Cheadle Town 2-3 Ball Haye Green
PREMIER League outfit Ball Haye Green booked their place in the League Challenge Cup final on Saturday afternoon with a hard-fought victory over Division One rivals Cheadle Town.
With a number of former Green players now playing for the Cheadle side — who are flying high in the league — this eagerly anticipated derby clash didn’t fail to deliver in terms of effort, and Green would have been relieved to edge through after this five-goal thriller.
As expected, the game started at a frenetic pace on the tight Cheadle pitch and it was some time before either side managed to assert any control on proceedings.
Mark Johnson was enjoying the opportunity to play against his former club and certainly made his presence felt with a number of combative challenges in a tightly packed midfield.
Green took the lead after 20 minutes with a superbly taken effort from leading marksmen Martin Baker.
Collecting the ball with his back to goal on the edge of the penalty area, Baker turned smartly with his first touch before drilling the ball into the bottom corner with his left foot beyond the despairing dive of Stuart Ford.
This setback appeared to deflate the home side and Green took full advantage by adding a second in the 24th minute.
Adam Sawyer produced a customary run that saw him beat a number of men before unleashing a left foot shot that took a cruel deflection off an outstretched boot to divert the ball past the luckless Ford.
It wasn’t until the latter stages of the first half that Cheadle were able to regain their composure and exert some pressure on the Green goal.
However, despite a number of close encounter,s keeper Gary Wootton was never called upon to make a save, although Nick Hemmings did have a golden opportunity to score following a corner but was unable to get his effort on target.
The second half saw the Cheadle side made the best possible start when they reduced the deficit in the 51st minute.
A defensive slip from Nick Hambledon found Guy Martin in plenty of space down the left flank, and he made the most of the opportunity by running almost unchallenged to fire the ball past Wootton.
At this point, the game was finely balanced and another goal for the home side may have caused alarm in the Green ranks, but it was Green who dampened the home side’s spirits with a quick reply to maintain their two-goal advantage.
A quick pass from midfield found Godfrey Johnson with plenty of space to exploit and he did superbly well to beat a number of Cheadle defenders before laying the ball on a plate to Baker on the six-yard box to side foot home.
With their advantage restored, Green started to play with more confidence.
However, goalscoring opportunities came at a premium for the remainder of the half as both sides were made to battle it out in midfield.
With two minutes to go however, Cheadle were given a glimmer of hope when Adam Cartlidge blasted an unstoppable volley from 12 yards but it failed to create the catalyst needed to unsettle the visitors and Green were grateful to hold on without any further incident.