Men's 5th XI Vs Old Wulfrunians 4

This weekend Telford travelled to Old Wulfs looking to start the 2nd half of the season with a win.

However we knew the first 10 minutes would be difficult as keeper Alex was stuck in traffic and was running late! Therefore Brent made a 2nd appearance in 2 years as “acting” keeper.

A change in formation was made in this game, as based on our previous match against this opposition (where we won 4-0) we knew we’d have a lot of possession but we wanted to ensure we pressed and high and defender in the oppositions half.

The first half went exactly how we wanted, majority of possession in our favour and using our 3 forwards to exploit the pockets of space behind the oppositions defence. 5 minutes in and John H made a fantastic pass to Alan who made a superb run behind the defence. 

Alan then carried the ball into the D and hit it across goal which deflected into the air and Coler then shot on the reverse mid-air! Goal! This took everyone by surprise, including the keeper and we were 1-0 up!

Not long after this goal, Alex arrived and took command of his goal. The remainder of the half repeated: John H would disposes any oncoming attacks, pass the ball upfield, either to Alan, Ewan or Coler, who would then look for the oncoming runs from Seth, Sam and Dylan.

Not long before half time a short corner was awarded in our favour. The team huddled up at the top of the D and decided the routine, one which had been practised in training: Brent injected to John H, who passed it to Sam on his far right, Sam then slipped it left to Ewan who striked the ball! But it just went wide!

The first half ended but a lot of what had been worked on in training was clearly being transferred in this match. From recycling the ball, driving the ball to the baseline and crossing, and short corners too.

Despite having many chances in the first half, it remained 1-0. It seemed as if we couldn’t add more goals to the score line, despite all the chances. And this unfortunately was the same in the 2nd half.

The main highlight of the 2nd half saw John H attempt a similar goals to the previous week but by flicking the ball over the keeper from a short corner, however the keeper made a good save to keep it 1-0.

With 2 minutes remaining Ewan made it clear to the team that we couldn’t allow any silly mistakes which would cost us the game, therefore the team turned full possession mode on. Jacob, Brent & Freddie ensured that the ball remained in our favour by recycling it round the back and using the midfield of John & Tom Keeble and John Higginson to make it difficult for the opposition to come close to having possession.

The final whistle blew and Telford were rewarded with a win from their commanding performance. If I had to give a figure I’d say Telford had 80% possession and it was good to see us command the game and ensure the opposition were limited with the amount of chances they could have.

Alex also ensured to keep any shots from out the goal to give Telford their 5th clean sheet from 10 games!

Man of the match went to John H for a terrific performance in midfield. Once again “The Engine” never stopped running, pressing and delivering excellent passes for the forward line. 

Scorers:

Ian Cole (5’)

Assists:

Alan Brannen

M.O.M:

John Higginson