Daisy Hill lifted the Atherton Charity Cup with a 1-0 win over Hindsford at Atherton Collieries' Dreams2Reality Stadium on Friday evening.
A goal from Alex Dodd in the sixth minute proved to be enough to see Daisy lift their first piece of silverware in 30 years, in front of a record crowd for a final in the competition of over 1000 spectators.
The only goal arrived from the first clear cut chance of the evening, and was delivered after a well-constructed move.
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 Alex 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 onto the crossbar, 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 half, 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 crossbar 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 ten 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 that they lifted the Atherton Charity Cup for the first time in 30 years.
