Staffordshire Schools’ team manager Mark Culverhouse remained positive despite seeing his side crash out of the Inter County Trophy 6-4 to Greater Manchester at Stone Dominoes.
Ryan Wynter, Jamie Skellern, Michael Mackintosh and Jack Sherratt were all on target for Staffordshire.
But a superb hat-trick from Greater Manchester’s Joe Heap alongside goals from Andy McKernon, Tom Ingham and Scott Cheetham sealed the game for the visitors.
Culverhouse said: “I am disappointed but we can take positives from it.
“This is the first game that the boys have played together and to just put a team together is difficult.
“We were up against a very strong team and they have a good chance of going a long way in the competition because they are one of the stronger teams around.
“We needed to keep the ball better and squeeze the play a lot more, but they punished us for every mistake.”
After a quiet opening ten minutes the game sprung into life after the visitors took the lead in the 12th minute.
Lawrence Zisaruk-Gibson's flick-on to set-up third Manchester goal
Heap drove a low shot through a body of players and Ingham deflected the ball past a stranded Connor James in the Staffordshire goal.
Staffordshire responded three minutes later through Wynter’s controlled header courtesy of Sherratt’s inswinging corner to level the score at 1-1.
Staffordshire were gifted their second-goal to take the lead on 20 minutes. Nick Howard in the Greater Manchester goal set himself to catch Skellern’s over-hit cross and dropped the ball over his own line.
It only took six minutes for the visitors to equalise though as McKernon’s teasing run down the left gave him space to cross and find Heap who made no mistake in heading past James.
Staffordshire took the lead again before half-time as Louis Seymoure’s perfectly weighted through ball was met by Mackintosh who curled the ball around the visitors sprawling keeper.
Staffordshire press forward in search for goals
The second-half started with the same attacking mindset as the first, and in the 60th minute the visitors levelled again. Davidson Bandu’s corner was flicked on by Lawrence Zisaruk-Gibson to find Heap at the back post, who smashed it past Staffordshire’s substitute keeper Thomas Spence.
Eight minutes later Greater Manchester took a 4-3 lead through substitute Cheetham, who was given too much space in the box and blasted his shot from the right low past Spence’s left-hand side.
Staffordshire bounced back again through substitute Daniel Fenton whose darting run down the left and pass found Sherratt who swivelled and shot low into the right-hand corner.
But the visitors had the last say as Heap chipped Spence for his hat-trick on 76 minutes and then with five minutes to go McKernon was left in space and side-footed his shot past a helpless Spence.
Staffordshire: James, Green, Glover, Brown, Moyo, Skellern, Wynter, Dawson, Mackintosh, Seymoure, Sherratt
Subs: Spence, Mulherin, Fenton, Bowyer
Greater Manchester: Howard, Jackson, T. Clarke, Martin, Zisaruk-Gibson, A. Clarke, McKernon, Chesters, Heap, Ingham, Bandu
Subs: Johnston, Cuff, Cheetham, Abreu, Hardman
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