Goody
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This was an enjoyable game with a good spirit, closely contested and fairly end to end in patches.
This was our first look at Sale Saints, and first impressions were impressive. They are clearly very together as a team, plenty of co-ordination in their pre-match routines and a good deal of cameraderie was evident. As a new side, a lot of our players are still getting to know each other. Also, being a reserve team, we are subject to a good deal of potential change in the make up of our squad from one week to another. In light of this I think the management team of Dave and Rice, and captain John are doing a great job of bringing some unity, pride and team-spirit to a number of players who have half an eye on playing their way out of the team!
Sale started the game stronger than we did, their passing was slick and their movement sharp. They had a number of very accomplished players in midfield, and with us playing in a new formation it took a while for us to settle. While Sale enjoyed more possession early on than we did, they didn't create a huge amount in the way of clear cut chances. On the occasions we did manage to break, our new-look forward line of Green and Birley was causing a number of problems for the Sale defence.
Sale took the lead mid way through the half after we went to sleep around our box and conceded a goal to a well-finished strike and it remained that way until half time. We felt a little unlucky to be down considering the balance of chances, but on balance of possession we couldn't have too many complaints.
The second half was a different story. We established a much firmer hold in midfield, matched the Sale players better, and created a better supply to the forwards. We got level after some great build up play, but unfortunately conceded another shortly afterwards. It was gratifying to see no heads dropping, and we retained a belief that we were capable of getting more goals. So it proved. We got an equaliser after I bundled home a corner that wasn't dealt with, and took the lead after debutant Warburton (who had had a fantastic first half) headed a left wing cross into an empty net after the keeper was wrong-footed. Birley added his second later on tucking away a left wing cross, by which time, the steam seemed to have gone out of the Sale engines.
We had chances for more in the second half too. The second half performance was very satisfying considering we had been left with no subs by the first team(!) and we were playing against a team whose fitness looked to be a strength early on. A difficult pre-season now looks to be paying dividends for the HG reserves though. Division 3 seems to be a great addition to SMCCFL in my view, Sale were a pleasure to play against, very welcoming hosts and a credit to the league. They look to have the makings of a very good side once they find their feet in this league.
We look forward to the return fixture, and look forward to trying to extend our unbeaten league run in 2 weeks against Vinelife!
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