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STOURPORT & DISTRICT YOUTH FOOTBALL LEAGUE
UNDER 14 SECTION
Cup
Sunday 13 th November 2005
Burlish Blue 3-2 Perrywoods United
Scorer: Willetts (1), Devine (1)
Man of the Match: Shaun Weaver
A bright sunny afternoon saw the U14's travelling to Stourport for a cup game against Burlish Blue.
From the kick off it was clear that the 2 teams were evenly matched with Perrywoods showing a great desire for the game following a 5 week lay off.
The pitch was not one of the biggest and therefore resulted in the game becoming a battle in all all areas with no time being allowed on the ball. This did not suit the Perrywoods game of free flowing football but all the players quickly adapted to their surroundings. Half way through the first half a long clearance from the Perrywoods defence was well won in the air by Bradley Devine with his flick on reaching Adam Willetts who took a couple of strides and unleashed an unstoppable drive past the keeper into the top of the net. The following minutes saw Burlish push forward looking for the equaliser but with no joy.
Just as everyone was looking forward to regrouping during the half time interval, Burlish sprung the offiside trap and bore down on goal. Shaun Weaver in an attempt to get in a clearing tackle, only made contact with the forward resulting in a penalty kick, which was duly despatched.
Half time 1 - 1
The second half saw Burlish attack from the off but was met by resilient Perrywoods defending with the back 4 able to repel anything thrown at them.
As the half drew on Perrywoods started to take control and had the chances to win the game. Extra time beckoned, with the mothers on the touchline grumbling that the roast would be ruined and it was getting cold with the sun going down!
The 1st period of extra time saw a similar tempo and style of play that had gone on previously. 5 minutes in Burlish again sprung the offside trap which lead to a mass scramble of blocked shots, as the ball fell at the edge of the box, a goalbound shot was handled on the line by Sam Sharpe, the ref signalled the penalty and ominously beckoned Sam to him. Sam was protesting that the ball hit his face but from my position it was clear that he was stating this more in hope than anything else, In fairness to Burlish there were many calls from their supports for leniency but the ref stuck to the letter of the law and dismissed Sam for deliberate handball (surely not a £50+ offence?).
Perrywoods would now have to dig deep (so would Sam's dad) to salvage anything, a re jigging of the team followed, ensuring an attacking formation was retained.
Extra Time first period 2 - 1
The 2nd period of extra time began with the 10 men giving it a go, a perrywoods attack broke down just outside the Burlish box which saw a long clearance fall to the feet of the Burlish striker who strode on into the box and slipped the ball past Lee Richards in goal, time seemed to standstill as the ball rolled toward the goal, from nowhere Ashley Welch appeared like a Gazelle and in his effort to clear the ball lost his balance and could only help it into the net, 3 - 1.
Was the game over? With just over 5 minutes left Bradley Devine picked up the ball just inside the Burlish half and hit a shot that flew over the keepers head, Beckham became a household name after a similar effort some years ago, would the same fate befall Bradley, only time will tell!
3 - 2 with minutes remaining, could Perrywoods take the tie to a penalty shoot-out, alas it wasn't to be. The final whistle saw both teams leave the field to a standing ovation from the massed ranks of parents, family and friends.
The journey home saw mixed feelings, a fine performance from the lads but a defeat as a result of 2 penalties and an own goal, now where did I put that Rabbits foot !
Final Score 3 - 2