WINSTANLEY LEAVE IT LATE

Match report written by Faith Riddell. Faith is an upper sixth student who hopes to become a sports journalist in the future. We are delighted to publish her firs article! Well done Faith.

WINSTANLEY LEAVE IT LATE

On Wednesday 15^th November, the second teams of Winstanley College and Bury College played a tightly fought match which resulted in a big win for the boys at Winstanley. It was cold and wet weather conditions but that didn’t stop the boys from playing a high quality match.

After Winstanley lost their last match against Oldham Sixth Form College and Bury previously drawing against Clitheroe Royal Grammar School, both teams stepped on the pitch hungry for a win.

Winstanley’s starting lineup was:

(3-5-2)

1.Michael Cloherty 2. Ben Glover 6.Ethan Dwyer 4.Matty Williams 5.Harry Bibby

3.Joshua Davies 8. Sam Dunn 17. Fletcher McIntosh (captain) 14. Noah Marston-Yim

9. Toby McGucken 10. Luca Monaghan

First Half

Winstanley started the game strongly creating a couple of early chances with a direct ball being the key to success. However, it was Bury who took the lead against the run of play after Winstanley lost possession of the ball carelessly in midfield. Bury counter attacked at speed scoring with 12 minutes gone.
 

Chances continued to come for the home side with Luca Monaghan, Toby McGucken and Sam Dunn all coming close in the first half. Changes were made to the Winstanley side with Benji Ratcliffe, Tommy O’Reilly, Roan Van Cuylenburg and Tristan Cassidy all coming on halfway through the first half. Shortly followed with another substitution of Matty Williams for Joe Milner.

It was one of these substitutes, Tommy who not only won a free kick but then goes ahead and scores it from the edge of the 18-yard box. He places the free kick beautifully into the left-hand side of the goal leaving the keeper with no chance. Tommy’s goal shifts the momentum to Winstanley enhancing the morale of the home team and it is Winstanley who finishes the half stronger. Tommy has yet another free kick, this time though it is saved by the Bury keeper.

After a very energetic and evenly contested 40 minutes, the first half is brought to a close with the scores level at 1-1.

Second half

The second half commences, and the wind picks up as Bury restart the game and come straight at Winstanley with an early chance. This, however, is put wide and is a let off for the home side. After 10 minutes, Winstanley again make substitutions to try and wrestle control back in the game.

The game is in the balance with half chances for both sides. This game could definitely go either way.

Heading into the final 20 minutes it is Winstanley who take their chance. A deflected through ball leads to Sam Dunn driving forward on goal. Sam puts the ball through the keeper’s legs allowing Luca Monaghan to tap the ball over the line to make sure of the goal. The heads of Bury seem to have dropped as Winstanley’s confidence builds.

The game is very much in the balance heading into the final 10 minutes.

With minutes left the ball is played out to Josh Davies, who is positioned on the left wing. After cutting inside, he is seemingly fouled inside the penalty area, but the referee plays the advantage leading to Sam Dunn cooly steering the ball into the bottom corner leaving the Bury keeper with no chance. Sam now has a goal and an assist in the game.

Throughout the remaining 5 minutes, Winstanley maintained their control with some crucial defensive play from Ethan Dwyer.

When the final whistle was blown marking full time, it was ecstasy for the Winstanley Boys who had just defeated Bury College with a final score of 3-1. Two crucial late goals led to a fantastic 3-1 victory for the team.

Post-match questions

Following the match, I spoke to some of the lads about how they found the game and their team’s performance.

When questioned on how he thinks the team has performed so far this season, Sam Dunn answered, ‘We started a bit slow but with a new group of players you’re not always going to start the best. But, in recent weeks we have had good performances, and it looks good for the future’.

I asked a couple of the team’s players about who stood out to them throughout the match. This came with a variety of responses showing it was a great all round team performance. One of the boys said, “Sam stood out, I thought when he came back on, he made an instant impact, worked hard all over the pitch and obviously got us a goal and assist”. Another player also said, “Roan and Ethan were amazing today. They both did their jobs very well.”

It was an exhilarating afternoon for the boys. Let’s hope this success continues in their next match, where they will travel away on 22^nd November 2023 against Priestley College.

Article by Faith Riddell