Saturday 2nd September
North West Counties Football League First Division South
Brocton 5 Abbey Hey 0
Brocton made two changes from the side that beat Stockport Georgians on Bank Holiday Monday. Henry Smith replaced the unavailable Tom Vaughan in the heart of defence, with Christian Blanchette taking the place of Lucas Green-Birch who took his place on the subs bench. League leaders Abbey Hey gave a debut to Ashley Hall in goal.
It was the visitors that had the first attempt on goal, Rhys Clooney chipping over the bar after just 40 seconds. Brocton’s response was immediate and clinical. Blanchette won a header in midfield. Reg Smith hooked the ball forward to Morgan Payne. Payne checked back from his defender and curled a superb shot into the far corner, to give Brocton the lead after just two minutes. Two minutes later, a free kick from Will Whieldon was headed over the bar by Henry Smith. Brocton were in the mood and Whieldon then dragged a shot wide from a decent position. In the 12th minute, a floated free kick from Whieldon was met by the head of Payne and the ball drifted agonisingly wide of the post. Brocton were not to be denied and they grabbed their second goal after 15 minutes. Payne, giving the Abbey Hey defence nightmares, reached the byline, crossed low where Blanchette audaciously flicked the ball into the net past Hall. Super play from Brocton should have added a third in the 19th minute. Charlie King played the ball inside the defender for Blanchette to run on to. His low cross was met first time by Payne, and with the keeper beaten, the ball skimmed the outside of the far post. Abbey Hey broke quickly and an excellent cross from Ivanilson Da Silva was met by the head of Clooney but his header was over the bar. Jake Thomas had a chance for Brocton, but he headed over from another Whieldon corner. In the 22nd minute, Abbey Hey discipline let them down with skipper Kieran Nolan sent to the sinbin. Reg Smith hammered a free-kick low towards goal, but it was well saved by Hall. Brocton continued to play some scintillating football. Blanchette played the ball inside the defender to Reg Smith and his cross was inches above the head of Payne. In the 32nd minute, Adam Weldon volleyed over the bar. Four minutes later, Payne was tripped in the penalty area, the referee having no hesitation pointing to the spot. Whieldon stepped up and hammered his spot kick into the roof of the net. Despite not getting on the score sheet, Reg Smith was tormenting the Abbey Hey defence. Another excellent run saw him into the area to be thwarted by an excellent save from Hall. In stoppage time, the hardworking Da Silva shot across the face of goal for the visitors.
Half Time: Brocton 3 Abbey Hey 0
Abbey Hey made a double substitution at half-time to try and get a foothold in the game. This enabled them to be far more competitive, at least in the initial stages of the half. Whieldon was off target with another effort before a long range attempt from Aaron Swift was caught under the bar by Tony Allsopp. Brocton began to resume the control that they had in the first half. Good approach play from the home side saw Blanchette play a through ball to Reg Smith, but he couldn’t stop the ball running away from him. In the 66th minute problems deepened for Abbey Hey when Daryll Grant was shown a straight red card after it looked like the referee was going to send him to the bin. Any hope Abbey Hey had of getting back into the game evaporated and it was now a case of could Brocton add to their tally. A minute after the sending off, Reg Smith hit a free kick against the wall before curling the rebound over the bar. Reg Smith turned provider in the 72nd minute, teeing up Whieldon who fired low into the corner to make it four. Whieldon went close to a hat-trick moments later when his fierce drive was inches wide of the target. In the 78th minute, great work again from Reg Smith, beating two defenders before seeing his shot well saved by Hall. Reg Smith finally managed to get the ball in the net in the 79th minute, heading home a super cross from Cam Osborne only to see the linesman’s flag raised for offside. In the 86th minute, Reg Smith rattled the cross bar following good work from Green-Birch. Brocton scored the fifth goal their performance deserved two minutes from time. Reg Smith played the ball inside to Declan Arber. The ball rolled away from Arber, but Green-Birch picked his spot and curled a superb effort past Hall.
Full-time: Brocton 5 Abbey Hey 0 Attendance:112
Brocton: Tony Allsopp, Adam Weldon (Charlie Marshall 73), Matty Bestall, Kenny Devoir, Henry Smith, Will Whieldon, Christian Blanchette (Connor Haddaway 65), Jake Thomas (Lucas Green-Birch 73), Reg Smith, Charlie King (Declan Arber 79), Morgan Payne (Cam Osborne 77)
Abbey Hey: Ashley Hall, Daryll Grant, Mitchell Nolan (Darius Photiou 45), Cleo Fraser (Ashley Woods 45), Kierna Nolan, Aaron Swift, Ivanilson Da Silva, Danny Warburton, Rhys Clooney (Anthony Hall 65), William Shawcross (George Mzorek 79), Ben Vincent (Sikirulahi Hamzat 79)
Sin Bin: Kieran Nolan (Abbey Hey 22)
Yellow Cards: Reg Smith 9Brocton); Ashley Hall, Warburton, Clooney (Abbey Hey)
