| Match Report |
Telford 3’s travelled away to promotion chasing Stone this week, with a 13 man squad that included Richard and Will Thompson and birthday boy Bradley Williams in goal. When the two sides met at St George’s earlier in the season, a close 1-1 draw was played out, with Telford thinking they had won the game at the death, and expected a similar game this weekend.
The game started lively, with chances coming for both teams. Ben Edwards picked up a yellow card early on, originally picking up a green for his appeals, before the umpire decided to upgrade it to a yellow, but Stone failed to make use of their man-advantage. Telford made great use of Luis Parker and Ben Stevens down the wings, but no chances came for the visiting side. That was until Will Thompson produced a fantastic run, using his skills to beat multiple Stone defenders, calmly slotting the ball past the goalkeeper for his first goal in the third team.
Stone equalised just before the half time whistle, after their penalty corner was stopped by the body of Rich Thompson on the line, with the umpires awarding the hosts a penalty stroke. The stroke was calmly dispatched past Williams, who went the right way but couldn’t quite reach it.
Half time came, and with the 1-1 score a fair reflection on the action with both teams having plenty of chances to score more. Captain Chris Nightingale encouraged more from his team, who knew they could get something from a below-par Stone side.
The second half started with Telford pressing hard onto a tiring Stone defence. Some wayward passes from their defence and midfield gave Telford some great chances to score, but some solid last-ditch defending from Stone kept the score at 1-1. The break-through came after wave after wave of Stone attacks, with the skipper picking the ball up in his advanced right midfield role. Looking up, he found Stevens in space in the middle of the park. Stevens and fellow striker Matt Fennell-Fox were left 2 on 2, facing only one defender and their keeper. Stevens waited until the perfect chance to lift the ball over the defenders stick, playing Fennell-Fox in 1v1 with the ‘keeper. The striker comfortably finished, slapping the ball past the oncoming keeper giving Telford a deserved lead.
Telford held onto the lead, with the backline of Jack Hodnet, Ash Gillum, Rich Thompson and Billy France kept Stone out with some brilliant tackles, with France also making some runs up towards the halfway line, hoping to join in on the attacks.
A brilliant 3 points for the away side, bouncing back from last week’s tough defeat. Man of the Match deservedly went to Will Thompson, in only his second 3rd team game, produced a brilliant display upfront as well as working hard and helping out the defence. DOTD went to Ben E, for turning up only a few minutes before pushback, and his card.
With no match next week due to half term, the three’s next match is on the 25th Feb, at home against 3rd from bottom Stafford 2’s for a late 4:30 pushback.
Report credit - Ben Stevens
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