League

New Trafford
Spectators: 5015 (Terracing: 4005, Seating: 1005, VIP seats: 5) The sun was shining, the grass was green and the audience cheered when Graeme Saville got the match started through his kick off. Al Colman sent away a hard shot on goal in the 3rd minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. If Vance Sheldon had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 6th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Al Colman's late challenge caught a Essex Gang's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Al Colman helped the player get up and apologised. After a rather tough play, Manchester Unity FC's Al Colman got a free kick in the 7th minute. Jools Cole took a chance and fired a shot far from the goal in the 8th minute, but it turned out to be a dangerous situation for Lance Burns. Manchester Unity FC's goalkeeper really had to stretch himself to stop the ball from crossing the goal line. Vance Sheldon struck a weak shot in the 10th minute. Lance Burns didn't even have to move as the ball rolled over the line well wide of the goal. A wasted opportunity for Essex Gang. Al Colman got his second yellow card in the match during the 12th minute which meant that he had to leave the ground. Al Colman hit a great freekick 13 minutes into the match. After 16 minutes of play, Essex Gang's Graeme Saville made it 0-1 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Lance Burns was left in no man's land by his defense there! If Vance Sheldon had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 20th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Vance Sheldon sent away a hard shot on goal in the 24th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. After a defensive mix-up in Essex Gang's zone, Carl Budge stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Eddie Hargrave came out of the goal and Carl Budge tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. 33 minutes into the match, Manchester Unity FC's Carl Budge sent off a blazing shot straight on target, a shot that Eddie Hargrave narrowly saved just below the crossbar. 39 minutes into the game, Vance Sheldon cracked a shot to the right of the goalkeeper, 0-2. Lance Burns was not in position, and could only watch the ball fly in. Eddie Hargrave made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Carl Budge in the 42nd minute of play. After some fancy dribbling in the 43rd minute, Carl Budge managed to get in a good position for a shot. Manchester Unity FC's supporters rose to their feet, but Carl Budge was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Eddie Hargrave breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. Abraham Carey-Bertram received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 45th minute. Eddie Hargrave tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Eddie Hargrave showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Carl Budge in the 46th minute of the match. The crowd was extremely unhappy with the home team's performance in the first half. They were losing 0-2.

The players of the away team seemed most concentrated when Carl Budge stepped up to make the kick off in the second half. The supporters of Essex Gang booed when Manchester Unity FC was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 51 match minutes in a wonderful position. Daniel Prince didn't get a good kick on the ball. If Graeme Saville had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 56th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. A collision led to Manchester Unity FC getting a freekick after 57 minutes play. Carl Budge hit a great ball. Graeme Saville was really disappointed when he shot the ball just outside the right post instead of scoring a goal in the 58th minute. Essex Gang's manager could be seen on the sidelines shaking his head and muttering to himself as his team had just wasted another chance. Manchester Unity FC's Lance Burns proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 59th minute of the match, managed to save Manchester Unity FC from getting a goal against them. The audience was convinced that Carl Budge's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Eddie Hargrave was relentless in the 66th minute of the game. Eddie Hargrave made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Carl Budge in the 70th minute of play. Vance Sheldon received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 73rd minute. Lance Burns tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. In the 77th minute, Carl Budge got an opportunity to score, but he didn't get a solid hit on the ball and ended up kicking it wide of the goal. Carl Budge fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 79th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Eddie Hargrave having to interfere. When Vance Sheldon came up free with the goalie in the 81st minute, the Essex Gang fans jumped to their feet. But the shot missed the goal by a fraction of an inch, and the fans sat back down disappointed that Vance Sheldon couldn't finish the play. After a defensive mix-up in Essex Gang's zone, Carl Budge stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Eddie Hargrave came out of the goal and Carl Budge tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. Eddie Hargrave took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Abraham Carey-Bertram, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. With a little luck, Manchester Unity FC's Lance Burns got control of the ball when Vance Sheldon tried to sneak it across the goal line. The away crowd were delighted with the way their team had played and cheered loudly when the final whistle sounded. Essex Gang walked away with the win, even though the match was close until the end.