16th August 2017 - Cheadle Town 1 v 2 Alsager Town - Another midweek match, this one following a day of work, some drawing of fungal spores and a sort through the moth trap - tis all par for the course for the amateur naturalist. Cheadle Town are the most local team to me, in fact they are only a 15 minute walk away so I suppose you could call me a fan but, I am an awkward spiked cuss and am a fan of all the non-league teams I watch and turn up to each and every match utterly neutral (no not neutered - I like me knackers). It is a fine state of affairs and although I do have a preference for certain grounds I always leave a match happy if both units have bared their balls, perspired blood and blistered their tootsies in pursuit of the leathered globe. Tonight the home grown greens faced the boldness of the Bullets, would they get shot down or force a backfire that would rupture the early prospects of the guests - here is what actually transpired!
Cheadle provided good early pressure with a shot, a corner and a few tidy moves all culminating in a kick back from the guests in red. No 11 (Joshua Glover) for the guests was a potential menace and used quick feet to earn a free-kick and re-balance the game. The idea behind the bonus punt was solid but alas, the execution was limp. From here though Alsager blossomed brightest with the hosts looking decidedly fragile and indecisive at the rear. A pattern was set - Alsager opted to push, Cheadle to absorb and try and sneak a break. There wasn't much to scribble home about in these early stages and the game certainly needed a good greasing up and a finger up its jacksie. Eventually it was the visitors who advanced with promise after their No 10 (Michael Lennon) produced some excellent work along the flank, weaved in from the corner and crossed with the concrete noggin of his comrade Glover, nutting home a strong looping header. 0 - 1 we were, just what the soccerised quack prescribed - now let's have it. Cheadle needed a quick response, their No 8 (Daniel Wood) showed optimism and let loose a shot, unfortunately it rose over the crossbar - worth a dig though!
Disputed decisions came next and a heap of pointless bitching that blighted any chance of game development. We hit a cruddy patch, a real messy affair laden with mistakes, loose passes and just rusted rhythm. It was a testing affair and perhaps the diaries of Kenneth Williams had more positivity in them than this game - ooh matron, stop it. Having hit the doldrums a high point came when an Alsager bod popped up and delivered a honey coated shot that was only denied by an equally sweet save - maybe there is hope of a decent game after all. Next and some beautiful link-up liquidity from the home lads was cruelly halted and a card was posted the way of Lewis Bergin. Cheadle were showing good spirit during a bad patch and although the free-kick was straight at the gloved man between the sticks there was a definite belief rising in the gut of the greens. The dying embers of a duff half came, for me the home team were cultivating some fair pressure but all impetus was banished when the man in black blew for the break.
Yoghurt Raisins and some Clementine juice for me and a browse of a book on Edgar Degas - a fine artist who, if creating a picture of tonight's game would be struggling to find any real colour thus far - we need the palette spilled, we need some impressionist abandonment with the end result something quite classy. I pondered and then heard the clatter of boots coming down a tunnel - here come the combatants.
Half 2, the traps are open, Cheadle are sharp but the first attempt on goal with any real venom comes the way of the A's with a firm crack and swerve from the substitute making sure the keeper held his concentration to block. The travelers were having the best of things with several promise-heavy balls just falling short of the killer stroke, The hosts needed to stay focused and did just that when they produced a pearling pass that was connected with and humped goalward by Chris Sherringham, just wide. A free-kick followed, this time for Alsager, the defending was dire the header that came should have buried the game as a contest. The Town came back with their own free-kick - no takers, way too high. A Cheadle sub came, it gave birth to a green improvement, a break was had but thwarted and then a silky passing move was had but was still denied glory at the death. There was an impetus rising and warning bells ringing when, on the 69th minute Hincks opened the defense with a fine ball that was collared and crossed whereupon Michael Sherrington dillied and dallied and yet somehow forced the ball in the waiting net - all square folks, and now for a gear shift.
Now the Park Road pack had their tails up and they were mightily unlucky when Michael Sherrington couldn't bring the pacey ball under control and do better than the shot that was easily saved by the keeper. Moments later he was through again but mis-controlled and the keeper cleared. Cheadle were on the up but to keep them sober Alsager's Sub (Remeece Brown) broke with high tempo and was clipped by the keeper and impeded by a defender. The advantage was played, came to nothing and a booking was given - how odd? It was end to end stuff now, Cheadle's sub had a chance to fire but was tackled at the last and as the home team tried to get those 3 points and pushed further forward the ball somehow ended up back at the tootsies of Alsager's Remeece Brown. He went on a mission, weaved inside and saw a glimpse of goal. He opened his body, swung his boot and the ball stayed low, swung in and found the bottom corner. It was a decisive moment and after a few more minutes proved to be the winning moment too. I thought a draw was on the cards when things became all square but if a goal was going to snatch a win then this was a deserving effort.
This wasn't a great game if truth be told and there were some very hit and miss performances but, I think (Aaron Fleming) of Cheadle Town displayed enough quality and high potential to just sneak the Man of the Match Award tonight. In the first half particularly he was one of the brightest beacons in a fog of despair and in the second half he worked and ran well to keep his team competitive.
FINAL THOUGHT - Ring-rust is a bugger to shake off and both these units look to still be displaying laboring symptoms. This was hardly a spectacle of lofty entertainment and during the last moments of the game anyone could have grabbed the win. Cheadle have had a big turn-over of players and that obviously knocks the stuffing out of a team but I am sure they will be mid-table or even higher come next April. Alsager have some hefty gits in their tribe but perhaps need a bit more pace here and there, as supplied by Remeece Brown who, as it transpired, made a mighty difference. I think this lot will be hovering around the peripheries of the play-offs come season end but...between now and then a whole lotta sweat needs pouring in - we shall see!
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