Knutsford 1-5 Cheadle Town
First of all, something of an appeal.
If a Knutsford resident who isn't short of a bob or two and is suddenly feeling in a philanthropic mood could buy a handful of things for their local football club that would be great: a set of floodlights, some hard standing to go around the ground and a perimeter fence.
Those three things would mean that they'd be in a position to join the North West Counties League, a league that they would grace and be more than welcome in.
Knutsford FC's clubhouse - not at all bad if we say so ourselves
A massive thank you to all at Knutsford FC for their benevolent hospitality last night and for opening our eyes as to what can be achieved clubhouse-wise with simple resources.
Onto the match itself and it was another useful 90 minutes of match fitness for all involved, with some eye-catching performances to boot.
As the cliche goes, it's a nice problem for any manager to be spoilt for choice squad-wise; it is looking more likely that Terry will have such a problem this season as some new faces marked their debuts in impressive style.
Sam Noar a case in point. It only took him three minutes to open his Cheadle account, latching onto a through ball on the edge of the box and deftly wafting the ball past the onrushing keeper with the outside of his boot.
Ex-Cheadle striker Dean Nolan - now wearing the red of Knutsford - was in busy mood all evening. His first moment of note came in the 8th minute, fashioning himself some space on the edge of the area before firing just over.
On 11 minutes we increased our lead. Luke Pearson's free-kick from the right was mishandled by the Knutsford keeper and pounced upon by Joe Shaw who stabbed home.
Sam Noar was in the action again just two minutes later, shooting just over the bar after some excellent work by Luke Hincks and Mike Sherrington.
A superb acrobatic effort by a Knutsford forward was kept out by Piggott just after the quarter-hour markbefore Jordan Milne - another one that provided a promising debut - gave a display of neat footwork before providing a cross that Luke Hincks was a matter of inches away from connecting with.
A superb playing surface contributed to an excellent match with neat passing play from both sides
Five minutes before the break Sam Noar was at it again, rounding the keeper before checking back and trying a cheeky clip over the stranded keeper, only for his effort to unluckily bounce off the underside of the crossbar.
Just two minutes later and our lead was extended as Luke Pearson's penalty squirmed under the keeper's body; he later admitted that he had committed the cardinal sin of changing his mind right at the last minute. He got away with it. Just.
Steve Piggott was called into action just before half-time, doing well to get down sharply and push away a shot.
Just three minutes after the re-start we got our fourth. Jordan Milne deservedly getting himself on the board by hooking home a Luke Hincks cross from the left.
Sam Noar was denied at close range by an excellent save before Knutsford went up the other end and should have reduced arrears when offered a free header from a free-kick.
The usual pre-season game of "musical substitutes" then started but the flow wasn't disrupted that much to deny us any more goals.
Sam Noar got his second of the match on 66 minutes, collecting a pass from the right before shifting the ball onto his right foot and hammering home at the near post.
Knutsford's overall neat play was rewarded with six minutes of the match remaining with an easy finish via a through ball on the edge of the box.
Just two more pre-season matches remain and two tough tests to go with them: NWCFL Premier Division outfit West Didsbury & Chorlton this Saturday followed by Northern Premier 1 side Glossop North End.
STARTING XI: Piggott, McLaughlin, Pearson, Moore, Shaw, Russell, Hincks, Tongue, Noar, M Sherrington, Milne. SUBS: Jupp (gk), Ward, Horan, Whyatt.
