Lancaster City defeated in Lancashire derby despite good performance

Lancaster City were beaten 2-1 by Lancashire rivals Bamber Bridge on Easter Monday.

First half goals from Finlay Cross-Adair and Paul Dawson got the win for the home side before Nic Evangelinos halved the deficit after the break.

Bamber Bridge sealed a NPL Premier Division playoff spot with the win and now aim to finish the season as the best of the rest after South Shields secured the only automatic promotion spot on Monday.

The Dollies started the game well with a couple of goalscoring opportunities, but Nathan Woodthorpe and Brad Carroll couldn’t get their respective shots on target.

Rudy Misambo saw his headed effort at the back post from a corner go just wide.

Aaron Skinner troubled the visitors’ box with a dangerous cross that Sam Waller had to be alert to, only pushing it away as far as Cross-Adair whose heavy touch sent it out for a goal kick.

Cross Adair did get on the scoresheet two minutes later. The ball reached him after a nice passage of play by the hosts and he hit the ball powerfully from the edge of the box that went beyond Waller.

Nic Evangelinos was denied by Felix Goddard in the Bamber Bridge net after Charlie Bailey fed him through as City looked to get a quick equaliser.

However; the home side’s lead was doubled just under ten minutes later, with Paul Dawson meeting Aaron Skinner’s corner delivery and heading it home.

Cross-Adair could have bagged a brace but his effort from a Fin Sinclair-Smith cross went wide.

Waller made a fine stop after the break to deny Sinclair-Smith a goal that would’ve killed off the game.

Moments later, Lancaster had a free kick from the right. Nic Evangelinos received the ball and struck a powerful volley which Goddard had no chance of saving to get Lancaster’s second wonder-strike in the space of four days.

Cross-Adair had another attempt at goal but Waller denied him from a tight angle.

Lancaster put pressure on the hosts’ defence in the final half an hour but barely troubled Goddard.

Dollies boss Mark Fell was frustrated with how his side conceded the two goals.

“They haven’t had a shot for 25 minutes, we’ve managed them really well and then we make a mistake," he said.

"It’s horrendous, the mistake we make – not just one mistake, two mistakes – when you’ve been having real joy opening a channel up and then we inexplicably decide to do something different.

“We make a mistake, a loose pass, a ball shut down, three defenders stood like statues, one [Bamber Bridge player] runs in behind and scores. The marking on the second goal is a disgrace.”

Fell went on to say that the side’s eventual finishing position at the end of the season, which will likely be upper mid table, is “not representative of the side that we are” and “we should be miles higher”.

Lancaster’s final two games of the season are away to Ashton United on Saturday (April 15) and at home to Guiseley on April 22.