On 21st September, the Year 8 Macmillan football team travelled to the Alan West Pitches in Egglescliffe to play Egglescliffe School in the 2nd round of the County Cup.

On 21st September, the Year 8 Macmillan football team travelled to the Alan West Pitches in Egglescliffe to play Egglescliffe School in the 2nd round of the County Cup. Despite the weather blowing a gale the boys remained optimistic that they would overcome thei rivals and make it through to the next round of the cup.

With the kick-off imminent, Macmillan choose to face the strong wind in the first half and playing against a resistant Egglescliffe side, Macmillan kept the ball on the floor and ran their opponents around chasing passes. Lee Richmond sat happily in the centre of midfield to play pass after pass, while allowing his centre midfield partner Dwanye Ward to run around making tackle after tackle. This, combined with a bright start from the two forward players, produced numerous opportunities, which frustratingly were not capitalised on. Defensively, Macmillan never looked worried by their opponents and on the rare occasions when Egglescliffe broke, centre back pairing Jack MacPhillips and Kieran Bolko cleaned up with relative ease.

Although Macmillan had much of the ball and multiple opportunities, the break-through came late in the first half. Macmillan had a corner which Egglescliffe managed to scramble away, the ball however was fired back in by Antonio Trunfio which was parried forward by Egglescliffe keeper for Adam Walton to latch onto and push the ball to the bottom corner. Soon after Macmillan took the lead the referee blew the whistle for half-time.

Despite having the lead and a lot of the ball in the first half, Macmillan were still concerned that they had not scored more goals. After the boys had discussed what was needed and had some refreshment, it was clear that Macmillan were much happier playing with the wind. From the kick off it was apparent that Macmillan were going to move the ball a lot more, which did not please their tiring opponents. The midfields were happy to pick passes and set away the wide players that were doing damage. With Antonio Trunfio and Adam Walton continuing to cause problems up front it was only a matter of time before Macmillan increased their lead.

After 10mins of the first half this breakthrough came, another Macmillan attack led to a free kick on the edge of the box which Lee Richmond immediately claimed as his own to strike. After stepping up Lee Richmond managed to push the ball high over the wall before dropping and leaving the keeper without a chance of climbing high enough to claim it. After this, Macmillan’s confidence grew and they started to pick apart their opponents with relative ease. Great chances were created for Antonio Trunfio and Dwanye Ward, however, it was a well-timed pass that managed to put Adam Walton through a gap to score his second of the match with a cool finish. Macmillan’s final goal came after more pressure caused a mix up within the Egglescliffe box letting Sammy Saleh, who had a fine game from the right, slip in a nod home to make it Macmillan’s 4th. After this Egglescliffe fought back, looking for a conciliation goal. However firm defending from Macmillan back four (Ben Munroe, Jack MacPhillips, Kieran Bolko and Jo Appleyard) ensured that chances were limited. A final mention goes out to Macmillan goal keeper Adrian Morgan, who, although had little to do, remained a strong influence at the back to ensure that the defence were never troubled.

Macmillan will now march on to the next round of the County Cup against St David's, where they know they will have to convert their chances to continue their fine run of form.

Man Of The Match: Lee Richmond

Scores: Adam Walton x 2, Lee Richmond, Sammy Saleh.