WSM Celtic - B & B Cup (12/10/2008)
2008 - 2009 Season, Afc Hithercroft



It was a misty morning for this Round 1 of the B & B Junior Cup game at the Pedestal but the sun eventually broke through but the grass remained slippery because of the early morning dew. Afc Hithercroft wore their striped kit whilst WSM Celtic wore red shirts and white shorts. With a number of key players missing Hithercroft had two substitutes available, Shakib Latif arriving too late to be included on the team sheet. However, one of their substitutes was Kris Clark who had injured his back during the warm-up and so was unable to play, leaving just Michael Pearce ‘on the bench‘. The visitors had four substitutes to call upon. The referee was Mr Stuart Smith and Kris Clark ran the line for the home team during the first half with Pam Ife taking over at half time.

The game kicked off at 10.32am and after 3 minutes a free-kick was awarded to WSM Celtic when one of their players was unfairly brought down just outside the 18-yard box, earning a booking for Hithercroft keeper Neil Stretton. The defensive wall did it’s job and deflected the ball from the free-kick over the crossbar and Neil safely gathered the ball from the resulting corner-kick. On 7 minutes WSM’s Jeremy Rose collected a long ball that had been sent downfield and he hit an 18-yard shot just wide of the right-hand post. On 24 minutes Jason Guy came off the field for treatment to a knee injury but was soon able to return. In the 33rd minute WSM were awarded a free-kick about 14 yards from the Hithercroft left-hand side corner flag and Chris Thomas sent in a high curling ball to the far post; the ball was headed back into the middle and Jeremy Rose headed the ball inside the left-hand post to put WSM 1-0 ahead. In the 42nd minute WSM‘s Carl Dennison tried a very long shot that went wide of the left-hand upright. Three minutes into added time at the end of the first half Ryan Forbes pushed the ball forward and Zeesham Ullah quickly turned and hit a 25-yard shot that went wide of the WSM right-hand goalpost.

At 11.28am the game resumed, both sides having changed their linesmen. On 54 minutes Hithercroft sent in a corner-kick from the right and Jahmel Sutton headed the ball just over the crossbar. Three minutes later WSM replaced Steve Cooper with Matt Christov. On the hour WSM’s Liam Nash played the ball back to Carl Dennison who hit a shot just outside the left-hand post. In the 67th minute both sides made substitutions, WSM replacing Pete Connolly and another of their players with Alex Cane and Tony Sibley whilst Hithercroft sent on Michael Pearce to replace Jamal Blake. On 78 minutes WSM stretched their lead when, from a throw-in near the left-hand corner flag, Tony Sibley headed the ball over the goalkeeper into the net. Shortly after the restart a ball was played through the middle and after a quick tussle with a Hithercroft defender Liam Nash ran on to tuck the ball into the net to put the visitors 3-0 ahead. Five minutes later Hithercroft’s Michael Pearce struck the ball just wide of the WSM post. On 85 minutes, Jason Guy went down holding his left knee and subsequently had to be carried from the field with suspected knee ligament damage. He was, of course unable to continue and so the home team had to play out the rest of the game with 10-players. No further goals were scored during the remaining minutes and so WSM Celtic progressed through into the next round of the cup.

Hithercroft had played well below their usual standard and had very little of the play during the first half. Despite putting more effort into the second half they still lacked determination and so the better team on the day won out.

Hithercroft M.o.m: Jason Guy

Hithercroft team: Neil Stretton (GK), Jason Guy, Mark Charman, Ross Drabble, Dan Allman, Ryan Forbes, Michael Louise, Zeesham Ullah, Tyrone Francis, Jamal Blake, Jahmel Sutton (capt)
Hithercroft sub: Michael Pearce replaced Jamal Blake (67m)
Unused subs: Kris Clark (injured) and Shakib Latif (too late to be included)

WSM Celtic’s scorers: Jeremy Rose (33m), Tony Sibley (78m), Liam Nash (79m)