Sandbach 3 Ellesmere Rangers 1

After putting 5 past Cheadle on Saturday, Sandbach looked to continue their good form as they faced bottom of the league Ellesmere Rangers writes Jack Beresford.

With Saturdays FA Vase game against Squires Gate coming up, manager Andy Hockenhull would have like to use this game to rest some of his key players and Kieran Garner-Knapper was left on the bench as a precaution. Hockenhull would have also like to see a good performance from his men as they looked to go into Saturday’s game full of confidence.

Earlier this week top scorer James Kirby was awarded the September player of the month award, it was well deserved after scoring 11 goals in the six games he played. He has continued to find the net in October too scoring two against Cheadle on Saturday.

It didn’t take Kirby long to make an impact on this game either as after 20 minutes he opened the scoring for his side. Matty Pearson sent in a deep cross from the right that missed everyone, but Josh Lane managed to recycle the move as he sent in a low cross from the left-hand side which Kirby was on hand to meet at the near post and poke past the keeper.

It was an ideal start for Sandbach, however two minutes later Sandbach we’re almost caught off guard when Ellesmere left back Levi Hunter struck a speculative shot from around 30 yards, Sandbach keeper Oleksandr Ilchenko look to have it covered and it looked like he was expecting the ball to fly well over the bar, however luckily for him the ball struck the top of the bar and went out for a goal kick.

Sandbach we’re lucky to get away with that one. Three minutes later Sandbach managed to double their lead and it was Kirby who was the goal scorer again, he latched on to a brilliant Buckley through ball and was able to slide the ball under the keeper from just inside the box, a great goal from Sandbach who went through Ellesmere’s defence like a hot knife through butter.

Despite being 2-0 down and bottom of the league, the away side were still giving it a real good go and they came close once again through another speculative shot from Ben Davies that crashed off the left post. Sandbach had been let off twice and they really had to be more switched on in the defensive third.

With 10 minutes of the half to go Sandbach were awarded a penalty when Seth Ellis bought down Buckley in the box, the Ellesmere players were adamant that he had got the ball, but the referee waved away their protests and pointed to the spot. Up stepped Mr reliable, James Kirby who fired the ball into the bottom left corner leaving the keeper flat footed and completing a 16-minute hat trick for himself.

At 3-0 Sandbach were cruising, with one minute of the half to go Josh Lane almost added a fourth but his mazy run into box was backed up by a weak shot that was straight at the keeper. At half time manager Andy Hockenhull would have wanted more of the same from his side. The second half began with the away side having most of the ball and after nicely working the ball out from defence Connor Hughes found himself in space on the edge of the Sandbach box, but his left footed shot was easily saved by Ilchenko. Sandbach were very much on the back foot however they looked dangerous on the attack, Pearson almost added a fourth when his shot come cross from the right missed everyone as it flashed across the face of the goal.

With 20 minutes to go the three points were in the bag for the home side and they came close to scoring again, a rapid counter attack allowed Twigg to cross from the right to Kirby but his shot from inside the box went just wide of the left post. There was still time for Ellesmore to grab what was nothing more than a consolation goal when Levi Hunter struck a freekick from around 25 yards out, it was low and was heading for the bottom left corner. It looked straight forward for the Sandbach keeper however the ball squirmed under his body and found the net. It was a shame for Ilchenko as he has looked a lot more confident in the last few games. The game ended 3-1 and it was great preparation for the big FA Vase game on Saturday at Squires Gate. See match preview.

Match Report: Jack Beresford