Man Met FC 1’s crowned league champions
- Man Met firsts secure promotion to the Men's Northern Tier two with a 6-0 win over Liverpool Hope firsts
- Goals from Mark Faflik, Tom Richardson, Aadi Luck and Hamza Abuzar
- Man Met FC seal their first promotion since 2014
Man Met FC firsts have won the Men’s Northern Tier 3 title with two games remaining of the season.
Gareth Smith’s men clinched the title with a 6-0 home win at Platt Lane against Liverpool Hope first team.
The win means Man Met will now compete in the Men’s Northern Tier 2 next season. The promotion is the first for the club in over seven years.
The now league champions went into the game needing only one point to be sure of promotion.
Two goals for both Mark Faflik and Captain, Tom Richardson meant MMU went into the break 4-0 up.
A further two goals in the second half secured the win with Aadi Luck and Hamza Abuzar also getting their names on the score sheet.
MMU had the perfect start and were awarded a penalty within the first 60 seconds of the match. Winger Mark Faflik placed the ball in the bottom left corner and made it 1-0 from the spot.
From here Man Met took complete control of the match and found their second goal in the 18th minute.
Carr laid off a perfect ball to Tom Richardson who hit a bullet into the bottom left corner from just outside the box. The Liverpool Hope keeper had no chance and MMU were 2-0 up.
With one hand on the title already, the boys in blue and orange had the chance to kill the game off inside 30 minutes as the referee pointed to the spot yet again.
This time Mark Faflik’s penalty was saved, but luckily his teammate and Captain, Tom Richardson found a striker’s instinct and followed up the rebound to make it 3-0.
The coach and supporters looked on in amazement as the defensive midfielder scored his fourth goal in two games.
Liverpool Hope were finding no joy as a solid defensive performance from the hosts kept them quiet.
However, down the other end Man Met continued to pull Liverpool Hope apart and made it 4-0 before half time.
A spilled ball by the keeper allowed Luca Radojevic to give Faflik a chance at redeeming his earlier penalty miss. This time the inform number seven made no mistake and smashed the ball into the top right corner to all but secure the title before the break.
The second half saw a much more reserved performance by MMU as they remained composed.
However, despite the drop in intensity Man Met continued to show their class. This time a well-worked set piece put the game out of sight.
A free kick from just outside the box saw Faflik chip a ball towards the head of Nathan Baker who lurked at the far post. The midfielder expertly cushioned the ball back across goal and welcomed the shot by centre back, Aadi Luck who passed it into the net making it 5-0 in the 79th minute.
Finally, a brilliant use of tactics by the manager saw both substitutes, Charlie Curtis and Hamza Abuzar link up to put the final nail in the coffin. Curtis unselfishly squared it to Abuzar who had an easy job of finishing it to make it 6-0 to Man Met and crowning them champions.
Listen to NQ’s post-match reaction with Manager Gareth Smith and Captain Tom Richardson below:
The champions next fixture is yet again at home against Bangor first team in a couple of weeks’ time. Man Met will be hoping to end the season with an unbeaten record provided they win/draw their last two games of the season.
- All credits for photography go to Ben Stiff. Check out his website here.