Early mistakes prove fatal for Sandbach

Two first half goals from Lee Bruce and Jake Wood were enough to give Prestwich the victory as both teams struggled with the blustery conditions at the community stadium in the first leg of the Division one cup semi-final.

In Baltic conditions both teams struggled to get to grips with the wind. In a scrappy first half that included few chances and a brief snow storm. Sandbach were shooting with the wind in the first half, because of this, in the 20th minute Sandbach’s number eleven Jordan Davies attempted to use the wind to his advantage as he struck a free kick from just outside the centre circle towards the top right corner of the goal, however Prestwich keeper Mark Baguley was on hand to punch the ball out for a throw in. Six minutes later Prestwich finally broke the deadlock when Sandbach gave the ball away in their own half allowing Prestwich’s Alfie Belcher to slide the ball in behind the defence for Lee Bruce to get on the end of and then clinically slot it past the on-rushing Ryan Moss in the Sandbach goal.

Both teams were trying to keep the ball on the floor as anything in the air would be intercepted by the wind. On 29 minutes Sandbach’s Stuart Tulloch decided that he would take matters into his own hands as he glided past two Prestwich defenders to make space for a shot from just outside the box which was brilliantly tipped around the post by Baguley. Prestwich then doubled their lead with 10 minutes to go until half time when good work down the right from Dan White allowed him to find space to drill in a cross along the six-yard box which was missed by both Moss and Cooper and was then eventually bundled over the line by Prestwich captain Jake Wood.

Sandbach worked hard to get a goal back before half time, they almost did this when Luke Walley turned well on the edge of the box and fired his shot straight in to the gloves of goalkeeper Baguley.

Within 10 minutes of the restart Sandbach had already halved the deficit when Tulloch got to the by-line down the right-hand side and crossed it for Jordan Davies to volley into the roof of the net from twelve yards out. Sandbach were on the front foot and they tried to find that important equaliser which could prove so very important when they travel to Prestwich for the second leg.

Within the space of 5 minutes both Tulloch and Walley had good efforts saved easily by the Prestwich keeper. With the wind on their backs Prestwich pushed for a third, on 58 minutes Slaven and Belcher linked up well allowing Belcher to shoot, but luckily for Sandbach he dragged his shot wide of the left post.

Top scorer James Kirby had 2 excellent chances to put his team back on level terms, his first was from a corner on 70 minutes which was poorly dealt with by Prestwich, although unfortunately for Kirby the ball bounced awkwardly, and he was unable to keep his shot low as it flew over the bar. Two minutes later he had Sandbach’s best chance of the game as he broke the offside trap and was played in behind by Tulloch, however Kirby’s shot was straight at the keeper who was able to save.

After scoring from two set pieces in last weeks win over Daisy Hill, Sandbach’s set pieces were poor, all 6 corners came to nothing which would’ve disappointed the Sandbach management team. As the clock ticked down and we reached the 93rd minute Sandbach had one last chance to equalise when Kirby had a shot on goal, however this was blocked by a Prestwich defender.

Overall it was disappointing performance from Sandbach as their winning streak came to an end after six previous victories. When Sandbach had the wind with them in the first half they didn’t take advantage of it, they played better in the second half, but they failed to take their chances. Manager Andy Hockenhull said after the game “apart from the two mistakes in the first half which lead to the goals we played okay, both teams played better without the wind which was surprising. But I’m glad that we're still in the tie and it’s all to play for”.

The Sandbach United 1st team would like to thank Planet Environmental, RK Henshall Insurance Brokers and The Ganges for their support.

Opposition Man of the Match (as awarded by Prestwich Heys): Luke Walley.

Next Match
On Monday 19th March Sandbach take a trip to promotion rivals Whitchurch Alport (SY13 1PG) for a 7:45pm kick off. This should be another great match with Alport sitting in 3rd place in the league and Sandbach in 4th.

Next Saturday 24th March, Sandbach return to league action when they welcome Carlisle City in a 3pm kick off.