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Team: Russell, Lister, Hood, Howl, Price, Woodland, Sinclair
Subs: Middleton, McNab
Back
again, this time at what I think is one of the nicest grounds we
have visited so far this season, nestling at the foot of the Malvern
Hills, which are just visible over the south stand, and the waft of
bacon butties in the air is always welcome in the morning, Westbury
are back in Malvern against the team we played last week. This time
it is a cup match the “Talbot Paige-Jones Memorial Shield” to be
precise! No questions about who is in the cup and what happens if
we progress because I don’t know sorry, it took me long enough to
find the name of the cup!
Virtually a full complement of player this week just Josh Olver, the
one absentee hopefully his strength and hands off wont be missed too
much. Whistle blew here we go again, straight away Price is his
solid self and swept up the ball and passed it to Russell, who looks
full of running today, as he sets of down the line, Sinclair is
battling hard manages to get a cross in to Hood who just can’t get
the ball out of his feet to get a shot off before the Malvern
defender closed him down. Already this looks a different side to
the one that lost last week, Woodland rushes out of defence and
sprints up field on a Rio Ferdinand style foray into the opposition
half, he manages to get a shot come cross of which is closer than
the keeper thinks, just wide. Westbury are the dominant side so far,
the Malvern attacks so far have been broken down in the midfield,
and Sinclair is having a great game and giving the Malvern defence a
headache.
Malvern are starting to get into the game now, thankfully Price and
Woodland are solid at the back and know who the danger players are,
as they seem to be super-glued to them, well done you two. Price is
swapped for McNab, after a strong tackle left him injured and a
couple of stud marks on his leg, the girls will love it at school
Joe! McNab is called upon straight away and is looking superb, and
confident, in fact as the game goes on he is getting better and
better, which lets not forget this is all still new to McNab and
Sinclair. Howl who we have not mentioned so far, is called upon and
like a flash he is out and clears the ball, excellent reading of the
play. Sinclair who has been battling hard is swapped for Middleton,
who slots into his attacking position straight away. Lister gets the
chance to run into some space on the wing and manages to get a shot
off, but it is quickly charged down by the defence. Lister again on
the ball passes a lovely weighted ball down the line to Middleton,
who gets the shot off across the face of the goal, just needed a tap
in as the keeper is beaten. Again a bit like last week the ref blew
for half time, it had flown by.
Half Time 0 - 0
Second half Westbury really did look the stronger side in the first
half hopefully this can continue into the second half, changes at
half time Lister off Sinclair on, it is obvious the second half is
going to be open as it again is end to end, Russell gets free after
a lovely run down the line and his trademark Ginola cut inside, but
before he could get the shot off he was closed down. The tall
Malvern striker is being effectively marked out of the game by
Woodland, and is getting frustrated. A rare Malvern attack and a
great strike from their skilful midfield player, the ball bounces
just in front of Howl and is well taken those can be really tricky
to handle, well done.
From
the goal kick a through ball from Hood to Middleton who even though
he had a Malvern defender right next to him still managed to get his
shot off past the keeper, everything went in slow motion, bit like
those centre park adverts, eventually the ball flew into the goal, 1
– 0, and what a well taken goal especially under a lot of pressure,
excellent play. Westbury are growing in confidence and Malvern are
looking frustrated, but do get a chance but the player tries to be
too clever and the ball spins wide. Russell is away again and
manages to get himself half a yard on the defender, he gets the shot
off, but the keeper was off his line like a shot and smothered the
ball, good keeping, and unlucky Russell, it was a fine break through
the defensive line.
You
can see the confidence in the players and a wonderful flowing move
from Hood, Russell and Middleton cut Malvern apart and the resulting
shot from Middleton was deflected just wide for a corner. A Hood
corner followed, missed everyone, just inches away from the foot of
Middleton, the crowd can sense another goal, hopefully! In fact we
didn’t have to wait long a Westbury cross in the box was batted down
by the hands of the Malvern player, the ref had no option but to
award a penalty. Captain Hood stepped up, and as calm as you like
slotted in corner, no keeper will save those, 2 – 0 and well
deserved. A couple more changes Lister on Russell, Price who has
recovered on for Woodland who is also suffering from an injury.
Sinclair who has been plugging away gets a great 1-2 going with
Middleton, Westbury are going for the third goal to put this game to
bed, a couple of extra minutes are added on due to the stoppages for
a couple of injuries, but Westbury hold firm. Whistle goes and well
deserved win and a retribution for last week; the supporters are
looking forward to a long cup run!
Full
Time 0 - 2
MOTM:
Fraser McNab, excellent defensive work well done
What
a difference a week makes, I’m sure that’s a song! Was this really
the same team that lost last week, the belief was excellent today,
and the team played like they did in the first 2 games of the
season, I still stand by my views that the team if they play this
well, dare I say even half as well, they could be a force in this
league. Well done lads, excellent play today.
Managers Comments
A
good performance by everyone, whether you were in the starting
line-up or came on as a sub, you all gave 100% commitment, you all
worked hard as a team and fought for every ball but best of all you
played football - the control, passing and dribbling was the best we
have seen this season, a great result and well deserved. As the
match report states, if you continue to play as hard as this
throughout the season you will be the envy of the league.
It
was difficult to single out one individual player for Man of the
Match, but Fraser deserved recognition for his fearless and tireless
performance, well done. |
