Five star Sandbach thrash Millers

Jack Beresford reports as New Mills came into the game off the back of two impressive wins against both Whitchurch and Prestwich and it was evident that they were full of confidence as after 1 minute of the game starting they almost went ahead when Jake Pollard found captain Rob Lofthouse whose first time shot from the edge of the box just went over the bar.

New Mills flew out the blocks and piled on the pressure to try and seek an early goal, they came close again in the 3rd minute but Sam Marshall’s shot from range went well wide of the goal.

In the 11th minute New Mills deservedly took the lead when a long free kick from the goal keeper was headed on by Dennis Sherriff and it fell to the unmarked Pollard who hit his volley from just inside the box into the floor and it looped over Ryan Moss who was off balance and into the goal.

After scoring the first goal of the game the Millers were pushing to get another one to give themselves a healthy lead, they had a golden chance to do this when George Blackwell played the ball in behind the defence for Sherriff to run onto and he rounded Moss but lost his balance at the crucial time and he could only blaze the ball over the bar, it was a great chance and if it had of gone in it might have been game over already after just 28 minutes.

Sandbach were struggling to get hold of the ball, New Mills were passing it about beautifully and using the pace of their wingers to full effect. In the 38th minute a quick free kick by Kirk found Blackwell down the left-hand side and he drove into the box and drilled in low cross from the left, it was met by Sandbach’s Chris Jackson who just managed to deflect the ball over the goal.

As the first half came to an end it was New Mills who had the lead, although it should have been more than one goal. Sandbach didn’t really have any efforts on goal and they had a lot to do in the second half.

Sandbach got off to the best possible start as they equalised after two minutes of the restart when James Kirby took the ball over half way and he drove into the box and then found Jordan Davies on the right-hand side who flashed the ball across goal for Chris Smith to tap into an empty net. Sandbach completed their come back five minutes later when New Mills defender Jack Miller diverted a James Kirby cross into his own goal, it was unfortunate but at this stage of the season Sandbach will take it as they try and cement their play off place.

The Millers fans looked shocked at the way their team had started the second half, they couldn’t believe that their team was 2-1 down already. Sandbach were playing some excellent football and they almost had a third in the 56th minute when Davies’ shot from just inside the box was cleared off the line by Jack Miller.

New Mills looked like a completely different side in this second half, but they almost levelled the game when Pollard brilliantly made space for a shot that wobbled in the air, forcing Sandbach goalkeeper Ryan Moss to tip the ball over on the hour mark.

With half an hour to go New Mills were back in the game and looked favourites to score when Kirk cut inside and tried to a curl a shot into the bottom right corner, but Moss was on hand to brilliantly tip the ball around the post for a corner.

With the game nearing its climax it was still heavily in the balance and it seemed as though Sandbach would be holding on for dear life to try and keep their lead, however with 10 minutes to go Davies who was excellent in the second half cut onto his right foot and fired a shot on goal, it was well saved by goalkeeper Oliver Martin but the rebound fell kindly into the path of James Kirby who was on hand to tap home from six yards out and put the game beyond doubt.

New Mills heads had dropped and Sandbach looked to add more goals to bolster their goal difference. In the 88th minute James Kirby had the ball in the centre circle when he noticed the keeper off his line, and in David Beckhamesque fashion he lobbed the keeper who was stranded on the edge of his 18 yard box and made it 4-1 to United.

Sandbach scored again in the 91st minute when a shot from Kirby was saved by the keeper and it fell to Ryan Cattermole who unselfishly tee’d up Davies to score a much-deserved goal and make the final score 5-1 to Sandbach.

It was a remarkable second half from Sandbach who were poor in the first half. New Mills will be disappointed that it was only 1-0 at half time, but whatever Hockenhull said to his team at half time did the trick as they ran riot and were breath taking at times.

Match Report: Jack Beresford