A lot of players were unavaiable for Sacriston WMC for a league cup game against Division One side Coxhoe Red Lion. Only 5 minutes into the game Michael Finch was forced off with an injury and was replaced by Aaron White. The game was very scrappy until Sacriston managed to gain control of the match playing some nice football in the opposition half, particularly down the left hand side. This pressure eventually led to a goal when David Winter and Chris Gorg-due played a good one-two down the left channel before Chris squared the ball for Sam Renwick to score his 100th goal in a Sacriston jersey - an incredible goal tally from the muscle man.
Coxhoe hit back almost immediately via a very soft goal. A corner kick was whipped over Lee Renwick's head at the front post and managed to squeeze into the back of the net past Ryan Park to level the game at 1-1. The game then turned into a bit of a scrap and it was Sacriston who managed to regain the lead when Ban Sanderson pinched posession high up the field and played a delightful ball to Sam Renwick who controlled before firing an unstoppable left foot volley into the top corner to make the score 2-1. Sacriston were the denied what looked a clear penalty after Ryan Bell was pulled back before he was about to pull the trigger but the referee decided there was not enough in it to award the penalty.
After a relatively good first half performance the rest of the game was a one to forget for Sacriston. The second half began and Coxhoe took advantage of some poor defending to equalise. A ball played down the channel was missed by Jack Avery and the Coxhoe winger crossed the ball into the area which was met by Aaron White who managed to open his body up and bend the ball around his own goalkeeper to make the score 2-2. A moment to forget for the big centre half after being the goal scoring hero the week before.
Sacriston were then desperately unlucky not to retake the lead when David Winter smashed a left foot volley that hit the underside of the crossbar and bounced down onto the line. Moments later Ben Sanderson hit an effort that struck the inside of the post and rolled along the line but somehow the ball would not go in the back of the net.
It was then 3-2 to Coxhoe when their striker capitalised on some poor defending from Sacriston after they failed to clear a routine long ball.
The game then turned end to end and both sides had chances to score but the goalkeepers at either end were keeping the score at 3-2. Ryan McCauley came on to replace Sam Fenwick on the right wing. With seconds remaining Sam Renwick broke clear down the left hand side and drove into the box. He beat the last defender and seemed certain to level the match but the Coxhoe goalkeeper made a fine save to win them the match.
Overall a terrible second half performance from Sacriston gave Coxhoe a win in the first round of the league cup. Next up for Sacriston is Hilda Park in the league, with a much better peformance required.
