Following two games in three days Beechfield United were still searching for their first Division 1 victory of the 2016/2017 season.
On Wednesday evening Beechy were at home to Hollinwood FC and after sharing a 2-2 score line at half time United struggled against their talented opponents in the second half and suffered a 4-2 defeat.
Straight from the kick-off Rob Lockley and Danny Royle were involved in some promising moves and after a corner Beechy almost grabbed the lead but a header by Luke Johnston curled inches wide. Hollinwood slowly enjoyed more of the ball and opened the scoring on thirteen minutes thanks to a well struck volley from their number fourteen.
United worked hard as they searched for an equaliser and they got back level on twenty-nine minutes via a close range finish from midfield man Gary Wallis, then two minutes later Lockley and Royle combined in another stylish move and Beechy led 2-1 courtesy of a brilliant goal by Jamie Sinnott.
But Hollinwood quickly put the pressure back onto United’s defensive quartet of Mike Rogerson, Luke Johnston, Kurtis Lee and Andrzej Browne and in the 39th minute the visitors number eight made it 2-2.
Creating some brilliant football on the artificial surface Hollinwood upped the tempo at the start of the second half but their central defender conceded a penalty after fifty-three minutes though Jamie Sinnott failed to beat the keeper from the resulting spot-kick. But an Hollinwood outfit oozing with confidence were soon back in control and their number nine put the visitors 3-2 up thanks to a spectacular finish.
After United conceded a fourth goal they basically ran out of ideas and despite a few tactical changes in an attempt to force at least a draw Beechy had to admit they were beaten by the better team.
At the weekend United were again at home this time against Prestwich Heys Reserves who won a seven goal thriller 4-3.
Making a decent start Beechy had a few early chances but the Heys back four produced some solid defending. United’s Man of the Match Alex Hunter was at the heart of a continuous flow of Beechy attacks but after twenty minutes United had failed to test the ability of the Prestwich keeper. The visitors punished United for a piece of slack defending by taking the lead via their number eleven on twenty-five minutes and though Heys were proving a tough team to beat Beechy got back level when Hunter’s pass found Jamie Sinnott who despite appearing to be in an offside position casually dinked the ball into the net.
Guilty of another piece of poor defending following a corner in the 44th minute Beechy quite simply gifted Heys a 2-1 lead at the break.
United briefly enjoyed a fair share of the ball early in the second period but Beechy trailed 3-1 after fifty-four minutes when Heys’s number 10 scored from the penalty spot. United’s bad habit of giving away soft goals continued to haunt them when Heys led 4-1 in the 61st minute but producing a spirited fightback Beechy stepped up a gear and putting heavy pressure onto their opponents reduced the arrears in the 72nd minute.
Tyler Cooke and Jamie Sinnott linked up superbly and the latter supplied the pass to Rob Lockley who outpaced two defenders before hammering the ball home. Two minutes later it was 4-3 when an effort by Mike Phythian hit the crossbar and during a goalmouth scramble Jamie Sinnott got the vital touch to turn the ball past the keeper.
Showing real character Beechy continued to produce a never say die attitude but they couldn’t complete the comeback with another goal while Heys were happy to soak up the pressure and eventually secure the three points.
