Beechfield United Football Club

POSTED: September 19 2018 21:41:10 By Keith Long - Utd Hit Top Spot After Three Wins On The Trot

After making it three successive victories Beechfield United Saturday Morning Senior Team found themselves as leaders of the Division 1 table. But United did it the hard way coming back from a goal down following a below-par performance in the first half. At Salford Sports Village United's opponents Manchester Celtic made a confident start to the match and Celtic's No10 wasted a decent chance when he shot wide from fifteen yards. Beechy defenders Ben Rothwell, Matthew Swift and Adam Boakes were soon faced with some unwanted pressure from the visitors and the latter was forced to give away Celtics first corner of the game in the 4th minute. Oliver Brown playing in midfield made a great tackle to win the ball and he combined with Wes Pierce who forced a save from the Celtic keeper. But it was the visitors who were doing the majority of the attacking therefore putting more pressure on United's rearguard and Beechy stand-in keeper Kyle Walton displayed safe handling and awareness inside the penalty area.

Beechy striker Max Leonard produced a great piece of skill to get in a goal scoring position but his effort on target was well saved by agile visitors No1. On the half hour mark United found themselves a goal down when Manchester Celtic were awarded a penalty and the visitors No11 netted the spot-kick for 1-0. As they worked work to find an equalising goal Beechy were guilty of conceding far too many free kicks in their own half plus numerous passes were well off target. Celtic's No10 looked certain to put the visitors 2-0 up after he latched onto a long ball sent forward out of defence but Matthew Swift rescued United with a superb last ditch tackle and luckily Beechy were still just a goal behind at half time. Substitutes Daniel Eckersley and Kyle Wray came off the bench as United Manager Graham Rothwell made a couple of tactical changes ready for the second half. But United were soon under pressure again and could easily have been 3-0 down but in quick succession efforts by Celtic's No7 and No9 hit the post.

Due to a piece of poor judgement by the match official United were denied a goal when a low drive from Scott Foulds beat the keeper and the ball had clearly crossed the line before being booted downfield. Oliver Brown and Max Leonard combined in a neat move that set-up a fair chance for Roy Owen who saw his side footed effort curl past the post. Dean Quinn made his return to the team when took up a left sided position after replacing Oliver Brown. A few dubious decisions briefly frustrated the Beechy players but United were soon rewarded with an equaliser in the 66th minute. The Manchester Celtic keeper was guilty of a glaring error following a long pass into Celtic's half by Adam Boakes and the alert Wes Pierce netted via a deflection off the keeper. A few minutes later the visitors No7 found himself in a clear scoring position only to be denied by a superb save by Kyle Walton. Then United's Man of the Match produced an outstanding double save earning generous praise from his teammates and officials.

Gradually Beechy played with much more freedom and a neat piece of ball control from Daniel Eckersley set-up Max Leonard but he blasted the ball over the crossbar. Scott Foulds saw an attempt to beat the keeper from twenty five yards win United another corner prior to Beechy taking the lead after eighty three minutes. A first-class move between Roy Owen and Daniel Eckersley ended with a quality finish from Max Leonard who scored his fifth goal in three games. Now dominating possession United added goal number three on eighty six minutes when Roy Owen's pass sent Wes Pierce on a mazy run and his brilliant finish left the keeper totally flat-footed. Ben Rothwell, Adam Boakes, Wes Pierce and Daniel Eckersley featured in a swift counter-attack and Scott Foulds completed the scoring close to the final whistle.