On a lovely morning for football, Sacriston started the new season at home to Chester-le-Street Red Lion in the cup. With new players unavailable to play today due to a mistake with their registration forms, the Sacriston team almost picked itself, with only Forster and Laddie on the bench. After a decent enough preseason this was the first competitive game for the club in the Shaun Forster era!
Wearing their new blue strips, Sacriston began on the front foot and dominated the opening period of the game however they were restricted to shots from distance. Then, on 15 mins, Sacriston took the lead when Chalky fed the ball to the delightful looking Chris Mordue. Sexy Chris dribbled past a couple of Red Lion players before striking a wonderful left foot shot into the bottom corner to give Sacriston a 1-0 lead. As the ball hit the back of the net, Chris lifted up his shirt to reveal the letter T painted onto his beautifully toned abs, in dedication to his Tinder girls who turned up in their numbers to support their heart throb striker.
The game continued with Sacriston dominating possession, playing some lovlely football across the midfield. On 35 mins, Sacriston doubled their lead. Club legend Gav Richardson picked up the ball on the right wing and played a deep cross to the back post which luckily ended up dropping into the top corner of the net. The club hero ran away, givinig his famous finger-wag celebration, which suggested he must have saw the keeper off his line and actually meant to chip him...
Sacriston were coasting at this point but took their foot off the gas a little, which ended up giving the Red Lion a few real good chances. They eventually took one of their chances which made the score 2-1 at half time.
The second half continued in the same way, with Sacriston controlling the game. On 65 mins the game was put to bed when Gav Richardson picked up the ball 35 yards out. The veteran, who was copying his hero John McEnroe's appearance by wearing a lovely red headband, left their keeper shouting "You can't be serious" as he drilled a shot into the top corner for his second goal of the game.
Sacriston kept playing some decent football throughout the second half and scored a good team goal on 80 minutes. Adam Wilson and David Winter played a good one-two down the left wing. Wilson drove in the box and cleverly played the ball back to Winter who slotted home with his left foot to make the score 4-1.
It was soon 5-1 on 85 minutes after a lovely curling corner from Ben Sanderson led to a bit of a goalmouth scramble. It was Aaron White who was quickest to react and managed to bundle the ball over the line, although fans and players alike were wondering whether Chalky's shot was actually going in before taking a huge deflection, but the goal has been credited to the big full back.
Sacriston made a couple of subs before the end, with Shaun Forster and Tammy Laddie coming on for a few minutes run out.
It was double delight for White on 90 mins when he glanced home a great header from another good Adam Wilson delivery to make the scoreline 6-1, reminiscent of his idol Nyron Nosworthy.
Overall, a good solid start to the season for Fozzy's Foxes, with both sides missing some key players. Next up for the club is Newton Aycliffe in the Premier League, a game that will definitely be a tough test, but a one everyone is looking forward to.
