Central Boosted by Beating Boothstown

Manchester Central earnt their first clean sheet, league goal and three points since the end of January with an emphatic victory over Boothstown at Seashell Trust. Goals from Claudio Costa and Elvis Amoakwa in midfield sealed the deal.

Central entered this weekend's fixture in 8th place, 6 points ahead of Boothstown, desperately searching to end the poor run of form that began with the 2-0 loss to Bolton Lads and Girls club and included the unfortunate penalty loss in the Manchester FA Challenge Cup Final.

The desire to end this run, which manager Chris Tomkinson had spoken about mid-week, showed from the off. Central lined up in the 4-2-3-1 formation used since the new year, looking to build from the back before firing through balls to the wingers who would attempt to deliver dangerous crosses into the box.

This led to a few early chances for the Whites, of which the most dangerous was down the right-hand side. In the 10th minute, an insightful pass from Amoakwa found Grant in space, who beat his full-back before launching a cross into the Boothstown box, but it was unable to find a Central head.

Lawal would continue his side's strong start, probing his way into the Boothstown box by wrestling past two players. However, the ball was stolen away from his feet by a third defender before he could get his shot away.

It wouldn't be long until Central took the lead. In the 17th minute, Costa notched his third goal of the season. Amoakwa pushed the ball to Noupoue in the centre of the park, who span his man before punting a through ball to Costa on the left wing. The number 11 danced his way into the box before poking the ball over the sliding goalkeeper and wheeling away in celebrations.

Going behind appeared to inspire Boothstown, who became a reinvigorated side posing more attacking threat. Their first chance at equalising came in the 21st minute with a move down the left side quickly switched to the right. The winger controlled the lofted ball before teeing up his shot which flew over the bar.

In the 26th minute, Boothstown had their next chance gifted to them from a free kick within the Central half. The set piece was whipped into the box, towards the back post and past a fly Whiting. The waiting attacker slammed the ball into the back of the net, but the referee blew his whistle for offside.

Just a minute later, however, Boothstown had another dangerous opportunity to level the scores. The ball was punted down the left side and masterfully controlled by the opposition winger, who swiftly fired a cross into the box which was headed over the bar by the onrushing striker.

Central wrestled to regain control of the game prior to the break, despite rising tensions between the sides caused by controversial decisions, with a number of yellow cards shown - including one for Lawal due to a challenge by the halfway line.

Both sides emerged from half-time motivated to earn themselves a result, with Central immediately attacking down the left side as Lawal sprinted the distance before shooting from just inside the box. However, the goalkeeper was able to comfortably catch his curling effort.

Boothstown began to fight their way back into the game, with back-to-back chances prevented by Whiting in the 50th minute.

Just three minutes later, Whiting was called into action once again. The number 1's quick reactions were enough to prevent Boothstown from equalising from an opportunity smashed at him from just inside of the box.

Despite the Boothstown pressure, Central would begin to assert more dominance on the game as Fall and Delgado replaced Costa and Lawal, culminating in the home side doubling their lead in the 70th minute.

Central's second came via Amoawka, who broke through the Boothstown lines before cutting inside from the left side and shooting from outside of the box, firing his attempt into the far corner.

In the final 20 minutes, Central stood defiant against the Boothstown attack to protect their lead. Even as the game became more turgid, with the home side locking down possession, Whiting was still called into action on a couple of occasions.

In the 78th minute, Boothstown's right winger curled a dangerous long shot which was punched away from the top right corner.

Boothstown's final threat came at the 90-minute mark as Whiting stopped a free kick which was blasted towards the underside of the bar from just outside of the box, securing Central's first win in over a month.