Bold Miners secured their first point of the league season with a hard-fought 2-2 draw away at Whittle Hall. This marked their first away game of the campaign, played at Carmel College in St Helens.
The game featured a debut for Charles Lea at left-back, while Jamie Knowles, typically a midfielder, stood in as goalkeeper for the unavailable Paul Strickland.
The match began positively for Bold Miners, who took the lead 15 minutes in. A free-kick from the halfway line was expertly chested into the path of Gareth Griffiths by Ryan Gregory, and Griffiths struck a sublime volley which looped over the Whittle Hall keeper.
Whittle Hall equalized 10 minutes later due to a defensive mishap. James Hynes lost possession, leading to a hopeful long ball into the box. The ball deflected off Carl Chisnall’s head, wrong-footing Knowles, who had come to collect it, and bounced into the net.
Early in the second half, Jake Wilson replaced James Hynes. On the hour mark, Kieran McKelvie and Moses Appiah, making his first league appearance of the season, came on for Charles Lea and Gareth Griffiths, respectively.
Bold Miners regained the lead shortly after the substitutions. Euan McArthur played Jake Wilson in down the right, and Wilson’s cut-back found Ryan Gregory, who poked home his second goal of the season.
The lead was short-lived as Whittle Hall pressed, doubling up on left-back McKelvie. A looping cross towards the far post saw Knowles hesitate before changing his mind and backtracking, but he was unable to keep out Carlos Costa’s header.
Bold Miners missed several big chances towards the end, including a clear 1-on-1 opportunity for Gregory, who hit his shot straight at the keeper. The team remained dominant towards full-time, flooding the box for a series of late throw-ins and free-kicks, but were unable to find a winner.
Despite the missed opportunities, the point moved Bold Miners up to 12th in the table. However, they are still without a win in the league this season. They face an away trip to Division 2’s Pex Hill in the Depot Cup next week, hoping to build on this performance.
