Undermanned Bromsgrove Battle To The End On Sporting’s Big Day…
Kenilworth Sporting 9-0 AFC Bromsgrove
The Mowdog’s thoughts…
Just eleven players, no manager, no extra adults and therefore being unable to field a linesperson, AFC were in trouble before the match even began. After speaking to several of the beleaguered visiting players, they deserved real credit for withstanding a tough afternoon in warm weather at a venue which was in celebration of Kenilworth’s Aquaid Division 1 league title, including a barbecue.
Without being able to provide an assistant for the dedicated main official, the referee had to use his own judgement for offside decisions and also of course whether a throw-in should be awarded along one of the touchlines but despite all of the negatives, AFC never did throw in the towel.
Clearly the fixture was simply being fulfilled by Bromsgrove and had it not been for their ‘keeper Eden Haining, the defeat could have been even more harsh. Odd really because the guests began fairly strongly but buckled before half-time to a deficit of 5-0, then conceded four more after the interval.
The surprise was that home striker Joe Cairns wasn’t able to nab a hat-trick but both Brendan Luff and replacement Dan Turner grabbed braces too, with Luke Comasky, Pepe Fernandez and central defender, the NFL linebacker-built Efe Unuarhemhen scoring one each. Efe’s strike was splendid…
The report below is just a compilation of events, rather than any opinions about why they happened, out of respect to Bromsgrove…
Before the recess…
AFC’s Teddy Cowland shot too high from downtown but soon, a Cairns header, then a decent chance for lively home forward Ethan Kavanagh flew across the goal-face. Luff was instrumental in challenging for possession in the build up to goal one and he was slipped through the middle by Cairns to curl a low shot past the advancing Haining into the bottom right corner of goal.
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| KAVANAGH'S EFFORT FLIES ACROSS GOAL... |
Strangely, Jamie Callaghan was denied a goal for Bromsgrove by the advancing Dave Allen’s legs before AFC’s collapse began in earnest.
Comasky slipped Cairns through to score a similar goal to Luff’s, if slightly higher, then Cairns drove over the target and Comasky smacked a drive against the underside of the crossbar. However, Comasky again assisted Cairns for goal three, a very similar strike to Luff’s earlier one.
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| CAIRNS SHOOTS TOO HIGH... |
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| COMASKY'S SHOT WOULD STRIKE THE CROSSBAR... |
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| ABOVE & BELOW: GOALS 2 & 3 BY CAIRNS... |
Speedy, effective Sporting left-back Callum James was denied by Haining at the expense of a left-flank corner which drifted to the right side of the penalty-box, where Unuarhemhen smashed a superb effort into the top left corner of the net for 4-0.
Haining excelled himself by parrying a Cairns effort, then recovered to turn Kavanagh’s rebound attempt onto the base of the left post and behind for an unproductive corner.
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| HAINING DOES WELL TO SAVE FROM KAVANAGH... |
Goal five was a deserved reward for the impish play of Comasky, who was fed by Luff’s smart pass, left to right, over defender Ben Troth’s head, after Haining had saved yet another Cairns shot. Comasky waited for the ball to pop up and smacked a volley from the edge of the 6 yard box into the far corner of the net.
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| COMASKY FIRES IN GOAL 5... |
Bromsgrove praise…
The players did what they could but many of the attacks by Kenilworth were creative and tough to defend anyway, so life was hard for skipper Charlie Logan, alongside Mr Matt Capewell in defence. Troth and Cowland did what they could, as midfielders Jack Holton and Liam Jones worked industriously, although to feed Jordan Gilhespy and the willing Josh Thorn became more and more difficult as the game wore on.
Louis Baker was in command of the group really and I chatted to him beforehand, although his afternoon became one of attempting to stem the tide but he never tired of getting in challenges as his colleagues went through the mill.
After the break…
Substitutions by Sporting likely helped AFC slightly with the change of personnel but the last three goals subsequently arrived in a surprisingly short amount of time. After the restart, Fernandez exchanged passes with Comasky and ran forward to score with a low shot from an angle on the right, then he was replaced and although Holton shot a decent free-kick just wide for the visitors and scuffed another effort past the same post, Turner quickly struck twice for the hosts.
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| HOLTON'S FREE-KICK WOULD FLY JUST WIDE... |
He got away at inside-left after some harassing by Cairns and beat the advancing Haining, then Cairns’ smart pass sent Turner away on the left again but this time he rounded the ‘keeper and slotted the ball in from a narrow angle.
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| TURNER MAKES IT 7... |
Luff rounded off the scoring, again from the left-flank, fastening onto Dobson’s clipped pass and beating the advancing Haining.
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| LUFF IS ABOUT TO SCORE GOAL 9... |
Cairns miscued in front of goal then Haining excelled himself, saving from close range when Dobson looked sure to score but when Luff latched onto the loose ball and set up the replacement again, this time he was denied by Baker’s fine challenge.
Dobson went rushing through at inside-right as the game neared its end and his rising effort as Haining advanced curled and struck the outside of the right stick. As the match ended, Haining saved smartly from Cairns yet again to deny Kenilworth double figures.
The final words…
Allen was maybe a little fortunate when he appeared to knock Thorn off balance at the edge of the penalty-box before the break but the gloveman was basically a rather overdressed spectator on a very warm afternoon… Good to see him again though…
Driven in midfield by Kieren McAndrews and Fernandez, Sporting were well served by attacking full-backs James and Evan Osborne, who in turn supported the pacy and skilled Comasky, Kavanagh and especially the impressive Luff.
Cairns was a pain to mark and appeared to enjoy his afternoon out, whilst skipper Bailey was vociferous and competitive in defence alongside the robust Unuarhemhen.
Congratulations to Sporting!
