Men's 3rd XI Vs North Stafford 2

The Men’s 3rd team travelled away to face a strong North Staff’s side. The 12 man squad that met them included Luis Parker and Adam Phizacklea playing his first game of the season. Last time, the teams fought out a 1-1 draw at St George’s, and Telford knew it would be a tough game again. 

North Staff’s had most of the ball in the opening period in the game, but Telford kept their defence on their toes. Both teams had plenty of counter attacks down the wings, with Phizacklea using the aerial to good use, getting the ball over the home side’s back line but nothing came of any of the chances. 

That was until Telford woke up, with Sahib Dhanjal and Glynn Summerhayes combining at the top of the ‘D’, with Glynn slotting the ball behind himself to Ben Stevens. Stevens took one touch into the air, and on the half volley, smashed the ball into the corner of the goal, the ball taking a touch off the post on its way in. A great finish for a great team move to make it 1-0 Telford. 

The score remained 1-0 to Telford until half time, with some good saves from Dom Pritchard in Telford’s goal keeping North Staffs out, as well as the defence working well together. Half time came, and Captain Chris Nightingale encouraged more from his team, with three points easily available from this game. 

The second half carried on in the same fashion, with neither team dominating the ball. The second goal came after some pressure from North Staff’s, with Ben E picking up the ball and finding Matt Fennell-Fox stood with no one around him at the top of the circle. A small touch lifted the ball over the oncoming keepers stick, with the ball running into an open goal for his second goal of the season. 

Controversy started towards the end of the game, when North Staff’s thought they had brought one goal back. The first shot off the short was dangerous into the body of a Telford defender, with the umpires debating for a while whether the goal should stand. After coming to the correct decision, the one umpires tried to restart the game, the other umpire was still discussing the decision with the home team. After three attempts, Telford were finally allowed to restart the game from their 16. 

However North Staffs did get their goal back, with another controversial decision in the eyes of the Telford squad. However the umpires were happy with the decision, letting the goal stand. Skipper Chris Nightingale was sent off late into the game, disagreeing with another decision made by the umpire, getting himself a green which was quickly upgraded to a yellow. North Staff’s got their equaliser not long after, with Phizacklea taking too long on a free hit to Luis and then Luis now with North Staffs players around him made a wayward pass finding an opposition player on the edge of the circle, who comfortably beat Pritchard making the score 2-2. 

Heartbreak for Telford, who felt like they had all three points in the bag. After a frustrating afternoon, Telford still sit 3rd in the league, 3 points ahead of their nearest challengers Bloxwich. Man of the Match went to Glynn Summerhayes, with DOTD going to Chris Nightingale for his card.  

Next week, the team take on Beacon 3’s at St George’s for a 15:00 pushback.