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Late fightback not enough for Ramblers

Late fightback not enough for Ramblers

Jay Rowland21 Jul 2021 - 09:50
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Two late goals from Robbie Hatton were not enough to prevent Sandbach United from falling 4-2 to Nantwich Town.

The Ramblers welcomed back Aaron Knight, Sean Moscrop and Matt Pearson to the squad after unavailability and looked to start the game strongly.

However, it was Nantwich that struck the first blow on a warm Cheshire evening after 4 minutes when Argentinian Carlos Montefiori flicked up a loose ball before striking a sumptuous volley into the far corner, with Eric Merner powerless to stop the sublime strike.

Sandbach looked to instantly bounce back when Scott Evans played a wonderful low ball into the box, but no one could tap home and level the scores. The hosts continued to press for an equaliser and were thwarted several times by Nantwich goalkeeper Cameron Terry.

Aaron Knight came the closest on 28 minutes after several Sandbach attacks had fallen just short, as he drove into the box and tried to bend a shot into the far-right corner, but Terry pushed it away. From the resulting Nantwich counterattack, they doubled their advantage as Connor Heath laid off the ball to James Lawrie, who slotted it into the bottom right corner past Merner’s dive.

Nantwich scored their third after 39 minutes when Lawrie spotted Merner off his line, and expertly dispatched a shot from inside the centre circle over the Sandbach stopper and into the net.

Despite having dominated large spells of the first half, and creating several good chances, Sandbach found themselves three goals down at the start of the second half. Only minutes into the half, Robbie Hatton struck the post with a snapshot from 22 yards.

The Dabbers did well to quell most Sandbach attacks after Hatton’s effort, using all of their experience to prevent the Ramblers from breaching their lines. They got their fourth through their first dangerous attack on 72 minutes, when a Jack Wood cross flew over everyone and fortuitously hit the far post before rolling just over the line.

Sandbach looked stunned and pressed even harder to get a goal against their Northern Premier League opposition and got it in the 84th minute. Substitute fullback Matt Pearson showed brilliant flair to break into the Nantwich penalty area before being clearly fouled by Wood. Hatton stepped up and calmly slotted it into the bottom right corner from 12 yards. Terry guessed the right way, but the penalty was too well-placed to be kept out.

Callum Evans was one of Sandbach’s standout performers in the deep-lying midfielder position, and almost nicked a goal when he tried to poke home a bobbling cross but could not direct it on target.

Hatton grabbed his second in the 88th minute when he latched onto a great ball over the top of the Dabbers defence, before rolling a shot underneath Terry and into the net.
Knight then attempted to bring the score within one goal in the 90th minute with a powerful strike from range, but it was blocked well, and Nantwich held on for the victory.

Sandbach will face Eastwood Hanley in their penultimate pre-season fixture before the NWCFL season commences.

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