With the situation regarding last weekend's 2-1 win over Rochdale St Clements still to be decided, there was no time to sit and feel sorry for ourselves - as the business end of the season draws close and we still have so much to play for. And that was no more prevalent than today - as this was the John Mackereth Cup Quarter-Final and with a place in the last four at stake, the full focus had to be on the task in front of us today. Prestwich FC were the team stood in front of us and a place in the semi-final and despite the fact that the visitors currently sat 3rd in the division below us and were flying, we knew that if we played our game, this should be a formality. We'd played these in our earlier days of being Breightmet United - and hammered them 4-1 on their own pitch - so if we could replicate that again here today, we'd be alright.

The challenge wasn't made any easier when after training on Thursday night, we had 14 players there - but with five also at work or unavailable. the boss knew he had to leave three players out today. This is a squad game though and if we wanted to be the ones to progress and win things, we would win those things together - so with the difficult decisions made, we began arriving at Moss Park for what could be our second-from-last game of the season. We were determined to make sure we had at least one more after this though...

As the lads came out to complete their stretches and warm-up's, it was clear to see the faces that were missing - with Mohamed not being available due to the amount of league games he has played and Jay asked to step down - but Rav had been selected and decided not that another Friday night out was more important - so as the lads were put through their paces, there were going to be 15 to choose from. Those 15 are quality though - and that's where the dilemma started. Some of the lads missed training midweek due to work - and some decided to rest their knocks from the last game - so these things had to be considered when naming the starting 11. Wayne has always said that the lads that come training have to be considered to start - but today's choices were really delicate. Therefore Mitch took his place between the sticks and today's back four were to be Nathan and Gatesie at full-backs with Chris and Callum again paired up in the centre of our defence. The boss had said that due to it being a Cup-game, it was about all-out attack today - so we elected to revert back to the 4-3-3 shape and that meant that Liam, Robbo and Alex were the trio selected to be the engine-room for this one. The front three then consisted of Lewis, Yatesy and Ben - and taked with playing as a central-three, it showed our intent for this one. That also meant that the bench consisted of Logan, Ste, Marko and Charlie - all players that could change the game if we needed - and as the kick-off approached, we found out that the referee was going to be 'a bit late'. We're used to that this season aren't we?

It was really good to see that Groundhoppers had made the long-trek up from London to collect a United programme today - so a massive shout-out has to go to you boys - but when the referee finally arrived. we knew kick-off was imminent. One thing we did not account for was the fact that he had forgotten his coin - so it was a little different to see our skipper playing rock, paper, scissors to see who would win the kick. He is so clever - our skipper won that - and as the teams got themselves ready, we started. We had won the kick and overloading the left hand side, we commenced the game by launching it long - but it came to nothing and the game began in earnest...

And within the first 114 seconds, we were behind. The visitors had hit the ball long and as the United defenders stood and demanded offside, the referee waved play on - and their No.9 was clean through on goal. As Mitch came out to narrow the angle, there was nothing he could do as the Prestwich striker smashed his shot low and hard to the opposite side - and as the net bulged., the travelling contingent were going crazy. 0-1 and although our heads looked to have gone down, the coaches were busy reminding their troops of how long there was left to go. No panic - and let's start our stuff now..

And with 5 minutes gone, we were back level. The ball had been won at the back and as we played the short, quick triangles that the boss had been demanding, the ball found it's way to our skipper in the middle of the park. He looked up and sprayed a great cross into the right-hand side of their box - that saw Ben get up highest and head it back across goal - and there was Yatesy who got in front of his marker to tuck the ball low and hard past their keeper to nestle in the back of their net from about 10 yards out and it was all-square again. 1-1...

And two minutes later, we took the lead. Winning a throw on our right - about 30 yards from goal - Ben went across to take it. We'd discussed this in the briefing prior to the game - and as the lads lined up as expected, the ball was launched into the mixer. Yatesy managed to get up higher than his marker and as he flicked the ball behind him, there was that man Keegie who had got in front of his marker - and he managed to slam the ball past their keeper from about 8 yards out and nearly rip the net with the pace of the shot. Literally 7 minutes gone - and we were 2-1 to the good...

Going in front seemed to settle our early nerves - and we started pinging the ball from left to right - and back again - and even though we were only just into the game, it was the United players that seemed the more fluent. Nathan made a great run down our left and as he approached the box. he flicked the pass out to Lewis - and he slammed his shot goalwards only to see it take a nick of the defender and go out for a corner. Liam went across to take it - and he curled a beauty of a ball under their crossbar - and although Alex Williams went to try to nod it over their No.1 , the keeper came out and managed to fist it clear. Unlucky though.

In truth, the opening quarter saw the home side seeing the better of the chances - and on 16 minutes, we thought we were about to see our third goal go in. The ball was worked across the park to bring them out of shape - and at precisely the right moment, it was fed in front of Yatesy who was then clean through. We all expected to see the net bulge- but John could only hammer his shot about 10 yards over the bar. The boss had demanded precision over power in the changing-rooms prior to the game - so you can imagine his demeanour right then...

20 minutes gone - and exactly the same thing happened again - as another good move between our midfield trio saw the ball laid in front of Yatesy - but once again, he seemed to lean back and the ball went high over the bar. This is beginning to be beyond a joke now - as we've had more than enough chances to have scored way over 100 goals this campaign...

The visitors just were not allowed the time and space in the middle of the park - as Liam, Alex and Robbo bossed them in there - and on 23 minutes, we thought they were going to equalise. The ball was knocked forward and as Chris came across to clear it, he slipped at the most crucial time. The Prestwich attacker's eyes lit up - but he didn't account of Mr Gettins still being able to win the slide tackle whilst he was on the floor - and as he made a superb challenge whilst on his bum - the home fans were loud in their appreciation. A great recovery that...

Even more so when two minutes later, we increased our lead. The ball was worked out of defence with patience - and as it found it's way to Robbo, we looked to split their defence in two with our off-the-ball running. Robbo picked out Lewis with a lovely pass down our left - and as he took hold of it, he drove the ball across the face of goal - and there was Yatesy to slide in before their defender could get near him. We all looked on knowing what was going to happen - and as the net bulged with their keeper beaten, it was now 3-1. The players swamped the scorer and as the ball came back to the centre-spot, the visitors looked a beaten team already...

It was all us now and another great ball from Lewis - right across the face of goal - found it's way to Ben but his shot wad too tame and their keeper was able to save it too easily. It continued - and Liam slammed a great chance well over the bar on 36 minutes - but the passage of play was proving to be us doing all the attacking and the visitors making the most of any brief snippets they got. We were on top and there was no doubt about it...

Keegie then went over innocuously - turning his ankle in the process - and despite the scream, he was able to continue. That said, after the game it ballooned so we may have to keep an ear out for how that settles in time for our last league game of the season next weekend...

The pattern continued - with us doing the pressing and the Prestwich boys doing what they could to thwart us - and on 41 minutes, we thought we'd grabbed our fourth goal of the game. Our midfield carved them open again and as Alex fed an inch-perfect pass into the run of Lewis, our striker smashed his shot towards the bottom-corner and it wad in the moment it left his boot - until their No.1 managed to go down quicker than Bonnie Blue to palm the ball wide of his right-hand upright and out for a corner. The best save of the game so far that's for sure. Liam then curled a glorious ball into the mixer - but the team in blue defended it well and as the ball was hammered clear, the chance was gone...

We had one more chance before the break - as this time Yatesy did some great running to shut their defenders down - and as the ball bounced into the path of our Lewis, we all thought he'd tuck it away - only to see him strike his shot about a yard wide of their left-hand post and out of play. Was this to be another game where we would rue our missed chances? Surely not...

Half-time : BREIGHTMET UNITED 3-1 Prestwich FC

As the lads came in for their drinks, what could Wayne and Brian say? All over the park, we'd been the better team - man for man better than them and doing all of the right things at the right time. However it was still only 3-1 - so if we allowed them to get the next goal, this would be a completely different game. But if we could get the fifth goal of the game, we'd be able to relax a little and start enjoying it. Wayne demanded that his troops did not stop - this was still 0-0 - so we had to go back out there and make sure we did not take our foot off the gas and we kept driving forward. No changes were made and as the lads gulped their drinks, they refilled their lungs and got ready to go again. We were 45 minutes from the semi-final here - and we could not allow that to change..

But within 30 seconds of the re-start, the visitors should have reduced the deficit. They launched the ball long and as we hadn't really switched back on, we allowed them to clip the ball over Mitch and towards goal. It was in all the way - until our Chris managed to chase back and contort his body enough to clear it off the line before it crept in. Of course the Prestwich bench were demanding it had crossed the line - we would - but it clearly hadn't and as the bal was whacked up-field, that could have been the pivotal moment of the game...

We should have scored our fourth goal of the game on 49 minutes though - as a great move saw Gatesie feed the ball into the space in front of Ben and as he done his marker for pace, he slid a great ball across the face of goal to see Yatesy get there before their defender - but he could only slam it wide of the upright from about 12 yards out. We needed to get this next goal - and we needed to get it soon...

We then seemed to go off the boil a little as the game got a little 'bitty' - with the visitors trying to press forward in an attempt to get back into it - but all over the park, the lads in white and black were doing their jobs. We were winning tackles, headers and the 50/50's - it was just that next goal we needed now to make sure the visitors knew this was done. We decided to make a couple of changes on 62 minutes - with Robbo and Nathan coming off for Marko and Ste - and although no player wants to be subbed, there is a respect and a team ethos that means this needs to be done with decorum. The less said about that, the better. On went the game and although we were in the ascendency, we weren't peppering their goal as we had done during the first-half. Some of our passing was on point though - with Liam involved in most of the good things out there - and on 70 minutes, we decided to make more changes. It was time for Logan and Charlie to come into the fray - in place of Yatesy and Ben who rightly received a warm round of applause as they left the pitch - and on 75 minute, both were involved as we went 4-1 up. A good ball down our right saw Logan latch onto it and as he went to shoot, the ball seemed to bobble and come off his shin. It fell into the path of our Charlie though and he out-muscled his marker before clipping a delightful cross into the middle - where Marko was running in and as he got his forehead to it, the bullet-header beat their keeper and as their No.19 went to try and get it away, the power meant that all he could do was head it into the roof of his own net. The United players and fans alike were jubilant - that was the goal that put us into the last-four - and now we could enjoy this a bit more...

And on 82 minutes, we finished off the goal-scoring by grabbing our fifth - and Keegie's second - of the game. More good work down our right saw the ball cleared out for a corner and we had a succession of three great ball curled in by Alex that the Prestwich lads defended stoutly. They couldn't defend the fourth one though as this time it fell kindly for our No.4 - and he smashed it into the roof the net from close-range, giving their keeper no chance of stopping it. 5-1 and as his team-mates swamped him, the smile of Keegie's face said it all...

Logan had a great chance to open his account for the first-team on 85 minutes as good work between Ste and Lewis on the left saw the latter drill in yet another first-class ball across the box - and as it came to Logan, he smashed his shot wide of the target and their full-back was able to keep it from going for a throw. It will come mate - just be patient...

We decided to bring Gatesie off for the last three minutes or so - with Nathan coming back in at right-back - and as the seconds ticked away until the end, it was done now. The whistle went to end proceedings - and we'd made it to the semi-final of the Cup! That was the mission when we arrived and we'd accomplished it. That'll do...

The handshakes were done with pride and fair play to today's visitors - they never gave up and kept going until the end. They're having a good season down in Division 3 and who knows - we may get to play each other at least twice again next season - so good luck for the rest of the campaign chaps. This one was about us though and as the results filtered in, it will be Lymm, Bury GSOB or Rossendale Athletic that we'll facing for the chance to get to the John Mackereth Cup Final. In our first season at Breightmet United. That will do...

The lads knew they'd played well out there today and that was the message across the changing-room as they got back in there. Our passing has been superb and the movement up top had created problems for them all afternoon. Excellent stuff. But no time to rest though - there's the crucial game over at Old Blackburnians Reserves in seven days now - but we'll be going home happy after this one that's for sure. Liam was awarded the MoM and in truth, it could have gone to any of them out there today. They all played their part in a good win here...

Onto the next one then. Make sure you keep your eyes peeled for any developments on the Rochdale St Clements game and we'll let you know when the draw for the semi-final has taken place...

Have a good weekend y'all...

#OnceUnitedNeverDivided