This was one of the most satisfying days I have ever had with this team. Playing away to the holders of this competition was the toughest draw we could have had but the way in which we came through to eventually win on penalties was fantastic.
The referee explained to both managers before the game that extra time if needed to decide this game could not be played as he had family commitments that afternoon with the game going straight to penalties in the event of a draw which both teams happily agreed to.
The game itself was very close throughout and very high on quality and mistakes were few and far between. Sacriston expected a really difficult game and we were not disappointed. Witton Park had 2 good wide players with excellent pace and trickery in and around the box along with a good centre forward and these guys kept our defence occupied but we didn’t concede many chances.
Both sides early on in the game had the ball in the net but both efforts were correctly ruled out for offside. Witton Park first then John Harrison had the ball in the net for Sacriston following in a shot which rebounded to him but he was in an offside position when the original shot was taken.
Sacriston went very close to scoring on 18 minutes when Greg Coates deep far post corner found Daniel O’Brien at the back post but he got just too much power on his header which went just over the bar.
Grant Boyd put a thunderous tackle in on the Witton Park right winger on 22 minutes which although giving away a free kick at the time did let Witton Park well and truly know that they were going to be in one hell of a game. It also lifted the spirits of his team mates around him and Boyd went on to have the game of his life for Sacriston.
Sacriston had to play the first half up the hill and were defending directly into the glare of the sun so to go in 0-0 at half time I felt was a good result. Witton Park had slightly more of the play and territory but Sacriston looked dangerous when going forward and John Harrison was winning every header when we could get the ball up to him which was giving Greg Coates, Gavin McCormack and Anthony Ward opportunities to run off him.
Early in the 2nd half the Witton Park winger went past a couple of challenges and was running directly towards our goal when 30 yards from our goal James Thornton brought him down to concede a free kick. The resulting free kick went past the wall and struck O’Brien in the Sacriston defence and the rebound fell to the Witton Park striker who was perfectly placed to rifle in a good low right footed finish from around 12 yards out into the bottom left hand corner.
From that point for the majority of the remainder of the 90 minutes it was Sacriston who took the game to Witton Park and several changes were made to the side to get fresh legs on for the final part of the match which in the end proved crucial. Witton Park seemed to sit back a little bit in comparison to the first half and that was just the invitation Sacriston needed to go at them. Witton Park was still very dangerous on the counter attack but Rob Draper and O’Brien at the back were snuffing out the danger brilliantly.
Andrew Solan came on for Stuart Fenton at right back and the game opened up a bit down that side which allowed Solan to get forward and dribble with the ball starting attacks from deep. Matty Rudge came on to replace James Thornton who had had an excellent game in central midfield alongside Sean Gregory. Rudge didn’t have the impact on the game that he has had recently and he was substituted for Collinson on 77 minutes. Jacob Horner came on for Greg Coates on 60 minutes with Ward going up front and Horner gave the team great energy on the right hand side which also stopped there left winger getting forward who had been Witton Park’s biggest threat until then.
Ward had a couple of decent opportunities to score. The first one was with an acrobatic effort which was well worked as McCormack got away down the left side rounding the goalkeeper before crossing into the box but the ball just wouldn’t sit down for Ward in time so he took his chance early and the effort went wide. He then went close with a looping header following a good cross from Solan but the keeper got back to catch the ball on the line.
Sacriston had numerous promising situations in and around the Witton Park penalty area but the ball never seemed to bounce right for us and it looked like being another hard luck story of playing well against one of the big boys and just losing.
Then with 5 minutes to go and time running out fast Grant Boyd’s brilliant through ball found the run off Andrew Collinson who took the ball into his stride before finishing calmly as you like slotting the ball into the bottom right corner of the net to give Sacriston the equalizer they so thoroughly deserved.
The next 5 minutes was just helter skelter with Sacriston sensing victory pouring forward and we created 2 chances to score. Firstly we overplayed a chance on 87 minutes when in a good position, secondly we had a chance literally in the 90th minute when Ward got through one on one with the keeper but his effort was well saved. Witton Park went down the field straight from that chance and had 2 good shooting opportunities from the edge of the box in the same move and but for a couple of truly heroic blocks by Solan & O’Brien we could have lost.
With penalties in mind I made one more substitution bringing on James Thornton for Grant Boyd. The final whistle went shortly after that to bring to an end a brilliant game.
The team reacted brilliantly when we went 1-0 down and came out attacking and we never gave up even when it did seem like things were going against us. Collinson had a positive impact on our attacking play and the defence and goalkeeper stood strong throughout showing excellent concentration. Special praise for Boyd though he was truly magnificent putting in the most complete performance I have seen at this level for a left back he was up against a really good player and he never let him get past once and he joined in constantly in our attacking play and formed a formidable partnership down our left hand side with McCormack who simply never stopped running all game.
Now to the drama of the penalties Witton Park won the toss so they went first and scored then James Thornton who bravely volunteered for the first one scored for us. Witton Park scored their 2nd penalty. John Harrison scored with our 2nd penalty. Witton Park scored with their 3rd then Sean Gregory scored with our 3rd which the goalkeeper got a hand on but thankfully there was enough power on the shot to get the ball over the line. Then Witton Park’s left winger who had been there best player on the day stepped up to take the 4th penalty and he struck it quite well to the left hand side but Potts got across brilliantly to save it with his right hand. This opened the door for us and Andrew Collinson slotted his penalty beautifully into the bottom right hand corner sending the keeper the wrong way. This meant that Witton Park had to score with their final penalty to stay in the game which they did. To be honest Potts had no chance in the Sacriston goal with 4 out of the 5 penalties which were all right in the corner and were taken superbly but the one penalty he had a chance with he made the save which now gave Anthony Ward the chance to win us the game. Baring in mind 15 minutes earlier he missed the chance to win us the game in normal time the way he took the penalty to win us the tie was amazing he powerfully slammed home his penalty before being mobbed by his jubilant teammates. This was a great all round squad effort and it was a wonderful feeling to win the game and put us in the semi-final.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank our travelling supporters of which there were a few who came a long way to see the game but I think it was well worth it. Witton Park was gracious in defeat.
The team is playing very well at the moment and we have an important couple of home league games against Houghton Comrades and Chester Hilda Park coming up so we need to carry on this recent good run.
