Pelton RAOB 1 Sacriston Cricket Club FC 1
(Match Abandoned After 62 Minutes Due To Referee Injury)
Sunday 31st August 2014 County Cup Preliminary Round
Match Report:Mickle Goal 4 Minutes for Pelton 1-0.
Wood Goal 30 Minutes for Sacriston 1-1, assisted by Greg Coates.
Sacriston had over 10 players unavailable for this match for one reason or another including our goalkeeper and with a number of players playing out of position to keep Pelton to 1-1 after 62 minutes was a fantastic effort. Anthony Ward also got injured during the game and was replaced by our goal scorer on the day in Chris Wood which left us with the bare 11.
Confusion in the Sacriston defence between Collinson & Gary Draper led to Craig Mickle getting in and he gave Pelton the lead on 4 minutes with a well taken finish.
After this early set back Sacriston started to get more and more into the game and on 30 minutes after a period of pressure we equalized. Greg Coates did well in crossing the ball into the box from the left hand side where Chris Wood connected brilliantly with a left foot volley which flew into the top corner.
During the first half Marc Hall made 2 great saves to keep Sacriston in the game & Andrew Solan who played brilliantly on the day also missed a great chance just before half time to give Sacriston the lead.
During the 2nd half the referee got injured and after some discussions between the two managers and the referee the match was abandoned and was to be replayed the following Sunday.
Pelton ROAB 4 v 1 Sacriston CCCFC (Sunday 7th September 2014)
This game was a big disappointment from Sacriston’s point of view, especially after having played so well last week before the referee’s injury which forced the game to be abandoned at 1-1 after 62 minutes. In this game we had lots of players back and Pelton were missing Craig Mickle who had played so well against us in recent matches so we felt had real cause for optimism going into this match.
We shot ourselves in the foot right from the first kick off when a couple of loose passes resulted in the ball being kicked out of play by Hall in the Sacriston goal on the right hand side. We then switched off from that throw in and Henderson crossed the ball to the back post where the Pelton player scuffed his shot into the far corner to give Pelton a 1-0 lead after 37 seconds.
For the next 30-35 minutes it was a very even contest and Sacriston settled into the game well having several set pieces and getting into good positions in the final third but we didn’t really create a good chance. Then on 35 minutes Gavin McCormack got into a great position having been put through and he ran in on goal on the angle from the left hand side and carried on into the box but his shot was well saved and the chance had gone.
Then a bad 2 minute period between 36-38 Minutes saw us concede 2 goals and all but finish the game as a contest. We made some bad defensive errors in the lead up to Pelton’s 2nd goal in failing to play to the whistle when O’Brien was fouled in the build up and we stopped which allowed Michael Graver to stroll through on goal beating our offside trap and he finished well with a left footed shot into the bottom corner. I did feel he was just offside as I was in line at the time but I was more concerned with the way we defended. Then Pelton scored again virtually from the kick off when Henderson went flying down the left wing and sent in a great cross which was headed home superbly.
Pelton went close twice at the start of the 2nd half to extending their lead. Then Greg Coates reduced the deficit to 3-1 with a good finish from the edge of the box on 49 minutes with a powerful right footed finish into the bottom left hand corner.
I made 3 subs in the 2nd half on 54 minutes to try and inject some fresh legs into the team but it made little difference our passing was awful and we created precious little in the way of goal scoring opportunities. We just couldn’t get anything going and in all fairness to Pelton they closed the game out well and this was the best they have played against us. Michael Graver then hit the post from a free kick on 67 minutes.
Then on 79 minutes Pelton made the game safe when Luke Kerry’s shot deflected off Andrew Collinson and went over the top off Hall’s outstretched hands in the Segga goal to loop into the top of the net to make it 4-1. This was our worst performance of the season so far with far too many players off their game all at the same time which against a team as good as Pelton nearly always spells defeat and this time a heavy one at that.
We need to get back to winning ways quickly against Chester Garden Farm next Sunday at home in the 2nd round of the Alan Smith Memorial trophy match.
