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Title still in sight after tough clash

19/ 3/2008

ON a very poor pitch at Heywood Sports Centre, Stonemasons turned in another fantastic display to beat Syke, a side determined to halt their push for the title, 3-1.

The opening 25 minutes were evenly contested, with Stonemasons’ Joe Wilsher twice denied by the outstanding Syke keeper.

The visitors, too, created chances, but couldn’t break the rock solid defence of Hughes, Orman, Penrose and Doran for Stonemasons.

The home team upped a gear and a great build up ended when Adam Davies was hauled down on the edge of the box. Captain, Davies cheekily placed the ball around the four-man wall with a low shot into the bottom left hand corner of the net, to give his team a 1-0 interval lead.

Syke came out for the second half with all guns blazing and, within minutes of the restart, levelled the scores.

The hosts bounced straight back and a pulsating move was finished off by the versatile Andrew Carr, who slotted the ball home from six yards.

Stonemasons were now in control and dominating the match. John McHale came on for Ross Jones up front and, as always, he was soon causing havoc in the Syke defence.

And, although tightly marked, he found space to open his account with a sensational 30-yard drive.

Stonemasons piled on the pressure only to see the Syke keeper pull off a string of fine saves.

Barry Taylor, in the home goal, provided the highlight of the day as, with 10 minutes to go, he flung himself to his left to save a penalty kick, which was heading for the bottom right hand corner. The referee, though, ordered the kick to be re-taken, and Taylor repeated the feat with another wonderful save.

Stonemasons finished strongly to take three hard-earned points against a battling Syke outfit.

Andrew Carr was named man of the match for an outstanding display in an unfamiliar position.

Stonemasons would like to thank Mr Farooq Ahmed of Veena’s Restaurant, Heywood for his sponsorship of the club. He was unable to make the team picture due to other commitments.