This match ended up being comfortable for Sacriston but with a 2-0 score line the game was never safe until the final moments and Gilesgate gave us lots of problems in the match particularly in the first half.
For the first time in a few weeks Sacriston had a much bigger squad to choose from. In the beginning of the match we were pressing hard on the front foot and we played with plenty of energy.
The first chance of the game came to Sacriston on 11 minutes when Graeme Embleton’s excellent corner was met by the head of Stuart Fenton who got excellent contact on the ball but James Winter made a really good save.
Then on 16 minutes the Gilesgate number 10 got on the end of a flick by Marley and struck a great volley from 20 yards out which was brilliantly saved by Hall in the Sacriston goal tipping the effort over the bar.
Then on 18 minutes after giving away a silly free kick Gilesgate had their best chance of the match. The free kick was a beauty whipped in towards our 6 yard box where Nick Marley got free but put his glancing header just wide of the post.
This was a real let off for Sacriston who after this upped their game again and got on the front foot. On 27 minutes Graeme Embleton’s free kick found Danny O’Brien at the far post and he slid in unmarked to produce a good finish to give Sacriston the lead at 1-0.
This goal seemed to settle Sacriston down and with the youthful Horner & Grayson causing havoc in the forward areas Sacriston looked likely to increase their lead. On 39 minutes Graeme Embleton set up the next chance for Sacriston when his delightful pass in the inside right channel put Ryan Grayson through but his shot was saved by James Winter in the Gilesgate goal. Then on 41 minutes Grayson did brilliantly with a powerful run into the box before shooting right footed towards the far corner but his shot unfortunately rebounded of the post.
The start of the 2nd half went much the same way. On 49 minutes John Harrison’s excellent build up play won Sacriston a free kick on the edge of the box. From that free kick Graeme Embleton struck a fierce low shot to the right hand side of the wall where Winter in the Gilesgate goal had got down low to his left but he could only get a touch on the ball as the power burst through his attempted save to keep it out.
From this point on Gilesgate didn’t really threaten the Sacriston goal but whatever Hall had to do in the Sacriston goal he did efficiently. Sacriston wasted several promising situations towards the end of the match which didn’t kill the game of but this particular 2-0 score line was as comfortable as it ever was going to be.
Sacriston made 4 subs during the 2nd half with McCormack playing for the first time in 4 weeks and he looked the liveliest of them all. Jacob Horner nearly crowned his man of the match performance from right midfield with a goal on 85 minutes. He did excellently with a powerful run into the box before letting fly with a left foot shot from around 12 yards out but Winter got across brilliantly to his right to make a terrific save to keep it to 2-0.
Horner is playing well at the moment and in this match he played with lots of energy and beat his left back countless times and did well defensively to when called upon.
The game finished shortly afterwards. This was a good all round team performance and our early good work in the game allowed us to ease off a little bit towards the end and allowed the subs to come on under little pressure. There were solid performances throughout the team. Rob Draper had a masterful game at centre half coming out with the ball every time there was a scent of danger. Graeme Embleton played well scoring and creating the 2 goals. Gary Draper played excellently in central midfield with an all action display. Stuart Fenton, Andrew Solan and Danny O’Brien were all very solid in the back four and they had good moments in the attacking third as well.
Gilesgate had their moments in the first half and Nick Marley was a real handful for the first half of the match. The game could have been very different if those chances had been taken but for me thankfully they weren’t and Sacriston went on to record a good victory. As always James Winter was excellent in the Gilesgate goal and he ensured that the goal count stayed at two.
That now gives us a quarter final tie away at Houghton Chilton Lodge on Sunday 16th November.
