Cheadle Town 2-1 Holker Old Boys

Two goals in the last ten minutes were enough to ensure a richly-deserved first league win of the season and the banishment of the Holker hoodoo.

Given the number of chances Cheadle had throughout the match they should have been out of sight but, as they say, better late than never. Cheadle topped-and-tailed the first 45 minutes as the team on top and almost went ahead after just 2 minutes when Andy Lindon was put through only to blast two shots against the 'keeper's legs and then chest.

On 10 minutes Andy Lindon was instrumental in another Cheadle chance as he headed across the Holker net; with the goal virtually gaping Johnny Hussain was just inches away from making contact with his own forehead. In the same 60-second space Mac side-footed a lob over the bar when put through. The chances were already starting to go missing, a goal wasn't far away, to be sure....

...and sure enough, true to hoodoo form, Holker Old Boys got it on the 16th minute. Heathy sold John Hills a short backpass leaving a Holker striker in one-on-one. Perhaps expecting the chip, Hills shaped himself accordingly only to see a tamely-scuffed shot squirm under his legs and into the net. For the record, that was to be the only decent chance Holker had all day.

And that was that until the 40th minute as Cheadle went cold and the game entered a scrappy phase. Arron Riley's blazed shot wide would mark the second period of decent Cheadle play in the first half. On the stroke of half-time the Holker 'keeper managed to brilliantly claw a Johnny Hussain side-foot shot out of the air. Half-time, 0-1....it looked like Holker were going to mug us again.

Cheadle laid siege to the Holker net in the second half but that equalising goal just wouldn't come. Brocky put a shot just wide on 50 minutes, Andy Lindon flashed a header wide five minutes later and Johnny Hussain missed a sitter of a header on 61 minutes.

They left it late, but the goals that we assured ourselves "would eventually come" did so in the space of two minutes. Mac side-footed across the face of the goal and into the net on 80 minutes and then slid Deano through to finish coolly and give Cheadle the lead their perseverance deserved.

At last a victory over Holker, but more importantly, three league points on the board....

Photos (and there's plenty of them - I went a bit mad with the camera today) can be seen by clicking here

TEAM: Hills, Clarke, B Roberts (James), Heath, A Roberts, Brocklehurst, Riley (Myers), MacDonald, Lindon, Martin, Hussain. Subs: Flanagan, James, Myers