Men's 2nd XI Vs Hampton-in-Arden 2

After a convincing opening win at home, Telford 2s travelled to their first away game at the sunny Hampton in Arden. Missing Tom Bullock, Matt Hadley-Moore and Gareth Hawkins from the win against Droitwich (as well as captain Tom Williams still out through injury), Telford did however welcome back vice captain Jon Cook and Raj Dhanjal coming up from the 3rds. The warm up was dealt an early blow when it was realized the manager for the day had left the warm up balls in the boot of his car…which was on the car park at St George’s! Hampton however were gracious enough to loan enough balls for Telford to get ready for the game with them making a good positive start to the game. Hampton tried to press high but Telford mostly played well around the press. Telford’s early dominance of possession was rewarded when they broke the deadlock – the hard working Sean Huffer picked the ball up in the D and after a rebounded effort managed to maneuver the ball to Ollie Brannen to finish tidily with the keeper out of position. Within five minutes, Telford had their second. The lively Ollie intercepted a pass on Hampton’s 25 yard line, showing good quick hands to work his way into the D before finishing with aplomb into the far corner. As the half progressed Telford had further chances but found the Hampton keeper equal to them. Owen Shave and Lewis Moore were showing great play on the wings with Telford’s backline also holding strong, including a great save from Nathan Capes from a short corner drag flick to keep the scores level going into half time. The only downside of the half being Telford losing Jordan Keeble to injury.

At half time it was emphasized that the game was by no means won and Telford needed to ensure that they didn’t give the ball away cheaply and offer Hampton a way back into the game. The second half followed much the same pattern as the first with Telford dominating possession. Matt Denver and Raj consistently provided options and kept the ball well, anchored in the middle by Will Lorenz, with Luca Bassini, John Perry and Jon Cook putting in a great shift in the middle. Telford made the points safe with two minutes to go, Luca setting up Ollie Brannen who slotted the ball past the keeper (thanks to Sean generously leaving the ball on the line!) to seal his second hattrick in as many games earning him a well-deserved man of the match award.

Next week Telford welcome Sutton Coldfield 3rds to St George’s looking to continue their positive start to the season.