S7 SOCCER ACADEMY 3 - 1 ENWL - LAST 16

S7 Soccer Academy are through to the quarter finals of the Orphanage Cup after a hard fought 3 -1 victory over local company Electricity North West Ltd.

S7 were boosted with the return of Jake Errey from injury but were without Jack Brierley who suffered an ankle injury in the last round against Kamen Group. Errey started in the centre of defence alongside captain Nathan Sargeson with Shaun Corran left back and Ellis Gallaher right back. Lewis Hamlin and David Hickey were in the centre of midfield, with Daniel Stubberfield (right), Zack Dale (centre) and Jordan Macquarrie (left) playing just in front. Chris Mason again started as the lone striker.

S7 were playing against a strong wind in the first half but still managed to create the first opportunity of the game when Stubberfield played Macquarrie in one on one with the goalkeeper, Macqurries shot lacked power and the keeper saved well down low to his left.

ENWL looked dangerous from set pieces, long throws in particular but the impressive Jake Errey dealt with the majority of long balls that were hurled into the penalty area.

The first half was quite a scrappy affair with neither team managing to get a foot hold of the game and the ball spending lots of time in the air when passing football would have proved the better option. In the 25th minute S7 finally strung a couple of passes togther and Stubberfield threaded a clever through ball down the side of the defender, this time to Chris Mason who finished emphatically to make it 1-0.

ENWL were gaining in confidence towards the end of the first half with S7 conceding a number of needless free kicks and throw ins, it was with one of these free kicks that ENWL managed to grab an equaliser. A high ball into the box wasnt dealt with and seemed to go straight through goalkeeper Martin Gillibrand who was clearly disappointed with his contribution. Things almost got worse for S7 when another high ball wasnt cleared properly, it dropped to the edge of the area and an ENWL midfielder sent a volley crashing into the cross bar. The whistle blew soon after for half time.

In the second half Zack Dale and Daniel Stubberfield swapped positions with Dale going out to the right and Stubberfield playing in behind Chris Mason. It was the Dale, Stubberfield combination which got S7 the second goal. Stubberfied played a disguised reverse pass into the path of Dale who fired his shot past the stranded goalkeeper to make it 2-1.

Dale was causing havoc on the right with his direct approach, he dispossesed the full back a number of times but his final ball let him down on one ocassion and another attack ended in a weak shot after a clever jinking run.

There were lots of fierce tackles flying in from both sides and Hamlin was caught near the touchline with a horrible looking challenge, everybody was expecting the referee to brandish a red but he didnt even deem it worth a yellow.

With 20 minutes left to play David Hickey was struggling with suspected cracked ribs and was replaced in the centre of midfield.

Just after the substitution Chris Mason pulled his hamstring and again S7 were forced to play the remainder of the game with 10 men, Mason stayed on the pitch but could hardly move.

S7 had 2 penalty appeals turned down, one on Dale; when he was clipped in the area but kept his feet and the second on Stubberfield who was fouled when he looked certain to score.

ENWL pushed for an equaliser but the S7 back 4 and defensive midfielders dealt with everything that was thrown at them.

Macquarrie now playing as a central striker with Mason injured wrapped the game up with 5 minutes to go, Ellis Gallaher played a hopefull long ball forward which Macqurrie latched onto with blistering pace, he rounded the goalkeeper and slid the ball through a recovering defenders legs to make it 3-1 and all but seal the victory.

Hamlin should have made in 4- 1 in the dying minutes, a good corner from Dale was met by Hamlin but he saw his powerful header rebound back of the post.

Although it wasnt a vintage performance by S7, they will be pleased that their name is in the hat for the quarter finals, the draw will be made on Wednesday evening after the second round of matches are completed.

Line up: Gillibrand, Gallaher, Errey, Sargeson, Corran, Hickey, Hamlin, Stubberfield, Dale, Macquarrie, Mason.

Man of the Match: Zack Dale.

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