Saturday 26th January

Away Match - Winsford Diamonds v Macclesfield Saints

1^st Match

This was possibly the windiest day the Saints have played on and the force of the wind certainly affected the play from both sides.

The first half was very close with both sides having roughly equal share of the possession. Early on Jack had two great crosses that narrowly missed their mark set up well by Sam and Tom.  Winsford came near to opening the scoring with a high bounce towards goal being cleverly reached by Oliver. The ball was taken back with a skilled run by Mathew English who passed to Sam to make an attempt at goal that was thwarted by the strong winds. Mike and Reece worked well in defence but Winsford managed to score the first goal. Spurred on to equalise, a good run of play by Macc Saints culminated in a great goal by Tom. Not to be outdone, Winsford replied to make it 2:1. They maintained their attacking play  , with Mike at one point taking on 3 defenders single handedly and Oliver making a couple more good saves until Winsford managed to make it 3. Our boys fought back hard, not hindered by a number of stoppages for Jack to make a fabulous pass to Tom who scored to end the first half 3:2.

The second half continued at a similar pace, (punctuated by a few more injury stoppages), with both sides having some very near misses. Tom, Jack and Sam worked well together and when our 3^rd goal came, again  scored by Tom, it literally went through the legs of the Winsford Goalie ! Quite how Jack was denied a goal during this match is a mystery because his play certainly deserved it. The winning goal was scored after a great cross from Sam found Reece who hammered it home.

Final Score   4:3

Player of the Match : Tom Markey.

2^nd Match

The wind continued to affect play during this match, the spectators at times having  difficulty  standing  upright ,with coffee nearly blowing out of the cups, so the boys did exceptionally well to keep playing. They also had to contend with some bad language from the opposition which was disappointing to hear.

Wayne was grateful to James, Toby and Dougie who agreed to take turns in goal which you will see from the final score line was no easy option!!! With Winsford only fielding a side of 6 we did the same. This unfamiliar formation seemed to unsettle Saints and unusually our defence was more readily penetrated by a strong attacking side. After two early goals from Winsford , Dougie took a long shot at goal and scored.  James then made 2 almost identical saves in quick succession but unfortunately another 3 Winsford attempts hit the back of the net making the Half Time score 5:1.

In the second half Macc Saints kept more of the possession early on and set Ross up for a solo run, unfortunately his attempt on goal hit the R hand post. Winsford regained control and despite Toby making some great saves they managed to find the net with another 2 shots. Eddie, Al, Sam and Jamie battled on but the Winsford attack was relentless and they made it past our defence to now meet Douglas in goal. Dougie valiantly faced the Winsford attack making no less than 5 saves in quick succession.  Despite good effort from all our boys the final scored ended 10:1 to Winsford.

Final Score 10:1 to Winsford

Player of the Match: Douglas Swallow

Thanks to Karen for the above match reports.