Men's 3rd XI Vs Leek 3

Telford 3's travelled away to Leek 3's, with the 15 man squad who travelled once again included Tom Jones, as well as the return of Luis Parker with goalkeeper Bradley Williams also stepped up from the 4ths. 

A lively start to the game saw Telford go behind early, with Leek taking the lead through a well-worked penalty corner routine being tapped in at the back post. However striker Tom Jones soon brought Telford back on level terms with his own short corner routine, a straight strike from the top of the circle leaving the keeper no chance, with Glynn Summerhayes setting up the forward. 

Telford found themselves on the back foot again as Leek started to control the game, going 2-1 up, then soon after 3-1 up, both goals coming from a short corner drag flick, with Telford's players not agreeing on some of the decisions given, with Jones given a green card for his questions. The away side did grab a goal back, with Jones repeating his goal from earlier on, another short corner strike once again assisted by Summerhayes. 

Leek got themselves another goal to make the score 4-2, but Summerhayes halved the deficit to 1. Telford kept possession around the attacking 'D', waiting for the chance to pounce. It was Sahib Dhanjal who delivered the ball in, smashing it from the left wing towards the penalty spot, with the midfielder running in and with a faint touch, tapped the ball around the keeper to make the half time score 4-3 to Leek. 

Half time came, and with Telford behind, the team knew they had to reset and get their shape back. The team talk from captain Chris Nightingale and subs manager Raj Dhanjal worked, and the boys regained their composure, limiting Leek to only a handful of chances, and one player always marking their centre-midfielder out of the game. Even going a man-down with Jones picking up a yellow card, Telford kept the pressure on Leek, creating plenty of great chances through Parker, Dhanjal, Roman Randell and the rest of the team, however no one could find that killer touch, with Sahib Dhanjal having his weekly swing and miss at the ball, after some brilliant skill beat multiple players.  

That was until midfield maestro Glynn Summerhayes decided he wanted the equaliser. A great passage of play from the visiting team saw them quickly move the ball from their 23 to the attacking 23, with the ball coming towards Jones. Jones' touch headed straight towards a defender, who was unaware Ben Stevens was lurking behind him, lifting his foot up to allow the ball to come straight to the striker. 1 on 1 with the charging keeper, Stevens tried to reverse flick past him. The keeper got a slight touch on the ball, but Summerhayes came sliding in the guarantee the ball got over the line, securing the point for Telford. 

Man of the Match deservedly went to Glynn Summerhayes, with 2 goals and 2 assists from a brilliant midfield performance. DOTD went to Bradley Williams, although making multiple good saves, letting one of the goals through his legs. 

Next week, the 3's face a tough Bloxwich side at St George's, looking to close down the gap on 2nd place Stone. 

Goal scorers - Tom x2, Glynn x2
Assists - Glynn x2, Sahib, Ben Stevens

Report credit - Ben Stevens