from the right, John Bagnall in the Winsford net was beaten to the flick-on and Robbie Armstrong slammed the loose ball into the back of the net.

But the Blues fell victim to the quick reply yet again - this time from a Darren Lyons free-kick just five minutes later. The Winsford winger curled a 25-yarder over the Lancaster wall and into the corner of the net before Mark Thornley could even move.

There were few clear chances for either side during a poor period either side of half-time. City's best spell came in the last 20 minutes when they attacked Winsford from all angles without finding the killer touch.

The best chance of the second half fell to Jay Flannery with 15 minutes left on the clock. The Lancaster midfielder made a great run through the middle to get on the end of Mark Shirley's pass after a great move but he just couldn't keep his effort down as he stretched in the box.

TEAM: Thornley, Tomlinson, Armstrong, McNeilis, Stimpson, Macauley, Trainor, Lodge, Flannery, Gelling, Shirley. SUBS: Chilton, Marshall, Phillips. It's third time unlucky for Blues Emley 3 Lancaster City 1 LANCASTER surrendered an early lead and were battled out of this game to record their third successive league defeat at Giant Axe on Saturday.

Peter Borrowdale, often ploughing a lone furrow up front, gave City the lead after just six minutes when he rose well to nod home Barrie Stimpson's excellent free-kick.

But the powerful Emley side, containing the Unibond Premier League's top scorer Deniol Graham, made the most of their long-ball tactics against a Lancaster back-line missing central defenders Tony Key and Steve Hartley.

In the 16th minute former Manchester United man Graham was released by John Francis and he showed his class by placing the ball past Mark Thornley.

The visitors were in front two minutes later when referee David Commins decided that Thornley had brought down Emley striker Mark Wilson in the box with the rest of Giant Axe amazed. Graham scored the rebound after the City 'keeper had saved his first effort from the spot. City worked hard but threatened little for the rest of the game and Emley sealed the points with just six minutes left on the clock when Michael Reynolds sprinted clear, rounded Thornley and tucked it away.

TEAM: Thornley, Macauley, Armstrong, Flannery, McNeilis, Stimpson, Trainor, Lodge, Borrowdale, Coleman, Shirley. SUBS: Chilton, Gelling, Tomlinson.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.