Bees Sale to Fantastic Victory

South Manchester made the ten minute trip down the road to face off against their Sale counter parts knowing all past games have been close fought, both on the pitch and as a result.

The game, however, could not have started any worse for the Bees. A ball was drilled into the D by the Sale winger and the attacker simply put his stick down and deflected it past Colasurdo's shoulder high up. A tad fortunate to get such a deflection but good positioning nonetheless. The first attack of the game and the home side were 1-0 up.

It didn't get any better the South Manchester as they struggled to maintain possession, the experienced Sale defenders stopping any play in the middle of the park. Sale made it 2-0 after just fifteen minutes of the game when a short corner was saved by both Colasurdo and Souter but the second rebound fell kindly for the attacker and he lifted past Scholes on the line to make it 2-0.

The Bees generated only a few chances, the best falling to Afonja coming in from the wing but his effort was well saved by the onrushing keeper. Half time couldn't come soon enough and the Bees were down 2-0. Souter also did well with some last ditch tackles to keep the Bees in the game.

Despite the motivational half time talk from captain Hampton, Sale nearly made it 3-0 and only a low diving glove save by Colasurdo from a deflected shot kept the Bees in it. And so it proved when just minutes later, Lamb found Greenhough at the top of the D and although the Yorkshireman didn't strike it cleanly, it had enough on it to squirm through the keeper. 2-1 and the momentum had swung. Sale struggled to keep hold of the ball whilst their tactic of smashing it through the middle to their forwards became predictable with Holmes and Ainsley particularly impressing in interceptions. The equaliser came from a well worked short corner; Greenhough slipping it back to injector Smith who swept it into the bottom corner.

South Manchester pushed for a winner. Critten, Leonard and Scholes were solid at the back, breaking up play after play and supplying the midfield with plenty of chances. One of these chances lead to Greenhough finding possession deep, finding Hampton on the right who played a lovely ball into Afonja unmarked in the D. He showed some great stick work by swivelling round the keeper and tapping it in. 3-2 but the Bees weren't finished yet. Rigby found space on the left on another counter attack and played a wonderful through ball to Holmes in the D who placed it past the home keeper. 4-2 and maybe a calm finish for once.

That, however, is not the Bees way and when Sale converted another short corner with 5 minutes to play, things could've got nervy. However, South Manchester were resilient and held the ball with confidence and the cheer at the end was a mixture of joy and relief.

a 4-3 win made even sweeter by the fact that South Manchester were 2-0 down at half time, showing the character of the team. The Bees are still a long way back on the promotion race but with two games in hand and Alderley and Sale to play each other still, I think a 'never say never' mentality is what is being adopted.

Man of the Match was given to Critten for his fine defensive display whilst DoD went to Hampton for forgetting his shinpads. Away to Stockport next week for what will surely be another tough encounter.