5 star Manchester demolish Northumbria to go 2nd

Manchester produced some scintillating football at the Armitage to condemn Northumbria to a 5-1 defeat. Braces from Amar Dhesi and Calum ‘Tubes’ Botham as well as a goal for captain Keir Cox gave the home side their biggest victory of the season.
In typical blustery conditions at the Armitage site, the match was a scrappy affair to start with, with the hosts struggling to get out of their own half as Northumbria made the most of the wind at their backs.
However, with Manchester keeping the ball on the floor, they were soon able to attack the Northumbria goal especially down the right flank where Amar Dhesi got behind the visitors time and time again who were unable to cope with his blistering pace.
The home side pressed as the half went on and Paris Kolonas shot inches wide with the first effort of the game. It wasn’t long, however, until the home side got their first goal. Calum Botham ran strongly at the Northumbria defence and slotted the ball through to Dhesi who calming passed the ball round the oncoming keeper which gave the hosts a deserved lead.
Spurred on by the opening goal, Manchester continued to pile on the pressure and were rewarded with the second goal just moments later. A sublime one-two between Josh Rodgers and Kolonas freed Botham who made no mistakes with a neat finish to double the lead on the half hour mark.
Manchester were running riot and the away side really had no response, with the opposing players getting increasingly frustrated over how wasteful their team were being. A rare foray into the Manchester half saw the visitors earn their first corner of them game. With the Manchester defence switching off, the towering Northumbria striker got his head away but it was brilliantly cleared off the line, in what was the away side’s only chance of the first half.
The third came just before half time, and was a goal that highlighted the quality that this Manchester team has. Botham ran powerfully down the left flank, beating his man and delivering a pin-point cross that evaded all the defenders and was met by captain Cox who found the top left hand corner with a incredible header on the run. Stuart Leicester, the delighted coach of the Manchester team was quoted as saying that was ‘the goal of the season’.
The hosts went into the half time interval with a three goal advantage and Leicester stressed that the players should push on and and boost their goal difference further, so important in a league where the two teams below Manchester are separated by a solitary point.
Whilst Northumbria certainly didn’t make use of the wind in the first half, Manchester exploited it perfectly for goal number four just a couple of minutes after half time. An enormous goal kick from goalkeeper Will Jones, which travelled all of 80 yards, bounced over the Northumbria defenders and found Botham who calmly headed the ball into the back of the net for his second of the day.
Botham, more commonly known as Tubes, due to his resemblance to the Soccer AM Star, almost had his hat-trick about twenty minutes into the second half when a poor goal kick found the striker but his audacious chip went inches wide of the left-hand post.
Manchester scored their fifth goal with ten minutes to go with a sublime piece of skill from Dhesi, who was a strong contender for man of the match. The winger picked up the ball midway in the opposition half and went on one of his typical mazy runs down the wing before lobbing the keeper from 20 yards out with a delightful chip, to the applause of all the spectators.
The Northumbria heads had dropped a long time before the fifth goal went in but they kept pressing despite the score line, desperate to take something away from the game. They found that with five minutes to go, as the away side got their consolation goal, and what a goal it was.
The visitors’ striker, who was their only player who looked like creating something, found himself with the ball twenty yards out and rifled it into the top right hand corner, giving Will Jones in the Manchester goal no chance of saving it and adding some respectability to the score line.
Manchester continued creating chances, and a number of substitutes were brought on to try and add their name to the score sheet. Sam Tipper should have done better when he was played in by Botham but he squandered a good opportunity.
With the game put to bed a long time ago, the away side resorted to trying to take chunks out of the Manchester players, with a number of rash challenges flying in, which were lucky not to see cards being given.
Botham so nearly had a deserved hat-trick near the final whistle when he lined up a free kick on the edge of the area but his curling effort was well saved by the Northumbria keeper.
This was a performance of real quality and showed why Manchester are one of the best University football sides in the country. With only two games to go, Manchester can’t catch runaway leaders Loughborough but the team should be heartened by their sublime performance and look set to finish the season very strongly.