The first thing to say about this match from a Sacriston point of view is that this performance and the players attitude to the game was a million times better than the effort that was put in the week before at Houghton.
Shortly after the match two overall feelings were very present. One was of immense pride in the effort we put into this match and the quality of football we produced with so many players missing again the lads put in a tremendous effort. The other was of sheer numbness in shock and disbelief that we somehow managed to concede 3 goals in 4 minutes to go from winning 4-1 to finish the game with only a point at 4-4. Apart from the 3rd goal that Brandon scored where we could and maybe should have defended that situation better it is hard to put your finger on how and why it happened. It is difficult to have a go at my own team when they played so well for the first 87 minutes of the game but it really is devastating for this to happen considering the effort that went into getting the team into that winning position in the first place. Fair play to Brandon though they didn’t gave the game up and kept going right to the final whistle.
Now I will try and recall the action that took place during the match.
Brandon had the majority of possession and territory during the first half but didn’t create too many chances as the Sacriston defence stood firm. Andy Morris did have a good chance for Brandon early on with a header from close range but Potts made the save. Potts made one other good saving during the first half saving a shot low down to his right. Brandon put lots of crosses into the box and flooded the penalty area with bodies and with Blades particularly early on looking very dangerous on the left hand side but couldn’t break Sacriston down and they were clearly getting frustrated. Sacriston did have moments of joy themselves though and with John Harrison leading the line superbly Sacriston was able to retain possession with McCormack looking to get on to every flick.
It was from this route that Sacriston on 41 minutes scored the first goal of the game when McCormack ran on to Harrison’s flick down the left hand channel before firing a left footed shot towards the near corner which went underneath the Brandon keepers body and into the net.
Then two minutes later Sacriston doubled their lead when Brandon committed to many men forward and there last man in defence was brilliantly dispossessed by Grant Boyd’s thunderous tackle and he ran on with the ball and suddenly found himself one on one with the Brandon keeper who did well to save his initial shot but John Harrison did brilliantly in support to retrieve the situation he held on to the ball before finding some space to have a shot which was well saved but McCormack was there on the spot to head in the rebound at the far post.
This gave Sacriston a 2-0 lead and something to hold on to when playing up the slight bank in the 2nd half. Sacriston for the first 5 minutes started well again but wasted a couple of promising situations.
Then for the next 10 minutes Brandon started to apply the pressure and Sacriston were defending deeper and deeper and were finding it difficult to get out. The pressure told on the hour mark when Andy Morris found a bit of space in the box and his right footed shot found the bottom corner to make it 2-1 with half an hour to go.
Then on 65 minutes Sacriston got a slice of luck when one of the Brandon forwards did well in evading a couple of tackles before being fouled by Grant Boyd. The foul was given as a free kick on the edge of the penalty box by the referee but it was committed just inside the box and the resulting free kick this time thankfully came to nothing. However we were to pay a higher price for this piece of good fortune later in the match when it really counted.
For the next 10 minutes or so for the first time in the match Sacriston were really rocking and we just couldn’t keep the ball long enough to give ourselves a break and the lack of match fitness in some of our players was just starting to tell. One of the injured players on the side line Gary Draper along with Martin Hubber & Mick Mellor came up with the idea to switch the side around a little and in particular to get Andrew Solan into the central midfield area which worked a treat because he was winning the ball higher up the field and giving the defence a bit of a break.
Then after weathering the Brandon storm on 71 minutes Sacriston scored again. Stuart Fenton did well in getting a decent cross into the box where McCormack was waiting to pounce and he finished brilliantly at the near post with a left footed shot to make it 3-1.
James Thornton who had played excellently all game was substituted on 71 minutes after playing with an injury during the game for quite a while for Greg Coates.
Potts in the Sacriston goal then came off his line quickly to make a great save at the feet of a Brandon forward.
Sacriston looked to have finally made the game safe with 10 minutes to go when Greg Coates’ excellent pass sent Gavin McCormack away again and he did brilliantly to run at the final Brandon defender before cutting inside him and firing in a low right footed shot into the bottom left hand corner of the net to make it 4-1.
This looked to have killed Brandon off and in the next 5 minutes of play there was no real sign of what was to come because Sacriston were looking comfortable and had enough possession to be in control of the situation and see the game out to complete what would have been a well deserved victory. How wrong that proved to be!
Late on in the 87th minute a cross was met by Steven Parnaby who had come on as a second off substitute for Brandon but he was clearly in an offside position. This really angered me because it wasn’t even close and the referee maybe in his sub-conscience thought it wouldn’t matter anyway because by now he was getting hounded about every decision from the Brandon players.
This was just the sniff Brandon needed and from kick off we gave the ball away cheaply then Brandon got it down the other end quickly and one of their players tried a hopeful looping cross/shot from the edge of the box which Potts in the Sacriston goal tipped over the bar for a corner. From that corner the ball was glanced into the net at the near post by the head of Parnaby again who was left unmarked. This was a bad goal to give away and if we had defended that set piece like we had the previous 15 in the match we would have won.
There was only seconds remaining when from around 30 yards out Karl Turner went down from a challenge from Sean Gregory and the referee gave a very soft free kick decision against Sacriston. There was very little if any contact and certainly not enough to give a free kick but yet again the referee caved in to the Brandon shouts. What happened next though they could be no doubt about? With the last kick of the game Turner struck the perfect free kick right footed with pace right into the top right hand corner of the net to rescue an unlikely point for his side.
Being a particularly great friend of mine I found it very hard to take personally but it was a tremendous goal. I just felt so sorry for our players who to a man had put in a fantastic effort throughout but we are finding out that at this level the game is never over and we must learn from this experience and put it right when this situation comes up again which it will.
The final outcome was particularly harsh on Gavin McCormack who scored all 4 of our goals in this match and he took his tally for the season to 11 which is great considering it is his first season with us and he has been a tremendous signing for the club. His performance was in the top 3 of all time at Sacriston.
It wasn’t just his goals it was his approach play and work rate which really caught the eye. He was just everywhere. He also is now sporting a lovely shiner for his efforts after being elbowed during the course of the game.
Great credit must go to Brandon because even though I feel that they were fortunate to get some decisions go their way at the end which contributed towards the momentum of the game changing they never gave up and once they smelt blood they went for the kill and never let up on us in those dying minutes.
We must now take stock and get ready for the round of last 16 Heart Foundation Cup Match at home to Tudhoe United next Sunday.
