This was a game played in very windy conditions which made playing good football very difficult at times but we adapted well to the conditions and did what we had to do in a very professional manner to come away from a very plucky New Brancpeth WMC side with a 3-0 victory.
Sacriston started well and should have been ahead on 40 seconds when Sean Gregory was put clean through one on one with the keeper but he put his shot wide. Sacriston played against a strong wind in the first half and were thankful to take the lead on 5 minutes when Graeme Embleton’s corner found Danny O’Brien at the back post who had time to take the ball down and place his shot into the net.
Sacriston looked strong defensively and we had to deal with lots of corners and long balls wind assisted but the communication between the defensive and the goalkeeper was excellent.
Sacriston nearly went 2-0 up on 30 minutes when Graeme Embleton’s free kick was met at the near post by the head of Rob Draper but his header came off the underside of the bar to deny him a well deserved goal.
Things got easier in the 2nd half playing with the wind and on 46 minutes Gavin McCormack doubled Sacriston’s lead when Graeme Embleton’s wicked right wing cross was met by McCormack’s head at the near post after he had made a great run across the defender and the ball flew into the bottom right hand corner of the net.
Sacriston made a few changes in the 2nd half which freshened the team up. We wasted some promising positions at times to make the game completely safe and a couple of times we got caught out of possession with too many players high up the field and should have paid the price but New Brancpeth wasted there opportunity twice with 2 poor final passes which allowed us to get back and clear the danger just in time.
Graeme Embleton went close again on 82 minutes when he carried the ball into the box before unleashing a fierce right footed shot which again unfortunately cannoned of the right hand post.
Then on 82 minutes Sacriston made the game safe when Ryan Grayson tapped home a close range volley at the far post following a clever cross from Gary Draper which was played with the outside of his right foot.
There wasn’t much action after that and the game finished 3-0.
Graeme Embleton was at the heart of everything for Sacriston and Rob Draper did very well in this game doing the simple things well in central midfield and he quietly kept the team ticking over. Gavin McCormack’s excellent form continued but I decided to rest him for the last 30 minutes with the Pelton game in mind on Thursday. Andrew Solan was excellent in the right back position both going forward and defending when he came on for the injured Marc Bladen. Overall another good win and performance.
