On what has to be described as a beautiful September day Northwood turned up at Cheadle looking to knock the division 1 team out and on paper would have been the favorites’. Northwood welcomed back Gary Tams, Adam Fox and Simon Powner however they lost last weeks goal scorer Paul Snape in the warm up who hadn’t quite recovered from an ankle injury picked up a week before, winger Martin Wild was also missing due to a groin injury.
When Northwood got up to the pitch most the players looked surprised as the pitch was the best pitch we’d played on all season, if a team wasn’t able to play football on there then it was time to pack up !
The game got underway and pretty much started how it was to continue. The division two team really got at Northwood, Cheadle’s centre midfielder was pulling all the strings and stretching Northwood’s back three with superb angled balls. Northwood tried to get the ball down but they looked shaky and looked like they were panicking. It wasn’t long before Cheadle made there pressure tell. On the 24th minute a cross from the left found Cheadle midfielder Mark Kent in plenty of space who had time to chest down and volley home. A great finish.
Like times before Northwood didn’t let there heads drop and they tried to get back at Cheadle, however the Cheadle back four were standing strong. It was on the 23rd minute that Northwood striker Dave Ottley managed to win a penalty after being held in the box. Skipper Tony Davies picked up the ball and gave the Cheadle goalkeeper no chance.
A combination of Northwood playing poorly and Cheadle at the top of the game meant that Northwood couldn’t get a foothold in the game and Cheadle kept pressing. After 38 minutes Northwood failed to deal with a goal kick which was flicked on well and finished from about 20yards by Cheadle striker Rob Brown.
Half time came at a good time for Northwood and was a chance for manager Kevin Ellis to regroup his players and try and put some words of wisdom across.
Northwood went out for the second half pumped up, however so were Cheadle making the second half a bit more even, Northwood tried to make chances but the Cheadle defense were standing strong, Northwood tried to get the re positioned Gary Tams who was playing on the wing for the first time this season and it was Tam’s pace that looked threatening.
However on 64 minutes Cheadle’s striker Rob Brown managed lose his marker and lob the oncoming goal keeper to put Cheadle 3-1 ahead. This really seemed to deflate Northwood who on a hot afternoon simply hadn’t been good enough. Northwood still tried to press but this left even more gaps and Cheadle were counter attacking well with midfielder Mark Kent continuing to pull the strings.
The final whistle came and Northwood were relieved, they’d been well beaten by the better team. With very few positives from the game one of the most pleasing things would have been the performance of Tams on the right, a surprise inclusion in the team at that position who caused a threat whenever he showed his pace.
Again Cheadle must be given credit and they look a good outfit, they have an A1 pitch and a good team to play on it. All the best in the next round.
Man of the Match
Team
Heath (M), Wild (L), Pickford, Sherwin, Powner, Cockfield, Tams, Davies, Heath (P), McGraw, Ottley
Subs
Nixon, Fox, Brown