For the 3rd time in 4 weeks the Sacriston squad was reduced to only 12 regular players but again the lads who did play showed Great Spirit and put on a tremendous display in this match. We only had 1 recognised defender and had 5 forwards in the starting 11 but the lads just got on with it and adapted to the situation superbly.
The match was played on an immaculate playing surface on the pitches behind the Riverside Athletics Stadium and I would go as far to say that it was the best surface I have ever seen the team play on and our lads loved it.
The game could have taken an unwanted different direction if the Chester Hilda Park forward had taken his chance on 2 minutes but his attempted lob was well saved by Potts in the Sacriston goal who anticipated the forwards thinking superbly.
Sacriston from this point started to take control of the game and took the lead on 8 minutes when Graeme Embleton’s brilliant in swinging free kick was met by the glancing head of Anthony Ward whose header nestled beautifully in the top corner of the net.
Ward then had a great chance to score again after great work from the two Coates resulted in him having a chance to shoot from 10 yards out but he couldn’t keep his shot down under some pressure from the Hilda Park defenders.
Then on 22 minutes Greg Coates did brilliantly to get through and he nut megged the Hilda Park goalkeeper before clearly being brought down which should have resulted in a penalty and a red card for the goalkeeper for stopping a clear goal scoring opportunity. Somehow the referee did not see it which was very disappointing but thankfully it didn’t alter the final outcome of the match in the end.
After a sustained spell of pressure Sacriston did get their second goal when Ward’s deflected shot fell into the path of Greg Coates who finished well with a right footed shot from a tight angle at the far post.
Hilda Park only needed 3 minutes to get back into the game when James Thornton gave away a free kick out wide on the Hilda Park right hand side. The resulting free kick was whipped in by Yip left footed and his cross was superb played in with pace and it ended up going into the far corner of the net without a touch on it. It was a very difficult ball to defend but it was still a disappointing goal to concede.
The game by now was very open with both teams going forward and playing in a positive manner much like in the way a basketball match would be. Sacriston re-claimed their 2 goal lead on 35 minutes when Craig Coates who was having an excellent match on debut harassed the Hilda Park defence into giving the ball away before taking it into the box and expertly chipping the ball over the on rushing keeper into the middle of the net to make it 3-1.
The game was becoming to open for my liking so Rob Draper came on at half time to replace Jacob Horner. He did a great job in central midfield in making sure we weren’t as open to the midfield runners that were getting in behind us in the first half. Anthony Ward moved to right back where he ran amok for large periods of the 2nd half with his excellent direct running and dribbling skills with the ball.
Sacriston started the 2nd half well and on 48 minutes scored the best all round team goal of our season so far. After some lovely one and two touch passing involving most of the team Graeme Embleton got the ball in an advanced midfield position before cleverly lifting a pass over the Hilda Park defenders head which found the feet of Gavin McCormack who took the ball on the run before curling a left footed finish into the bottom left hand corner of the net. It was a tremendous finish to a great team move.
Greg Coates was taken off after 60 minutes after playing really well with Jacob Horner returning to play on the right hand side with McCormack initially going up front before then swapping with Grayson later on in the match.
The Hilda Park midfield and strikers Yip and Cuthbertson were still offering a serious threat going forward so I still didn’t feel that the game was safe and on 64 minutes a through ball cut out our entire defence and although Potts initially forced the Hilda Park forward wide he still managed to manoeuvre himself into a position to shoot and he finished well at the 2nd attempt after having his initial shot saved finding the net with a well taken shot despite the best efforts of the returning Sacriston defenders on the line.
Gavin McCormack could have scored almost immediately from the re-start when Craig Coates did brilliantly in crossing the ball to him from the left but McCormack had slightly ran ahead of the ball and couldn’t re-adjust his body position in time to apply the finish with an open goal at his mercy.
On 71 minutes Anthony Ward went rampaging down the right wing before crossing perfectly to the back post where Ryan Grayson was waiting but he couldn’t find the target with his header.
Sacriston finally made the game safe on 73 minutes when Craig Coates did brilliantly to anticipate the Hilda Park defenders attempted headed back pass and he nipped in before the keeper before taking the ball round him and passing the ball left footed into the empty net to make it 5-2.
From this point on Chester Hilda Park didn’t offer much of a threat going forward and Sacriston continued to create chances almost at will and Craig Coates would have capped a superb debut performance with a hatrick goal on 89 minutes but the Hilda Park keeper did well to make a good save from his shot. The final whistle went shortly afterwards.
Craig Coates was the man of the match today and his all round attitude and good play rubbed off on the other players and he was a joy to watch he linked up play superbly and took his goals well just at the time the team needed it the most.
Sacriston were superb going forward and we had lots of pace and energy in the forward areas which enabled us to create many chances but the lads in defence were also fantastic. Grant Boyd moved inside to play centre half with Danny O’Brien and you would have thought he had played there all his life. James Thornton put in a tremendous whole hearted display at left back and particularly in the first half provided a great outlet often starting the teams’ attacks with clever passing and good movement down the line.
Gavin McCormack also played very well and this was a team performance I was particularly pleased with and I actually really enjoyed watching us play today.
Well done lads now we need to make sure we put the same level of attitude and performance into the game at Houghton Chilton Lodge in the league cup quarter final next Sunday.
