Reports from the game versus Lancashire & Cheshire AFL

The League representative side made a trip over the pennines to play their annual fixture versus the Lancashire & Cheshire Amateur Football League At Woodley Sports FC and for some of the players it was the first game in nearly a month due to the recent weather. Having not beaten the Lancashire side for quite a few years the task was always going to be a hard one against a league that consists of more than four times the clubs than the SYAFL.

The first half started in an open fashion with both sides having the odd half chance with Scott Preece shooting in from twenty five yards out only to see his shot blocked in the box, Lancashire then went up the other end and from a corner a scrambled shot was well saved by man of the match Eastwood from Millmoor Juniors, A lucky deflection in the middle of the park fell to the home sides winger who crossed in the 12th minute only to see his centre forward hit the bar however at this time it was all Lancashire pressure. The pressure finally tol;d in the 20th minute when a defensive header went straight into the air and after an over head kick the ball found its way into the net after some confusion between the keeper and centre half. South Yorkshire didn?t let their heads drop and good work five minutes later between the Jubilee pairing of Lee Grocock and Filip Brzozka almost brought a goal but Brzozkas shot was wide of the mark. Again the Lancashire side responded and yet again were denied by the Yorkshire keeper when he flung himself into the top left of the net to tip a goal bound shot out for a corner. This inspired the away team to press on and they got the equaliser on 38 minutes when after a bit of a scramble in the penalty area the Noahs Ark pairing shone through with Daley Gore shooting and the keeper saving brilliantly only for Giles Moore to follow up and smash the ball into the back of the net. Oxsprings Chris Heritage gave away a foul on the edge of the box however the home side tried to take a quick one and it came to nothing to make the half time cuppa sweeter than what it could have been.

The second half was a cautious affair and it took till the 75th minute for anything meaningful to happen when a great through ball down the right hand side alsomst unlocked the Lancashire defence although they held solid. Two minutes later an absolutely fantastic ball to the front man was unluckily flagged offside and the final action came in the 85th minute when the visitors thought they had snatched victory from a great corner to the 22 yard line and a volley that was struck a sweet as anything but just managed to fizz wide off the post. The game finished and went immediately to penalties which the home side came out 4-2 winners to retain the Centenary Trophy that is played for but the SYAFL lads came home with their heads held high.