Report by David Winter.
Sacriston started their league campaign off with a tricky home match against Ouston Cherry Tree (formerly Chester Cuthberts). The team almost picked itself with so many players unavailable for various reasons but again it shows the squad depth we have got this season that we could still field a team with two subs. There was a torrential downpour before the game but fortunately this didn't last which meant playing conditions were as good as you could get.
The game started with Ouston on the front foot hitting the bar from a long range speculative effort and Sacriston soon realised they were in a tough match. Aaron White then lived up to being bookies favourite to win the 'bad boy league' when he flew into a challenge about ten minutes late and picked up a yellow card. Adam Davies was called into action early on but the big stopper was on hand to save a good shot from the Ouston striker.
Sacriston then managed to get a foothold on the game when a big clearance from Dean Smith led to a mix up in the opposition defence and David Winter nipped in to calmly finish the ball past the goalie into the bottom corner. This goal was the start of ten minute spell of dominance from Sacriston where they could have been out of sight. Winter could have had another goal on ten minutes when he was put in the clear by Daniel Johnson but the keeper was on hand to parry his effort clear. The rebounds fell to Johnson who cleverly pulled the ball back to Winter who in turn had his shot denied on the line by an Ouston defender. Sacriston continued to press for a goal and Liam Summers was unluckily denied a goal when his header was cleared off the line again by an Ouston defender. Gav Richardson and Michael Finch were dominating the midfeild at this point which helped Sacriston to keep on top and Chris Mordue and Daniel Johnson both blazed shots over the bar but the scoreline remained at 1-0 when the half time whistle went.
The second half started with Ouston changing their shape which seemed to cause some confusion with the Sacriston team as it was uncelar as to what formation they were actually playing. However, the change did make Ouston more dangerous and certainly gave them more presence in the match which meant Sacriston would have to dig in deep to get the result they wanted. The game turned very niggly and there were lots of stoppages and free kicks. Sacriston were looking quite comfortable in the match at this point and managed to get a crucial second goal on 60 minutes when Chris Mordue played a ball into the box to David Winter. Winter turned and hit a shot which was deflected over the hapless keeper and into the back of the net for his second goal of the match. This goal then settled the game down and Sacriston furthered their lead soon after when Winter cut in from the right beating two players before slipping in Chris Mordue who confidently stroked the ball past the goalie to put the game to bed.
Ouston then had their best spell of the game and were very unfortunate on two occasions not to pull a goal back when they hit the post twice in quick succession. At the other end Sacriston nearly added another goal when Dan Henderson played a ball down the line to Winter who cut in again from the right, beat a couple of players but saw his shot whistle inches over the bar. Sacriston then made a couple of changes with Gaffa Sanderson wanting to freshen things up with Lee Renwick and Shaun Forster on to replace Michael Finch and Adam Wilson. The game then turned very open and was end to end in the last ten minutes, with Ouston in particular pushing hard for a goal and they got what they were looking for on 80 minutes when they whipped in a corner, which Sacriston were unprepared for, and nodded home what looked like a consolation goal making the scoreline 3-1. The last five minutes could have been a lot more shakey for Sacriston had it not been for a superb save from Adam Davies, saving with his feet low down when it looked certain that the Ouston striker would score.
The final whistle went and Sacriston came out with a good 3-1 win to continue their solid start to the season. Man of the match was awarded to Dean Smith for his tireless performance at left back, linking up well with Adam Wilson on the wing, whilst defending solidly all match.
Next up for Sacriston is a very tricky cup tie against premier league opposition East Rainton at home on Sunday.
