Men's 1st XI Vs North Stafford 1

Telford and Wrekin Men’s 1st XI travelled to not so sunny North Staffs on Saturday as they hoped to keep the pressure on leaders Stourport, as well as pull away from the chasing pack of Streetly and Sutton Coldfield in 3rd and 4th. 

Liam Hennessy and Tom McKittrick returned but Phil Bailey, Dave Tracey and captain Alex Johnson missed out with Covid and injuries respectively. 

With Telford organised and structured in defence it made it difficult for North Staffs to penetrate the visitors press. This allowed Telford to hit the hosts on the counterattack which worked well in the first half, but chances were not converted into goals. 

Liam Hennessy broke but could not quite beat the keeper, and Noah Higginson and Tom Mallett both saw their reverse efforts miss high and wide of the target. 

It was North Staffs who eventually took the lead 20 minutes into the first half with a long ball that fell kindly to one of their forwards who finished well. Telford remained positive in the first half but could not get themselves level before the break. 

Suchy laid down the gauntlet at half time for Telford to continue to work hard and turn the game around. His half time team talk worked wonders as Noah Higginson levelled for Telford after 5 minutes. For the seventh time this season Higginson was in the right place at the right time to convert Liam Hennessy’s precise cross and get Telford back on level terms. 

Minutes later it was 2-1 to the good as Tom Mallett produced a moment of magic to get the visiting side ahead. After riding several crunching tackles Telford’s top goal scorer unleashed a reverse strike which found the top corner, and in the words of AJ, “that’s where momma keeps the cookies!”

The remainder of the second half was a scrappy affair with both teams receiving cards but Telford managed these periods well by dominating possession. Despite conceding a couple of late penalty corners, Neil Davies and his defensive short corner team kept the ball out and managed to see home a deserved 2-1 victory. 

Telford welcome Warwick to St George’s next week who now sit in 4th place after Sutton Coldfield and Streetly dropped points.