Following a hat trick of defeats Beechfield United earned themselves a fully deserved moral boosting victory when they beat Division 1 leaders Leigh Athletic 2-1 away.
In the FBT Manchester Football League United produced an excellent all-round performance and gained revenge because Beechy lost 2-0 when the teams met three weeks earlier.
On a first class playing surface United faced some early pressure as the home side quickly found their attacking rhythm and Leigh’s No 9 was inches away from opening the scoring via a long range effort and some great defending from Mike Rogerson, Luke Johnston, Rob Lockley and Carl Ravenscroft was needed to keep the hosts lively forwards at bay.
A great move through midfield involving Steve Erskine carved out a chance for Brad Sixsmith but after creating a decent shooting opportunity he hammered the ball over the crossbar. Always looking dangerous via the swift counter-attack Leigh Athletic continued to create a glut of chances and two of their midfield trio saw shots from outside the area curl just wide of the target.
On 33 minutes United took the lead when Chris Ferris won possession but after losing the ball made a sliding tackle and touched the ball onto Mike Leach who fired it into the net off the far post.
As expected Leigh Athletic quickly bounced back and their number two thought he had equalised but Man of the Match Rob Lockley who had a brilliant game produced a superb acrobatic goal line clearance.
Straight after the restart Beechy’s back four found themselves facing a barrage of attacks from a determined Leigh Athletic outfit. Following a corner in the 51st minute the home team made it 1-1 via a rather scrappy goal and minutes later another goal line clearance by Carl Ravenscroft rescued United and keeper Jordan Broxson was also in action producing two top-class saves.
A superb counter-attack by Beechy almost put them back in front after Craig Massey broke clear down the left flank and his deep cross was met by substitute Jamie Sinnott who’s header flew past the post. United continued to display more desire and commitment that had been missing in recent games and after Leigh Athletic had gone close to finding a second goal United’s match winning goal arrived after 73 minutes.
Producing another jinking run was Craig Massey who’s accurate cross was met by Mike Leach and his low angled drive was saved by the keeper but the quick thinking Alex Hunter was in the right place to fire the rebound into the net. As the fast action moved swiftly from end to end United still had some defending to do in the last ten minutes and substitute Andrzej Browne made a couple of vital ball winning tackles.
In last sixty seconds Leigh Athletic created their final attack and Jordan Broxson made an important save to guarantee United the win and all three points.
