We finally managed to get a league fixture played having agreed to play on Whitehaven’s 3G pitch due to ongoing problems with Whitehaven’s main pitch. Stockton also had to play in a borrowed strip from the Hardwick SC as both of their strips clashed with Whitehaven’s.
We travelled with a strong squad of 16 and started the game very brightly with the front 3 of Johnson, Stockton and Hannah causing Whitehaven to defend desperately to keep the scores level.
However the opening goal wasn’t far away when Tony Johnson burst into the Whitehaven area and his subtle dummy sent the Whitehaven defender the wrong way and his trailing foot upended Johnson to leave the referee with an easy decision.
Up stepped Kallum Hannah to dispatch the spot kick left footed to the goalkeepers right to give Stockton the lead on 18 minutes.
Stockton were now dominating the play with Whitehaven reduced to playing on the break, however it was still a surprise when they managed to grab an equaliser on 28 minutes. A corner from the Stockton right was headed home amongst a static Stockton defence.
As the game approached half time however Stockton’s quality saw then retake the lead with a fantastic team goal. Some smart interplay in the Stockton midfield released Chris Stockton down the left, cutting back onto his right foot, his cross was glanced home by Stav Roberts on 45 minutes.
The second half started with another truly remarkable effort from Max Craggs, Stockton took the kick off for the second half, the ball was rolled back to Max Craggs just inside his own half and from 55 yards he smashed the ball over the Whitehaven keeper and into the top of the net.
Stockton were now completely dominating the play and Max Craggs grabbed his second of the afternoon when finding the bottom corner after great set up play by Captain Stav Roberts. Next onto the score sheet was Tom Coulthard, a left sided corner to the back post found the Stockton defender sliding in to make it 5 1 on 85 minutes.
In the final minute Stockton wrapped up the match and the scoring with another fine goal this time cooly finished by forward Chris Stockton. After an interchange of passing down Stockton’s left between Jimmy Ward and Max Craggs the ball was played between the Whithaven defenders into the penalty area where the Stockton forward burst through to flick the ball into the far corner.
Next up is a home fixture against Ashbrooke Belford House on Saturday 30th January, Kick Off 2pm.
