Sandbach United 3 Barnton 3

There was no Christmas hangover as far as Sandbach were concerned as they started off on the front foot as Jordan Davies burst past two defenders on his way to goal, as he got into the box, he looked to poke the ball towards the far right corner but unfortunately for him it went the wrong side of the post. However, Sandbach didn’t dwell on his missed opportunity as one minute later they took the lead, Josh Lane managed to find Jordan Erdmann who was on the edge of the box, Erdmann then brilliantly bought the ball down before shooting into the bottom left corner of the goal with his left foot from the left side of the box. Erdmann controlled the ball and shot all in one motion which seemed to catch the keeper off guard, leaving him with no chance. The home side were really plying some good football, the inclusion of Charlie Livesey gave United that extra bit of pace going forward and when he raced down the left side and crossed for Davies who tapped home from six yards, United thought they had levelled but unfortunately the linesman had his flag up and Davies was adjudged to be offside. Sandbach once again came close to adding a second goal in the 16th minute as they counter attacked at real pace, the attack was led by Josh Lane who drove down the middle of the pitch before playing the ball in being to Aidan Haughton who saw his shot from the right of the box saved by the keeper. Despite dominating the game Sandbach still had be at their best when defending set plays, however they weren’t. In the 37th minute Barnton took a short corner allowing Rigby to send in a cross from the right towards the back post where Dursley was able to head the ball back across goal, it struck Adam Clayton on the way toward goal which directed it into the back of the net leaving Moss with no chance and making the scores level. At half time Sandbach would have been disappointed to not be in the lead as thy had had the better of the play. The second half couldn’t have started much worse for Hockenhull’s men as eight minutes into it Barnton took the lead when a speculative shot from distance by Luke Wilson-Jones was well saved my Moss but he could only parry it into the path of Lee Guirado who tapped on into the empty net from six yards out. Despite being on top for most of the game United suddenly found themselves 2-1 down, however there was still plenty of time left for Sandbach to get back into the game. And they did just that three minutes later when a Charlie Livesey corner from the right was headed home by Kris Stockton who got up highest and headed into the bottom right corner of the net. Unites completed the come back two minutes later when Jordan Davies brilliantly got to the left by line and squared the ball to Livesey who tapped home from six yards making the scores 3-2 to Sandbach and putting them back into the lead. Jordan Davies was running the show for Sandbach, he came close to putting the game beyond doubt in the 74th minute as his quick feet allowed him to get into the box and shoot but unfortunately it was straight at the keeper. The home side had been guilty of missing chances and with 13 minutes of the game to go the should have had 4 when Davies again showed quick feet as he got down the right hand side, he crossed for Erdmann who somehow blazed over from just six yards out. In previous games Sandbach had been made to rue their missed chances and this game has a very similar story as with seven minutes to go Barnton levelled through a stunning free kick from Sam Houghton. He was 25 yards out and he curled the ball around the wall and into the top right corner leaving Moss with no chance and making the scores 3-3. At full time the body language of the Barnton players showed that it was a good point for them, in fairness they did defend well and a draw was probably a fair result. On the other hand Sandbach should have scored more, they had the chances but they just couldn’t put them away.