Both sets of players arrived at the ground feeling the nerves of the final they were about to take part. Before the final the players got a chance to interview youngster John Mcgready who shared his experience about being involved in a Wembley cup final. After, the players created their guard of honour before preparing themselves for the final that was about to take place.
Big game nerves could have easily affected both teams with the prize of winning the tournament on the line, but confident flowing football was on offer in what turned out to be a hard fought and very close tie. Salterlee struggled to assert their dominance which has been seen very often this year over a physical Savile Park side who failed to allow their opposition any time on the ball, but a momentary lapse in concentration allowed a through ball to be played into the path of the Salterlee number 5 who was able to round the keeper and put his side a goal to the good early on. At the other end and identical equaliser was almost scored immediately. From the kick off a Salterlee pass was intercepted by the Savile Park striker who, just like his opposition, rounded the keeper but an unfortunate trip meant he was unable to get his shot in on target.
With a goal advantage Salterlee were able to play the ball around and it was the number 5 who managed to scored get himself a brace finding himself in the right place with a pass going across the Savile Park keeper which he was able to slot home for a two goal lead. But determined to make a fight of it, Savile Park wouldn’t give up, and a show of strength allowed him to burst through the defence the Salterlee to pull his side back into the game.
The second half was now wide open, and an end to end period followed with both keepers making good saves for their teams causes, and an open goal miss was thrown in for good measure by the Salterlee number 5, so close to a hattrick but a bobble on the Shay pitch spoiled a good chance. The Salterlee defence tightened up to prevent a match winning goal from being scored, restricting Savile Park to shooting from range without troubling the keeper.
Congratulations to Salterlee and Commiserations to Savile Park. A big thank you to Luke Couchman and Elliot Walsh for helping out this season. If you would like to sponsor the schools competition next season then please get in touch with Debbie Charlton on 07715 372333.
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