Hillgate travelled to foggy Bramhall on Sunday looking to avenge their defeat in the first game of the season.
On a suprisingly soft surface it was Bramhall who were first into their stride forcing a couple of early corners which were easily dealt with by the Hillgate defence. After weathering the early pressure Hillgate began to come more into the game and several through balls just failed to send Bevan clear as the Bramhall defence came under increasing pressure. Hillgate were still struggling to cope with the Bramhall wide players and on two occasions Daniel had to be alert first pushing a cross shot to safety and then tipping a drive over the crossbar.
Midway through the first half it was Hillgate who drew first blood with a move of real quality.
Sam's forward pass was flicked first time by John into Bevan's path and his low cross was forced goalwards by Michael. The keeper managed to parry the shot but as the ball broke loose Michael managed to prod the ball goalwards and Chris was on hand to tap the ball over the line, although Bramhall claimed that Michael had kicked the ball out of the goalkeepers hands.
The next five or ten minutes were quite feisty as Bramhall battled hard to get back into the game and they were soon level after Sam turned into trouble and lost possesion leaving the Bramhall forward to race clear and fire home, despite Daniel getting a hand to the shot.
Worse nearly followed for Hillgate but Daniel was on hand to produce another good save.
HALF TIME BRAMHALL 1 HILLGATE 1

The second period was played almost entirely in the Bramhall half as Hillgate upped the tempo and began to win all the 50 -50's. Despite their dominance however there were very few clear cut chances to begin with and the worry was that Bramhall would eventually come back into the game. With a liitle over 10 minutes remaining however it was Hillgate's persistance which finally paid off as a long ball over the defence found Michael racing clear. With the Bramhall defence vainly appealing for offside Michael lobbed the ball over the advancing keeper, much to his obvious delight. Hillgate should have made the game safe minutes later as Jake raced clear and was crudely upended for an obvious penalty, however Bevan's shot flashed wide of the left hand upright.
Hillgate managed to see the game out without any major alarms and the man of the match was awarded to Daniel for his first half saves which kept Hillgate in the game.
For those players who read the match reports, please remember that the manager puts players in the positions he thinks are best FOR THE TEAM, and not necessarily the position that you think you play best in. Please make sure that you pass this message on to those players who don't read the reports or don't have access to them.

FINAL SCORE BRAMHALL 1 HILLGATE 2