After playing against New Durham for the 6th time this year it was nice to finally beat them convincingly in 90 minutes and we did so by displaying a really good all round team performance.
Despite having several players unavailable we did still manage to play very well and we had all the play during the first 25 minutes despite playing against a strong wind. New Durham was restricted to long range shots and long throw ins to scrap for into our box.
Then against the run of play New Durham won a penalty when Michael Frazer was adjudged to have brought down the New Durham player in the box who had done well with a tricky run. Bryan Potts did well in the Sacriston goal and saved the penalty. You could almost sense the change in the shape of the game in that moment and 2 minutes later Sacriston took the lead. Gary Draper’s excellent in swinging corner was met at the back post by Danny O’Brien who powerfully headed the ball from 8 yards out into the net, a simple but very well uted goal.
Sacriston continued to press hard and created some good chances for the rest of the first half but couldn’t force the 2nd goal.
Sacriston started the 2nd half well and made it 2-0 on 47 minutes when Chris Wood’s flick on was picked up by Ryan Grayson and he finished superbly waiting for the keeper to make a move before chipping the ball over him into the net to make it 3 goals in 3 games since he signed for us and his movement along with Wood and Ward was causing the New Durham defence problems all game long.
Sacriston made it 3-0 on 62 minutes when a cross was put into the box and the New Durham keeper seemed to have control of the ball but under pressure from Draper he fumbled the ball and Ward was there to apply the simple finish.
Fair play to New Durham they didn’t give up and at times caused us some problems in the last 20 minutes but Sacriston still looked dangerous going forward and created several more opportunities to score more goals. Yates replaced Wood on 65 minutes and he had a real chance when put through by the other substitute Coates who had replaced Grayson but he lifted his shot just over the bar with the New Durham keeper close in attendance coming of his line trying to close him down.
It was nice to finally watch a game with 5 minutes to go in the knowledge that your team were safe for a change and we did well to make sure we kept a clean sheet.
This was an outstanding all round team performance but 2 players were just magnificent. Gary Draper was everywhere and his all round performance gave the team defensive stability and a real attacking threat from deep areas with his passing ability. He won almost every header and it was testament to his set piece taking skills that Graeme Embleton’s absence in this area wasn’t missed. His fitness levels are remarkable and several times during the game it looked as if a New Durham player was breaking through from midfield but from nowhere Draper always got there to stop them in their tracks.
The captain Danny O’Brien was man of the match though and he was fantastic never losing a tackle or header all game long and he got us the lead with a superb goal to go with his brilliant all round defensive display and he along with Quinn and Frazer in defence limited New Durham to very few chances.
Even when we were losing games we were playing well and I knew our luck would change if we kept performing at that level and took control of the key moments in games and this is what we have done. We have also had several players out over the last few games and the squad as shown its strength in depth to help get us these last 2 results.
