Wythenshawe Amateurs 0-2 Sandbach United

Jason Doggett praised his sides “excellent performance, and said his players played with pride, passion and fight” as they ran out 2-0 winners away at Wythenshawe Amateurs.. The teams met on Tuesday for first of two games in five days against one another, The Ammies ran out 3-1 winners thanks to two quick goals in the second half. So this time Sandbach were on the hunt for revenge.

United we’re forced to field a very Young’s side due to injuries, unavailability and various players leaving the club. In fact 11 of the 14 squad members were under 19 years old.

The game began with the hosts having the upper hand, and they had the first opportunity of the game after just seven minutes. The pace of Travis Boyles hurt Sandbach on Tuesday and it looked as though it was going to be case again on Saturday as he got in behind following a long ball over the top. As he got into the box down the right he shot, but didn’t connect properly. This made harder for Booth who had to readjust before saving well down to his left.

Sandbach’s young lads had real pace and looked dangerous going forward. Harry Walker and Lucas Baker linked up well down the right side before Walker flashed a low cross across the face of the goal, however unfortunately for Sandbach the outstretched Tom Williams couldn’t quite reach it at the back post.

Sandbach had come into the game in the last few minutes and when they took the lead it was no shock to anyone. When a low ball in from the left side fizzing in, Lucas Baker was on hand to tap home into the empty net and give his side the lead on the eve of his birthday.

Going a goal ahead was huge for United as it gave them a platform to build on. They now had a lead to protect and they could afford to get bodies behind the ball.

The home side we’re trying to exploit the pace of Travis Boyles but their long balls were holding up in the wind making them relatively ineffective.

As the first half came to an end it was safe to say that it was far from a classic but the only thing that mattered was that Sandbach were ahead and they were looking solid at the back.

Sandbach started the second 45 very positively. Kieran Knapper had two good early opportunities. The first was a low cross that flashes across the face of goal and just evaded the outstretched toe of Sean Moscrop. His second opportunity was one that he will be disappointed with as he went through on goal but blazed well over from just inside the box.

With half an hour of the game to go the home side we’re pushing for an equaliser as Sandbach we’re sitting deep to stop the long ball over the top. Wythenshawe were able to come forward and try their look out wide. When a cross came in from the left it went over the head of Adam Clayton at the back post and well nicely for Briody who sliced his volley well wide of the goal from the right side of the box.

The home side we’re throwing everything at Sandbach, which meant that when Sandbach won the ball they could break, and with the pace United had they looked a real threat. When Moscrop got in behind and raced towards goal he really should have scored, however he fired his shot straight at the keeper to keep the game very much in the balance.

In fairness to Sandbach’s very young defence they were holding firm, throwing their bodies on the line and dealing with everything that Wythenshawe had thrown at them.

With just minutes to go Sandbach once again we’re able to counter attack, Sean Moscrop races towards goal before finding Garner-Knapper on the edge of the box, he then squared to Williams who was in the box and unmarked. Williams shot past the onrushing keeper and as his strike came off the underside of the bar it looked to have crossed the line. However the referee thought otherwise and waved away the Sandbach protests.

The referee added four minutes of injury time. Which was plenty of time for the game to see another game. With Sandbach players suffering from a lack f match fitness it was really a case now of backs to the wall, old fashioned defending, which in fairness had worked for them all game. The hosts were giving all the had to try and snatch an equaliser late on.

In the second minute of Injury time Sandbach make the game safe and added a second goal very much against the run of play. Adam Clayton Brilliantly won the ball on halfway before finding Goalscorer Lucas Baker who this time was the provider as he found Garner-Knapper in the box who kept a composed head and spotted past the keeper to send the bench, players and fans into absolute delirium.

Moments later the game ended Sandbach had earned a valuable three points. The fight and passion that they showedfor the full 90 minutes was incredible and left everyone involved with the club with a beaming smile on their faces.

After the game we caught up with first team coach Jason Dogget “Today meant something to them our club should be proud of them. Thanks to everyone that supported us & to all the volunteers working hard behind the scenes”