Saturday December 4th
North West Counties Football League First Division South
Cheadle Town 1 Brocton 1
Brocton made six changes from the side that lost at Abbey Hulton United in their previous league game. There was a debut for 17 year old Birmingham City goal keeper Alfie Brooks who replaced the unavailable Tony Allsop. Another 17 year old, Under 21 skipper Ethan Scutt, was named among the substitutes.
With torrential rain falling in Cheadle all day, it was a remarkable effort by the team at Park Road to get the game on at all. It was the home side that made the first impression with Keiren Nelson forced into a superb clearance to thwart Ryan Usher. Alex Curtis, as he was to do all afternoon, caused issues for Cheadle down their left and his cross was gathered by keeper Elliot Wynne. In the 5th minute, a cross from Jack McConnell was cleared for a corner by Ryan Douglas. The young Brocton keeper was called into action for the first time a minute later to save an effort from Usher. Curtis was finding space down the right and he played in Cameron Osborne who was well blocked by Warren Gaskin. Curtis again beat McConnell, but his cross was in front of everyone. In the 21st minute, an excellent ball down the touchline was into the path of Curtis and his near post cross saw Christian Blanchette challenge the keeper to be unfairly adjudged to have committed a foul. Brooks was called into action to make a fine save from Michael Connor. Brocton should have taken the lead on the half hour mark. Curtis again from the right crossed low into the box and Osborne, under pressure, missed the target. The confidence or impetuosity of youth was shown in the 38th minute when Brooks rolled the ball out, beat the challenge of Patrick Davin by nutmegging the big striker before clearing his lines. Ben Haddaway twice cleared his lines with Cheadle pushing for an opener as the half drew to a close.
Half-Time: Cheadle Town 0 Brocton 0
The diabolical weather did not abate during the break and the underfoot conditions continued to worsen. Cheadle had the first opportunity of the half, Thomas Morris testing Brooks from distance. Brocton took the lead in the 53rd minute and it was a goal that defied the conditions. Connor Haddaway picked out Curtis with a defence splitting pass. The player manager crossed low to the near post where Jake Thomas got there before the defender to clip the ball home. Osborne forced a decent save from Wynne as Brocton strived for a second. Connor Haddaway had a good chance to double the lead, beating the defender but dragging his shot wide. Cheadle were on level terms with fifteen minutes remaining. Substitute Isaac Noble cut in from the right, created an opening and curled a left footed shot into the corner giving Brooks no chance. Two minutes later and Cheadle went close to their second. A super ball from Paul Sunderland saw Davin slide in and his shot hit the outside of the post. Both sides were not content to settle for a point and continued to try and play football in the deteriorating conditions. It was Cheadle that came closes to a winner with five minutes left on the clock. A quick break from a Brocton attack saw Sunderland let fly from 25 yards and his shot rattled the cross bar and bounced to safety. A draw was probably a fair reflection over the 90 minutes with both sides deserving the utmost credit for putting on a show on a horrible day.
Full-Time: Cheadle Town 1 Brocton 1 Attendance:57
Cheadle Town: Elliot Wynne, Jake Bates (Craig Barnett 62), Jack McConnell, Paul Sunderland, Warren Gaskin, Thomas Morris, Sam Hadfield-Summerbee (Isaac Noble 54), Adam Jones, Patrick Davin, Michael Connor (David Adshead 72), Ryan Usher. Subs (Not Used): Stephen Pigott, Daniel Meadowcroft
Brocton: Alfie Brooks, Ryan Douglas, Dan Evans, Keiren Nelson, Tom Vaughan, Ben Haddaway, Alex Curtis, Jake Thomas (Kenny Devoir 86), Christian Blanchette (Cam Jackson 86), Connor Haddaway, Cameron Osborne (Brad Rolston 83). Subs (Not Used): Ethan Scutt, Dean Williams
Yellow Cards: Ben Haddaway, Curtis (Brocton)
