Following a decent pre-season Sacriston faced Fram WMC at home in the first competitive game of the season looking to progress into the second round of the Alan Smith cup. The welfare was looking as fresh as some of the dog muck laid upon it and the home side went into the game in good spirits, partly thanks to the return of Ice Man Asquith who was sporting the bright orange number 1 jersey.
With gaffer Murphy on holiday the General Gav Richardson took charge and following a very brief but to the point team-talk the game kicked off. The home side got off to the worst possible start inside the opening 10 minutes when a free-kick from outside the box was very tamely hit straight at the keeper but the Ice Man melted under the pressure and fumbled the ball straight to the feet of the onrushing striker who put Fram 1-0 up.
The away side continued to play a direct style of football and this led to the second goal when a free-kick from deep was launched forward and the delightful Dean was outjumped by the striker who powered his header home; with Dean’s appeals for a push being waved away by the ref who said he’s just not strong enough …
Sacriston were struggling to get any real momentum going with their play but Dvid Winter came close to pulling one back following a good solo run and Ben Sanderson was close with an excellent strike towards the top corner from the edge of the box but both efforts were thwarted by great saves.
After the half an hour mark Sacriston were playing almost as bad as Finchy’s decision to drop Steve Mounie from his Fantasy Football team and made a tactical switch putting Tom to right back and Lee to left back to try and get us back into the game. 10 minutes later the home side did pull one back when a good through ball played Storey in on goal and he rounded the keeper but took it too far and the defence half cleared the danger; the ball fell to Tom midway in the opposition half who took a touch and delivered a lovely curling ball behind the defence which eventually led to Big Mac bundling in his first goal for the club, a feat not achieve by cousin Craig ‘Lasersight’ Laddie.
Frustratingly that wasn’t the end of the first half action when Fram launched another long ball forward, Sacriston won the first ball but the second was picked up by the opposition striker who was allowed too much time on the edge of the box and volleyed into the top corner via a slight deflection.
The pitmen went into half time disappointed and Jakey and Big Mac then left proceedings to head to the Newcastle match and were replaced by Davey Wardle and debutant Ian Temby who joined increasingly angry Ben in the middle of the park for the second half.
Sacriston started the second half much better with the changes giving some more energy in midfield which enabled Sacriston to take control of possession and the game. The crucial second goal came from an unlikely source on 60 minutes when Tom Winter won a 50-50 on the edge of his box and played the ball into the middle before it spread wide left to young(ish) pup Jockey Wilson who then picked out Tom with a lovely cross-field ball and following a lung-bursting run the fullback took the ball down just inside the opposition area before turning the last defender and firing home delightfully into the top corner.
Momentum was now fully with the home side who were dominating the game and the equaliser seemed inevitable and came around the 70 minute mark when a dangerous free-kick on the edge of the box was drilled hard and low by Storey and the keeper parried out to the onrushing Dvid Winter who finished easily to level proceedings.
Sacriston were now pushing for the winner and Ian came close with a strike from outside the area before Storey then blazed a dangerous free-kick over the bar following a Messi-like run from Tom who danced passed 4 or 5 opponents.. Storey did however set up the fourth goal for Sacriston after a quick counter attack following an astonishing 80 yard pass from Icekeeper (who looked much more comfortable with his feet than his hands all match); Storey then drove towards the by-line and drilled an excellent ball across the face of goal for Dvid Winter who had another tap in.
Fram fought hard in the last 10 minutes to level the match and had numerous free-kick, corners and long balls pumped into the box but Sacriston dealt with these well through some unorthodox goalkeeping from Tim and the addition of Ian provided some aerial assistance alongside Finch for these long balls in the second half.
The final minutes ticked by with Icey wasting most of it getting the ball and the victory was Sacriston’s who take their place in the next round of the cup. Man of the match goes to David Winter who was the most dangerous for the home side throughout and gets his tally going for the season with a couple of goals.
The next fixture is West Rainton away on Thursday night where Sacriston get their league campaign underway and stand in Gaffer Richardson will look to extend his winning run.
Final shout-out is to CM Chrissy Mordue who although currently in a different country is still a beautiful, well-groomed gentleman and I await his return to the team so I can lather him with compliments in future reports.
Up the club!
