This match was always going to be very tight judging by previous encounters and this one proved to be the case again with Sedgefield coming away from Sacriston with a narrow 1-0 victory. Credit must be given to both teams who tried to play good football but the horrendous state of the pitch hindered their efforts and the howling wind also made the conditions very difficult to play in.
Sacriston had several players missing and this did affect the balance of our side somewhat but we did have much more of the play during the first half and created much the better of the chances.
On 7 minutes Sacriston went close from a corner which found its way to the middle of the 6 yard box but Gary Draper couldn’t keep his close range header down. Then on 20 minutes Sacriston went close again from a corner from where we had several attempts on goal in one move but couldn’t force the ball over the line.
Our best move of the match came on 28 minutes and after some good interchange of passing James Thornton found himself through on goal around 16 yards out but he skewed his shot horribly wide when well placed.
Sedgefield had 2 powerful forwards in Flockett & Strong who hit us on the break with good movement at times and they posed the main threat to Sacriston’s goal. Sedgefield didn’t really have a shot on goal until they scored on 38 minutes when we failed to clear our lines from a long ball into our box which we did well to then intercept twice but couldn’t get the ball out of danger and Flockett who was surrounded by 3 defenders squared the ball to his strike partner Strong who we had left unmarked and he beat the out rushing Potts in the Sacriston goal to the ball and headed into the empty net.
Sacriston had the wind in their favour during the 2nd half but we didn’t create very much despite having possession for long periods of the 2nd half. It was our final pass, cross or shot which time and again let us down and we very rarely tested the Sedgefield goalkeeper.
Sacriston brought on 2 forwards in the shape of Coates & Johnson in an attempt to freshen up the forward line and we went to 3 up front in an attempt to get more bodies in an advanced area. We didn’t get enough service into the forward players but we did create a few chances.
On 70 minutes Gary Draper & Greg Coates linked up well and Coates flicked the ball over the top where Draper beat the out rushing Sedgefield keeper to the ball and Draper lobbed the keeper but his shot just went over the bar and didn’t come down in time.
On 82 minutes Sacriston won a free kick on the edge of the box but Graeme Embleton’s free kick struck the top of the wall. Then our best chance came on 88 minutes when after we had a good 5 minute spell of pressure when Gary Draper danced his way into the box getting through 2 Sedgefield challengers and getting to within 7 yards of goal but he placed his shot too close to the keeper who made a good save low down to his right.
As Sacriston got more desperate for an equalizer towards the end of the game more men were committed forward and twice we were left exposed in the final few minutes when we lost possession high up the field but Sedgefield failed to make the most of these opportunities on the counter attack so the game remained in the balance right through until the end.
Sacriston battled hard and we were equal to and better than Sedgefield in most parts of the game but the only column that matters is the goals column and we didn’t do enough to score which would have got something out of the game for us.
