The first half of this match was a very drab affair with very little goalmouth action. Sacriston’s passing wasn’t great with countless moves breaking down and with Chester defending deep early on the game saw little excitement.
Thankfully both teams came out more in the 2nd half and the tempo of the game changed with Sacriston looking to get on the front foot and went close with a Sean Gregory header from a corner which was cleared off the line. Chester also created a couple of decent chances early in the 2nd half with the right winger the number 8 looking particularly lively.
Sacriston made 2 changes in forward areas in an effort to liven up the attack with Anthony Ward & Ryan Grayson coming on for Greg Coates & Sean Gregory.
Then finally on 59 minutes Graeme Embleton’s cross from deep into the far post was met from close range by McCormack who finished well to make it 1-0. Chester came back strong and after a little spell of pressure equalized on 65 minutes. Sacriston made 3 attempts to clear the ball out of danger but couldn’t and then a great cross from the right went across the box to the far post where the number 9 had a simple tap in.
At this point it was anybody’s game and both teams went hard looking for the winner. The game went to 88 minutes before Sacriston re-took the lead when Rob Draper strode forward from defence and put a ball into the box where Gavin McCormack did brilliantly to bring it under control and turn in the box before firing his shot into the net to make it 2-1.
Even then Chester came back strong and forced a corner in injury time even bringing the goalkeeper up for it but after failing to get an effort on goal Sacriston did well to break out with pace and Ward flicked the ball into the path of Gary Draper who carried the ball into the box before calmly placing his shot into the bottom left hand corner of the net to make the game safe at 3-1.
Fair play to Chester Garden Farm they were a well organised team and never gave up and made life very difficult for Sacriston at times and it took 2 well taken goals late on to decide the outcome. Sacriston were not at their best but found a way to win the game. McCormack was excellent throughout and Rob Draper drove the team forward even from his position at centre half in the later stages of the 2nd half.
Anthony Ward gave the team an extra attacking edge when he came on and Andrew Solan had a very good game again at right wing back with only the final ball missing from his play.
Overall a job well done in the end!
