Match report by David Winter as the uglier younger brother Tom Winter is on holiday!
On a lovely morning Sacriston played hosts to High Handenhold Bird Inn having previously beaten them in the league and cup already this season. Following on from last week's win it was important the team kept up the momentum and continued the winning run.
The game started quite slow with very little happening in the early stages until on 7 minutes when Gav Richardson won a strong header in the middle of the park to release Renwick who powered past the opposition centre-half and the smashed the ball into the roof of the net with his left foot. The game continued in the same fashion, with very little happening of note, until Sam Renwick was released down the left channel. He brushed off a couple of challenges but looked to have over ran the ball into their keeper however the goalie somehow managed fumble the ball back to Renwick who calmly smashed the ball into the empty net to make the score 2-0.
Sacriston pressed for another goal before half-time and had a couple of chances to see the game off with Wilson being released by Renwick on two occasions but unfortunately both shots were well saved by the Bird goalkeeper after some excellent link-up play between the Sacriston strikers.
Just before half-time Sacriston were given a warning when after a quick counter attack from High Handenhold their striker found himself through on goal only to be denied by the onrushing Davies with a Schmeichel-esque save.
The second half began in similar style with the opposition pressing for a goal that would get them back into the match. After having about a 10 minute spell of corners and free-kicks, the High Handenhold challenge seemed to be over when Renwick capitalised on a mistake from their full back and buried his chance clinically to put the game to bed. Davey Wardle then replaced Andy White with Adam Wilson came on for Ben Sanderson. After a bit of a re-shuffle, the game seemed to open up which favoured Sacriston and their lead could have been extended with Renwick chipping agonisingly wide and Winter seeing his volley smartly tipped over by their goalkeeper. The best chance of the match then presented itself to Aaron White who found himself unmarked in the 6-yard box only to see his shot somehow sail wide of the post, a glorious chance to get his first goal of the season and one I'm sure he will be having nightmares about for years to come.
The game was put beyond reach on 75 minutes when Winter was tripped inside the box for a stone wall penalty. Wardle confidently stepped up and slotted the ball to his bottom left to get on the scoresheet and make the score 4-0. Shaun Forster then replaced Dean Smith and moments after coming on Forster played a lovely one-two with Luke Wilson before smashing the ball past the helpless goalie to make the score 5-0.
A good solid win from Sacriston making it two clean sheets on the bounce, who after not playing their best football, could have still won by a greater margin. It just shows the strength in depth the team have when the bench is filled up with seven quality substitutes! Man of the match was given to Guile Richardson for his industrious performance in midfield and always showed that bit of guile when it was needed! Other strong performances from Sammy Renwick up top and big Michael Finch with a commanding performance at the back. The title challenge is still on track with a local derby against Fram WMC to look forward to next week.
