Two goals in the opening six minutes, from Ryan Cox and James Robinson, set AFC Liverpool on their way to victory against Bacup & Rossendale Borough, a result which was confirmed when Nathan Valentine added a third deep into the second half.

After seeing their team put nine past St Helens Town seven days earlier, AFC Liverpool’s fans might have been expecting more of the same when Cox put their side ahead with just two minutes on the clock. Nevil Picton won the ball in the middle of the park and initially appeared to have freed Cox to bear down on Bacup’s goal unchallenged but the opportunity appeared to have gotten away from the Reds’ leading goalscorer as the ball got caught up in his stride and defenders closed him down. However, such is the confidence of the striker at the moment, that Cox merely readjusted his body shape to unleash a low twenty five yard drive that beat the outstretched form of Callum Jakolevs and squeezed in off the upright.

Just two minutes later Cox had another half chance when Muktar Mahama’s cross came through to him at the back post but from a tight angle he couldn’t poke the ball past Bacup’s keeper.

Two minutes after that though, the visitors did find themselves falling further behind as Robinson determination and persistence paid off. Running onto Michael Girvan’s pass down the right flank, Robinson looked to roll Nathan Tayo to the bye-line but lost out to the central defender. The Reds’ striker didn’t give up though and chased down Tayo, blocking his attempted clearance and the ball fell so perfectly for Robinson that he merely needed to poke the ball past Jakolevs from five yards out.

The blistering start by the home side didn’t end there though as Robinson was upended just outside Bacup’s box and Steven Williams was only denied from finding the top corner from the free kick by a fine save from Jakolevs. From the resulting corner, Bacup’s keeper was once again called upon, this time to tip over Jack Sinnott’s looping header.

The pace relented a little and the passing became a little less crisp as the half wore on but still the home side came close to adding to their tally as Martin Cosgrave’s block on the line denied Williams while Jakolevs needed to produce another fine save to turn behind Robinson’s deflected effort.

After the break, the Reds were a little slow in getting back into the match, which aided Bacup’s response as Shaun Plummer fired just wide from twenty yards while David Jones bore down on goal only to be denied at the last by Ryan Jones. The a forceful burst from the centre of the park by Omar McKenzie ended rather tamely with Plummer’s near post shot a rountie save for the Reds’ keeper.

That though was the extent of Bacup’s threat and AFC Liverpool reasserted themselves upon the game. Picton drove a twenty five yard strike just over the top corner while Maham brought a near post save from Jakloves before Valentine sealed the match with his first for the club, converting Williams’ driven corner with a fine volley into the top corner.

AFC Liverpool 3-0 Bacup & Rossendale Borough
Cox 2′
Robinson 6′
Valentine 74′

Attendance: 106

AFC Liverpool: 1.Ryan Jones 2.Michael Girvan 3.Muktar Mahama 4.Jack Sinnott © 5.Ionut Cuciorva (16.Darren Torpey 62′) 6.Nevil Picton 7.Steven Williams 8.Nathan Valentine 9.James Robinson (14.Ronnie Morgan 73′) 10.Francis Barry (18.Sean Calland 85′) 11.Ryan Cox
Unused Subs: 15.James Buckley 17.Elvis Banyihwabe
Bacup & Rossendale Borough: 1.Callum Jakolevs 2.Martin Cosgrave (15.Sam Crook 50′) 3.Luke Morgan 4.Usman Zubar 5.Nathan Tayo 6.Calvin Crooks 7.Omar McKenzie 8.Tom Currie 9.Shaun Plummer (14.Jacob Wright 75′) 10.Wayne Morgan (16.David Jones 42′) 11.Matthew Bryan ©
Unused Sub: 12.Michael Brown