Celebrations at the double for Smiths as they set sights on a treble

PENLAKE .....................................2 SMITHS SD FC ............................3 RUNCORN-BASED Smiths SD Football Club secured a league and cup double on Saturday in the Warrington & District Football League defeating Penlake 3-2.

Having already won the Buchanan Cup two weeks earlier the Smiths side went into Saturday’s last league fixture knowing that only a win would be enough to crown them double winners.

Any other result would have left them agonisingly close and asking themselves what might have been.

The Smiths side got the game underway on a very large Penlake pitch and it was not long before the deadlock was broken.

A corner to Smiths in the second minute was whipped in by winger Aaron Pickavant, and met by Michael Hindley who rose to thunder a header into the bottom left hand corner of the Penlake goal.

With some good pressure by the Smiths’ front line it was not long before they extended their lead.

A lovely through-ball in the seventh minute by James Bignall saw Aaron Pickavant closing in on goal and he made no mistake to maintain his record of scoring in every game he has played in since signing for the club.

Rocked by the goals, Penlake immediately began to press the Smiths’ back four looking for an opening.

And that opening came on 10 minutes when Lee Coombes was adjudged to have made contact with the Penlake striker on the edge of the area before claiming the ball.

Paul Watson stood up for the home team and hit the subsequent free-kick goalwards. The ball took a deflection off the Smiths’ wall and left Adam Turrell wrongfooted and helpless in the Smiths goal as he watched the ball nestle in his net.

As the half progressed the home side grew into the game more and more, albeit with most of the football being played in their own half.

The Smiths’ outfit were being made to work hard in hot conditions to win possession back.

On 43 minutes a defencesplitting pass to Bignall saw him spring the offside trap and bear down on the Penlake goal. As a pair of Penlake defenders made their way back to pressure Bignall and close down his shot, the Smiths player showed his experience and composure as he looked up to see teammate Phil Sanderson making a blistering run down the left and into the box. Bignall rewarded Sanderson’s run with a neat square ball to the feet of his onrushing captain. With a great first touch, Sanderson cut the ball back inside a sliding Penlake defender and slotted home with a delicate finish for Smiths’ third goal of the day and the team’s 110th of the season.

As the second half got underway Smiths enjoyed less of the ball and freedom on the field than they did in the first half as the hosts dominated most of the possession playing some lovely football.

However, the Smiths’ back four of Dec Edwards, Michael Hindley, Adam Galbraith and Matty Unsworth stood firm and restricted the Penlake side to only three shots on goal from open play all game, three strikes which goalkeeper Turrell saved with ease.

Smiths did create a couple of further chances in the second half despite having very little possession with John Brown hitting the Penlake bar with a sweet right-foot shot from 19 yards out after cutting in from the left while an attempted lob from 25 yards by Bignall went just past the target.

With only nine minutes remaining and Smiths having one hand on the title, the referee awarded the home side a penalty.

Substitute Darrell Hale stepped up for Penlake and smashed the spot-kick down the middle to make it a one-goal game.

The last few minutes was a somewhat nervy time for the Smiths side as Penlake looked for an equaliser, throwing men forward and firing the ball into the Smiths box at every given opportunity.

Fortunately for the Runcorn side they held onto the lead with central midfielder Rob Coombes sitting deeper to protect his back four and Turrell claiming the majority of the high balls played into the box.

As another Penlake ball was played into the Smiths area and cleared by Hindley, the referee blew for full-time and Smiths were crowned league and cup double winners, beating New Street’s thirdteam to top spot by one point.

Smiths now have two group games left in the Warrington & District Football League Supplementary Cup and will be looking to progress to the last-four and make a serious push for the treble.