This was a bitter sweet day for me because after 10 seasons I have decided to call it a day as the manager of Sacriston Cricket Club FC. I have handed over the reins to the new management team who are Anthony Embleton as manager & Eric Metcalfe as his assistant. It was an emotional day for me and the club but thankfully the team responded and won the match which enabled me to leave the club sitting top of the premier league with 10 points from the first 5 games and still in all of the cup competitions. This was exactly where I dreamed we would be when we started so I would like to take this chance to wish Anthony, Eric and my wonderful secretary Marc Hall who played brilliantly on the day all the best for the future and keep the club challenging for trophies. I would also like to thank every player that ever wore the Cricket Club jersey for all the effort the players put in for the team over the years. We shared some wonderful memories and had great fun in building up the team. I would also like to thank Mark Davison because without his excellent work at the very beginning this team would not have been able to function and also Martin Hubber who has always been a great unbiased sounding board to me as my assistant and he stepped in to manage the side on numerous occasions over the years when I wasn’t available.
Match Report
The 1st half of this match was very scrappy and lacked goalmouth action although the effort was there for all to see from both teams. Sacriston put a couple of decent moves together during the first half without ever really troubling the Brandon keeper.
Brandon took the lead on 13 minutes when a free kick was played into the box and the Brandon player found himself in acres of space somehow at the back post and he finished easily. Brandon went close to making it 2-0 on 40 minutes when a cross found the head of a Brandon player at the back post and his effort came back of the post.
The new management team decided a change in shape and personnel was necessary at half time with Andrew Collinson coming on for Andrew Solan & early in the 2nd half James Thornton came on for Gavin McCormack. The changes took a while for the lads to get used to but as the match wore on in the 2nd half Sacriston started to get a foothold in midfield and we were starting to get much more possession.
The game started to turn in Segga’s favour on 69 minutes when a brilliant one two between Collinson & Ward allowed Ward to get in behind the Brandon defence and he adjusted his feet beautifully to place his right footed shot into the top right hand corner of the net.
For the next few minutes it was Sacriston who came surging forward in search of the winning goal. The 2nd goal came on 78 minutes when the whole team pressed up high which resulted in a rushed clearance from a back pass by the Brandon keeper who could only scuff his kick straight to the feet of Ward who all of a sudden found himself with all the time and space in the world to carry the ball towards goal before finishing beautifully to make it 2-1.
Brandon then on 81 minutes had their chance to get level when their forward latched on to a through ball and found himself one on one with Hall in the Segga goal and it looked for all the world he was going to score but from close range Hall somehow managed to dive to his left and make a brilliant save to keep us in the lead. This saved seemed to kill Brandon’s spirit and lift Sacriston’s.
Brandon had one more opportunity when an attempted headed back pass by Race fell just short of Hall in the Segga goal as he and the Brandon forward collided in an attempt to get to the ball but a goal kick was given.
Then with 3 minutes remaining Sacriston made the game and the points safe when Andrew Collinson’s attempted volley rebounded into the path of John Harrison who then struck a superb shot on the angle from the right hand side of the box straight across the keeper into the opposite corner of the net.
Sacriston ran down the clock well in the remaining minutes keeping possession high up the field to ensure the win. We didn’t play as fluently as we have in our last two games but showed strong resolve to come from behind to win the game. Our finishing was superb and this was the difference on the day and it completed 3 league wins in 7 days.
Well done lads!
