The last league game of the 2014-15 campaign was upon us and the team were up against second in the league Newton Aycliffe who had already booked themselves a place in the county cup final so we knew they were one of the best north east teams around.
With the squad being depleted due to injury and players other wised engaged Sacriston only had 15 players with two of them on the bench injured but would help out if needed.
With Hilton away scoring for Durham it was down to Martin Hubber and Marc Hall to be in charge for the day and selection was very easy. With the players available Sacriston had to revert back to 4-4-2 for the day and was probably a good idea how narrow the Newton Aycliffe pitch was, the pitch was also like concrete and was very bare so judging the bounce the players knew would be impossible.
Both sides had a fair share of position but it was the home side who were creating the better chances, after 20 minutes the Aycliffe forward was heading away from goal with Solan needlessly fouled the player in the box and the referee had no other choice but to award a penalty. Thankfully for Sacriston the Aycliffe forward hit the post and Sacriston were let off.
There next best chance fell five minutes later when Potts made a double save, first of all saving one handed to his left, with Sacriston unable to clear the danger another shot came from 15 yards out which Potts managed to tip over the bar.
The best chance for Sacriston came with 5 minutes of the half remaining when Harrison found himself one on one and hit the ball straight at the keeper from 12 yards out and followed up the rebound placing his shot wide.
The second half saw Aycliffe having more of the ball but Sacriston defended excellent with Potts being only troubled once from a header from 8 yards out which he managed to tip behind. Draper and O’Brien were excellent at the back winning the dual with the tricky forward.
With the game nearing the end Sacriston had an excellent shout for a penalty when Gary Draper was fouled in the area, but the referee waved away the protests and it was to pay dear.
With five minutes remaining Aycliffe sent a long ball over the Sacriston back line with Potts coming off his line and the Aycliffe forward just getting to the ball first and knocked it past him and set up a easy finish for the on rushing forward to score from 6 yards out. It was a cruel blow for Sacriston to take having defended so well. Aycliffe did score again with the last kick of the game scoring from 20 yards out to leave Sacriston disappointed in not picking up a well-deserved point.
The last game of the season sees Sacriston play Pelton ROAB in the Heart foundation cup in three weeks, on Sunday 10th May at 11am held at Spennymoor Towns ground.
