Sandbach United 1-0 Abbey Hulton United

Sandbach had started positively in the past few games and this was the case in this game. After after just two minutes they had their first opportunity of the game as Robbie Hatton cut inside from the left side, but unfortunately for him his strike went just over the bar.

Sandbach had the better of the play in the first period of the game, they really should have made their dominance count when they were awarded a penalty in the 25th minute. Robbie Hatton latched onto a pass in behind before being bought down in the box, leaving the referee no choice but to point to the spot. Hatton stepped up to take the resulting penalty but keeper guessed the right way and palmed
Hatton’s weak penalty away.

Ten minutes later the away side almost made United pay for the missed penalty as Matty Pearson was dispossessed by Lee Cropper on the edge of his own box. Cropped then drove towards and tried to fire past Booth, thankfully for Sandbach the Crewe loanee stood firm and blocked Croppers shot with his face.

With a minute to go until the break Sandbach had a golden chance to take the lead. Ryan Allcock drove into the Abbey Hulton box before sliding a pass to Chris Rowntree who was down the right side, the sandbach captain took a touch before shooting low towards the far post but unfortunately for him it went just the wrong side of the post.

At half time Sandbach would have considered themselves very unlucky not be have been a goal ahead, as they had dominated the game up to now.

The second half began the same way the first half did, with Sandbach well on top.

Five minutes into the half, Sandbach finally took the lead. Matthew Pearson drove down the right flank, before getting to the byline and crossing towards Baker. The keeper looked to have this covered by he dropped the ball at the feet of Lucas Baker who reacted quickly to tap into the empty net. Finally Sandbach we’re rewarded for their dominance but now it was a case of holding on for their first time in over a month.

Seven minutes after scoring Abbey Hulton really should have levelled as Thomas Ashton found himself through on goal as a deflected pass fell to him inside the box. Ashton managed to shrug off the defender and get in on goal. Booth came racing off his line, forcing Ashton to panic and slice his shot well wide of the right post. A reprieve for Sandbach.

The second half was more open than the first, both sides were having their fair share of the ball. On the hour mark Sandbach came agonisingly close to doubling their lead. Robbie Hatton lined up a free kick from the left side. It was a about 25 yards out. The free kick went through the wall and then crashed off the left post before being cleared away to safety.

With 20 minutes to go tackles were flying in and the game was getting very heated. In the 72nd minute the game took a nasty turn as Abbey Hulton were reduced to ten men when Keyvn David went flying in on Adam Clayton, sparking handbags from both sides. Once it calmed down Davis was given his marching orders by the referee, making Abbey Hulton’s task a lot harder.

In the last ten minutes both Kristian Parsons and Callum Evans we’re both sent to the sin bin by the referee. The game fizzled out in the last ten minutes. Sandbach blocked out any threat that Hulton offered.

As the referee blew the final whistle it was relief for Sandbach who picked up their first win since November 23rd. Hopefully this will be a turning point for Sandbach who look to get their season back on track.