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A cold frosty Sunday afternoon saw the U14's travel to Bewdley as the guests of Bewdley Town. The signs were ominous as the convoy passed through Blakedown with the conditions rapidly deteriorating into a winter wonderland. The thermometer dropped 3 degrees ( or was that the radio? ).
Upon reaching Bewdley, the mist had descended, the pitch was clouded in a cold grey blanket as it was adjacent to the river and surrounded by hills that gave the whole setting an eerie feel.

The game kicked off with Perrywoods looking to play the free flowing football the supporters have become accustomed to. The first 10 minutes saw all the play in the Bewdley half with the Perrywoods forward line peppering the goal from all angles. It was clear from the early exchanges that the Bewdley keeper was going to enjoy an inspired game,  assisted by his posts and crossbar.
12 minutes in saw a long ball into the Perrywoods half which wasn't dealt with, it fell to the foot of a blue shirt and was despatched into the net, 0- 1.
The goal was totally against the run of play but hope was still there due to the early passion of Perrywoods. From the kick-off Perrywoods were quickly on the attack again with a similar pattern to the play that had gone on before. Chances came and went, heads were in hands both on and off the field, one tremendous shot struck the underside of the bar and flew back into play, Alex Byrne gestured furiously with the Russian linesman but alas he blamed the misty conditions for being unable to confirm whether the ball had crossed the line or not and the ref waved play on. It was obvious from that point that it was not to be our day with Bewdley shortly afterwards applying more pressure which resulted in a 2nd goal, 0 - 2.

Half Time 0 - 2

The second half started against a backdrop of freezing mist which was clearly only going to get worse, the sweat had turned to ice particles in the hair of the players and spectators, an afternoon for the die hards only. Could Perrywoods recover from a disappointing 1st half and impose themselves more this half, alas it wasn't to be. Bewdley scored their 3rd goal midway through the half from another hoof over the top, not surprisingly Perrywoods heads visbly dropped, or was that due to the weight of the ice in their hair!
Finally reward for the hard work, Alex Byrne broke away and was found by Adam Willetts with a defence splitting pass and cooly slotted the ball past the keeper, 1 - 3. " How long ref " came the cries, 8 minutes was the reply, could the comeback be achieved, no, Lee Richards was soon once again picking the ball out of the net following a swift Bewdley attack, 1 - 4.
The resulting restart saw Alex Byrne find Ricky Arnold who strode purposely forward down the left wing, a slide rule pass to David Hession saw Dave take one touch before curling the ball past the keeper into the far corner, 2 - 4. Again a glimmer of hope, again it was dashed, 2 - 5.
The final whistle sounding an end to a frustrating afternoon.

The long journey back was again a chore, just where does all the traffic come from on a cold Sunday afternoon? Passing through Blakedown saw a reverse of the weather with the temperature rising giving fresh hope for the  future.

Final Score: Bewdley Town 5 - Perrywoods 2