Both teams were missing several players for this season’s opening fixture but the game was entertaining enough and as always between these two sides very close again.
Brandon won a penalty on 15 minutes when Marc Bladen stepped up attempting to play the Brandon forward Mickey Fort offside but the flag stayed down and although Bladen did get back at Fort in a last ditch attempt to make up for it he ended up fouling him inside the box. Karl Turner confidently stroked the penalty into the bottom left hand corner of the net to make it 1-0 Brandon.
Bladen went off injured just minutes later with Matty Rudge coming on in his place with Rob Draper going back to partner O’Brien in defence. I am sure the injury had a part to play in Bladen’s decision to play offside because when fit he and I would back him to run back and catch most attackers.
Sacriston came back strong however and played some really good football for the rest of the first half. Sacriston were level on 24 minutes when Grant Boyd’s free kick was headed out to just outside the penalty box where Jack Brennan was waiting and he struck his right foot volley beautifully straight into the bottom right hand corner of the net to make it 1-1.
Not long after this Brandon had a loud penalty appeal turned down when Fort again went down in the box but this one was not given. However Sacriston finished the first half much the stronger side and with Harrison bossing things up front we found plenty of opportunities to test the Brandon back line.
On the stroke of half time an uncharacteristic error from Gav Mudd at the back with a back pass which was way too short to his keeper allowed Greg Coates the chance to get in on goal but the ball wouldn’t sit down for him but he still managed to get into the box before Mudd got back at him bundling him over for what looked a certain penalty but the referee waved play on again.
Coates got free again moments later down the right hand side before attempting a brilliant lob over the Brandon keepers head which was goal bound but the effort didn’t quite have enough pace on it and this allowed the Brandon defender to get back just in time and clear the ball off the line.
During the first half Sacriston were playing up the hill and into the wind so we thought the hard work had been done but our fitness levels and performance levels for the first 30 minutes of the 2nd half dropped significantly and this allowed Brandon to get ahead in the game.
On 51 minutes Grant Boyd was blatantly fouled when attempting to clear a ball from his left back position which in turn lead to a free kick being given away by Sacriston’s Jacob Horner again on Mickey Fort who went down easily when not even touched. To compound the situation he then took the free kick which was wickedly played in between Lee in the Sacriston goal & the defence and despite Andrew Solan’s best attempts he couldn’t prevent the ball going into the net.
Sacriston lost much of their attacking edge on 55 minutes when Greg Coates came off who had been a real threat in the game up until then. Brandon had much the better of the game in the early 2nd half period as Sacriston’s passing went to pieces and Harrison who had been so brilliant in the first half almost faded out of the game until up until the last 15 minutes. Then Sacriston went with 3 up front in a brave attempt to get back in the game and were very unlucky not to score and take at least a point out of the game.
Harrison and Straughair both missed good heading opportunities from excellent Jack Brennan crosses from the right hand side. Brennan was outstanding on the day and his never say die attitude and work rate nearly got us something out of the game. Graeme Embleton went really close with a free kick on 87 minutes but his effort went just wide.
We were battering Brandon by now but couldn’t get the goal. A long throw caused mayhem inside the penalty area and the ball eventually fell towards the back post where O’Brien had a fantastic chance but he skied his effort miles over the bar when well placed. The last few minutes Sacriston threw everything at Brandon and it all came to a crescendo when John Lee came up from his position in goal for a corner which was well whipped in by Embleton, Lee got a head on the ball which led to an almighty goalmouth scramble with the ball buzzing around the 6 yard box like a pin ball but in the end Karl Turner came away with the ball for Brandon and as he got towards the half way line our last line of defence Andrew Solan came across and took him out with a wild challenge to prevent him going any further. He was booked for the challenge and rightly so the challenge had to be made because Turner was nearly away with a clear run on goal but maybe he went in a little too hard.
The final whistle was blown shortly afterwards to conclude an entertaining match.
