Report

Sale entertained Broadheath Central in this semi final encounter at Crossford bridge and it turned out to be a great game of football played in good spirit.
1st period.
Central stunned Sale in the very first minute when we gave a free kick away 20 yards from our own goal and they curled a great shot over Ethan in goal and dipped just under the crossbar..Sale responded superbly though and dominated the rest of the period playing some great football and showing a tremendous work rate and desire along with good technical ability... They pulled level when the ball fell to Will P in the box and with his back to goal he improvised brilliantly to back heel the ball into the net... Ethan and Max were causing there defence all sorts of problems in the wide areas and it was from one of these crosses that the ball fell to Jim, 20 yards out, who smashed his shot passed the keeper....Owen was dominating everything at the back and Joel was running the midfield and the way they were playing more goals looked sure to come.
2nd Period.
Central came out stronger in the 2nd period and Sale lost their shape and conceded 2 quick goals on the break.....and in complete contrast to the 1st period we didn’t pass the ball well and more often than not Owen was left on his own facing 3 central players every time we lost the ball and they attacked....
3rd Period.
Sale got back to something like the 1st period display in this one but couldn’t find that elusive equaliser despite creating a few half chances and a few goal mouth scrambles. Ethan made one outstanding Schmeichel esq save from a Broadheath forward in one of their attacks and then with Sale pushing on Central broke and were awarded a penalty in the dying seconds. Ethan stood big though and again pulled off a great save to give sale a glimmer of hope. But it wasn’t to be today and Central moved on to the final. Congratulations to them....
Overall, Sale were very good in parts today and probably deserved to go through overall but it just wasn’t to be today...They really are maturing as a side, showing good technically ability, desire and game awareness. and I think next year they will be even stronger from the experiences they-ve had this season through some of the games they-ve been involved in. So well done boys, you can be very proud of yourselves.