Daisy Hill end their 30-year wait to pick up silverware
Daisy Hill picked up their first piece of silverware for 30 years with a 1-0 win against Hindsford in the Atherton Charity Cup final last Friday.
A goal from Alex Dodd in the sixth minute proved to be enough to see Daisy through to victory in front of a crowd of more than 1,000 - a record for the competition.
Daisy Hill manager Lee Hill was a happy man after the game.
'I'm very proud of the lads, they have worked hard all season and worked hard again tonight,' said Hill.
'It was a great start for us to get the early goal, that settled us down a bit, and we could have had three or four in the first half if it hadn't been for their keeper.
'He was fantastic and was their man-of-the-match, they could have been dead and buried by half time and he really kept them in it.
'If you miss a lot of chances, sometimes that can come back to haunt you, but fortunately for us it didn't.
'In the second half Hindsford really stuck it on us, which we expected as they are a good side and have got a lot of experience in there.
'When you have that sort of experience, against us who are a fairly young side, it can sometimes pan out that way.
'They were very direct, but when you are playing a team like that, it only takes one knock down and they are in.
'So we spent some time camped in and around our box, but the lads had a bit of pride in their defending and they did well.
'We defended well right from the front, no one went missing and no one was hiding, and they all emptied the tank.
'To get us to two finals and get the first one over the line is a great effort, and I'm proud for them, the management team and the committee as well.
'We'll have a break for a few days now as it's been a long season, but we will carry on training next week as our season is not finished
'We have the Bolton Hospital Cup final to look forward to now, and the pressure is on us a bit to win that one now, too.
'But success breeds success, and the fact we have got over the line here will hopefully give us the confidence to go again and get that second trophy in.'
It was Daisy's first appearance in the final of the Atherton Charity Cup for 12 years, and they got off to a great start when the only goal of the game arrived from the first clear chance of the evening.
A well-constructed move began when Liam Sheppard sent a pass out to the right as Jacob Ridings sprinted forward, and his cross found Kaiden Barlow whose shot was blocked.
But the ball fell to Dodd, who took a touch before coolly slotting the ball just inside the far post.
Dodd was involved in creating Daisy's next chance when he was flattened by a challenge on the edge of the box, and from the resulting free-kick Jake O'Brien curled a shot just wide.
Daisy continued to enjoy the better of the early stages, and Sheppard was next to threaten the Hindsford goal, when he headed wide from an O'Brien cross.
Hindsford had been on the back foot for most of the opening 25 minutes before they created their first chance, when Alex Honeyball glanced a header wide from a corner.
Daisy ramped up the pressure in the closing minutes of the half but were denied by some fine saves from Hindsford goalkeeper and man-of-the-match Ben Mather.
After tipping a Callum McHale rocket from 25 yards on to the bar, Mather denied McHale again with a fine blocking save with his legs at point-blank range.
On the stroke of half time, Mather was in action once more, after a terrific surging run from Charlie Roberts led to him playing Sheppard in on goal, but once again the keeper came to his side's rescue with a good save low down to his right to push the ball to safety.
It had been a half that Daisy had largely dominated, but after a quiet opening to the second period, Hindsford began to exert some pressure once the game had passed the hour mark and began to pose a threat.
Jojo McBride came close to connecting with a Mike Phoenix cross to the back post, and with 20 minutes remaining, McBride was left unmarked at a corner but steered his header wide.
As the pressure became more intense, the Daisy defence began to give away free-kicks around the edge of the box, and Joe Bunney was unlucky with a shot that just cleared the bar after a free-kick had been blasted into the defensive wall.
But in the closing stages, Daisy began to hit on the counter attack, and after Luke Nicholls was unlucky with a delicate glancing back header that was tipped over by Mather, from the resulting corner Sam Twist headed just wide.
With a number of stoppages due to injuries and substitutions, the game moved into 10 minutes of added time, and the final chance of the game came when Sheppard jinked through to send in a shot that Mather was able to push away.
But in the end, one goal was enough for Daisy to ensure they lifted the Atherton Charity Cup for the first time in 30 years.
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