United miss out on cup final as Prestwich win both legs

Jack Beresford reports from Adie Moran Park as Sandbach needed a quick goal to level the scores on aggregate, however they almost got off to the worst possible start when after only two minutes a cross from Max White found Jamie Baguley on the edge of the box who danced his way into the box and shot, however luckily for Sandbach Ryan Moss was on hand to block with his legs.

Heys had another great chance to take the lead when Rio Wilson-Heyes cut onto his right foot and tried to bend the ball towards the far-right post but yet again Moss was on hand to palm it away.

Prestwich deservedly took the lead in the 35th minute when a long clearance upfield found Alfie Belcher who brought it down and danced his way past both Bradley Cooper and Kris Stockton before firing a shot across goal into the bottom left corner making it 1-0 on the night and 3-1 on aggregate.

Six minutes after the goal Sandbach equalised as Jordan Davies received the ball in the opposition half and cut outside onto his left foot before then cutting back inside onto his right foot and then bending a shot from 25 yards which went in off the right post, the Prestwich keeper could do nothing about it and was left stranded in the middle of his goal.

The first half ended and despite having only one attempt on goal it was Sandbach who went into the break with the momentum, the goal from Davies had raised the spirits of Hockenhull’s team and given them a fighting chance. It was Prestwich who came out the strongest of the two teams and they almost took the lead in the 50th when Lee Bruce tried his luck from range, but he saw his shot fly just wide of Moss’ left post.

One minute later Sandbach took the lead when set piece specialist Ryan Cattermole swung in a free kick from the left and centre half Kris Stockton got up highest and headed the ball into the bottom right corner from close range. This goal meant that Sandbach had taken the lead in the game and levelled up the aggregate score, if the scores stayed this way we would be heading for penalties. Unfortunately, the score line didn’t stay like this for very long as Prestwich equalised after just seven minutes of conceding.

When a long ball by the goal keeper was flicked on by Wilson-Heyes, it fell into the path of Belcher who broke the offside trap and was able to poke it over the onrushing keeper and make it 2-2, but more importantly 4-3 on aggregate.

Both Belcher and Wilson-Heyes were causing Sandbach real trouble, Wilson- Heyes continued his good work as he drove down the left flank and got to the by line before finding Belcher whose first-time shot was dragged well wide of the left post.

With 20 minutes to go it looked to be Prestwich who were going to be facing Cammell Laird in the final. They almost made sure of this when captain Jacob Wood glanced a header wide of the near post from a corner.

As Sandbach pushed for a crucial winner they left themselves light at the back, and as Belcher played it though to Wood who drove towards the box before he was eventually brought down by Chris Rowntree who was booked for his troubles.

The penalty was dispatched by substitute Daniel White who went into the bottom right corner. Moss guessed the right way but couldn’t do anything about it. This goal put the game beyond doubt and made the score over two legs 5-3. Prestwich had done all they needed to do, and they could play out the rest of the game. They almost put the cherry on top of the cake as they almost made it 4-2 when Wilson-Heys drove into the Sandbach half before firing his shot straight at the goal keeper.

Despite the game lacking many clear cut chances apart from the goals the game ended 3-2 and 5-3 on aggregate which means that Prestwich will face Cammell Laird in the final.

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

Match Report: Jack Beresford