Sandbach maintain unbeaten run with superb all-round performance

Sandbach carried on their good run of wins which saw them pick up the Macron Club of the month award for February after winning all 4 games played. They came up against a Daisy Hill team who hadn’t won in six and saw themselves looking over their shoulder in 21st place in the table.

After a scrappy first 15 minutes which saw both teams have a succession of crosses which were easily dealt with by both keepers, Sandbach finally broke the deadlock in the 18th minute when good work from Stuart Tulloch down the right flank earned his team a corner. From the resulting corner which was delivered towards the back post by Ryan Cattermole, Sandbach’s number 5 Kris Stockton got up highest and brilliantly headed into the bottom left corner of the Daisy Hill goal, the early goal was much to the delight of manager Andy Hockenhull who said “we changed the formation to a diamond in the first half as we have started the last few games very poorly but today we were much better”.

Five minutes later Sandbach goalkeeper Ryan Moss who had recently picked up the Reusch Goalkeeper of the month award, was called into action when Adam Owens powered his way into the box and struck a shot that was heading for the bottom right corner when Moss who was at full stretch stuck out his right hand and pushed it wide.

As conditions worsened and the pitch got heavier both teams struggled to find that vital, defence splitting pass. When Sandbach finally managed this in the 31st minute James Kirby was judged to be offside as he slotted it past Ryan Kirkman in the Daisy Hill goal.

Both teams had resorted to using the full width of the pitch as these parts were easier to play on. In the 32nd minute the home side used this to full effect as Jordan Davies got to the by-line and drilled in a low cross from the left allowing Kirby to poke the ball into an empty net from 6 yards out.

On the stroke of half time Daisy Hill almost got back into the game as a good 1-2 between Conor Smith and Micheal Gervin made space for Smith to shoot but a heroic, last ditch tackle from Sandbach captain Bradley Cooper meant that the score stayed at 2-0 to Sandbach as they went into the break.

Straight after the interval Sandbach almost found themselves 3 goals in front as a first time cross from Adam Clayton found Luke Walley who fired his shot into the ground and it looped over the keeper and crashed off the bar. Some good passing play between Davies, Walley and Rowntree earned Sandbach a corner on 63 minutes, the corner which was delivered low and towards the near post by Davies was met by Tulloch who with the outside of this right boot glanced it into the vacant right side of the goal to make it 3-0 to Sandbach.

Daisy Hill heads dropped, and their afternoon almost went from bad to worse when goalkeeper Kirkman miss hit one of his goal kicks and it fell to Kirby who chested it down for Walley who was able to slide it in for Tulloch who drilled across goal, but it was eventually cleared after an old-fashioned goal mouth scramble.

As the game came to a close Sandbach had the chance to add another goal to what was a very good all-round performance. Stuart Tulloch was brought down in the box and the referee pointed to the spot which allowed top scorer James Kirby to grab his second of the game as he squeezed his penalty under the keeper to make it 4-0. Although conditions meant that fluid football was impossible Sandbach dug in and ground out a resounding 4-0 victory to give them a firmer grip on the play offs.

Photography courtesy of Nigel Kirby Photography http://www.nigelkirbyphotography.com/

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

Next Match

Sandbach welcome fellow promotion contenders Prestwich Heys to Hind Heath Road on Saturday 17th March for a 3pm kick off in the semi-final of the LWC Drinks Division 1 Cup. This will surely be a great match, with Sandbach currently leading the form table and Heys sitting in 2nd place.

Then on Monday 19th March Sandbach take a trip to another promotion rival Whitchurch Alport (SY13 1PG) for a 7:45pm kick off.