This was Junior Blues'
first match for four weeks, due to the recent persistent rain, and didn't
it just show! Although the better side, they laboured their way to three
points, as the rustiness showed throughout the team for the entire match.
Had Lady Luck not shone on them, they could well have been facing embarrassing
defeat.
All the early pressure came from Leek,
and but for an excellent double save by the Cheadle 'keeper from Jamie
Robinson, Blues would have taken the lead
inside of two minutes. Then soon after, James Brough went close with
a shot from outside the area.
However, with their first serious attack, Cheadle
were awarded a penalty for elbowing by a Leek
defender. Fortunately though for Blues,
the ensuing spot-kick went wide. It looked as though Cheadle would rue
that miss, as Blues created more chances,
the closest of which was a shot from Danny Gruic, which scraped the
angle of post and bar.
It was just a matter of time before the goal came,
but when it did, it was at the other end. A throw in was optimistically
thumped forward, and while the Leek defence
hesitated, Ashley Birchall, nipped in, and he finished superbly from
the edge of the box.
This was perhaps the spur that
Blues needed, and after more chances had been missed, James
Brough slid home the equaliser from a Chris Leigh corner.
Three minutes later, Blues went in front,
when Oliver Edwards
pounced on a loose ball before the 'keeper could pick it up, and hammered
it into the empty net.
Several more chances went begging before the interval,
but again, they were either saved or went narrowly wide.
H/T: - Blues 2-1 Cheadle
Early in the second half,
Blues survived another close scare, when Ashley Birchall went
round 'keeper, Jim Brunt, but fortunately for Blues,
put his shot wide.
But the action was mainly centred on the Cheadle
goal, and Blues went close on several occasions.
Sam Hall, back after his recent injury, in particular, was twice desperately
unlucky, when he first hit the bar, and then sent a header agonisingly
wide.
Jamie Robinson and Danny Gruic both went close a
few times, but the safety of a third goal remained elusive. Although
they dominated the second half, Blues didn't
have it all their own way, and just to remind them that it was not all
over, Cheadle went very close to levelling the game, from a free kick.
However, Blues hung
on for the win, and at the end, they were very grateful for the three
points. Much of this victory can be attributed to Blues
'keeper, Jim Brunt, who foiled the Cheadle forwards on several occasions.
This was a hard fought battle, which, although Junior
Blues deserved to win the game, they made very heavy work of
it, and had Cheadle converted their penalty and gone two up, it would
have been so very different.
Blues forgot the basics
in this match - that is to pass the ball, and work as a team. If they
want to extend their 40 match unbeaten run, they are going to have to
improve greatly on this performance.
Our grateful thanks go to
match sponsor CROFT COURT GARAGE, and the ball sponsors, M & J POOLE
NEWSAGENTS.