ALCESTER TOWN 1-2 DROITWICH SPA: FULL MATCH REPORT BY THE MOWDOG...

Spa Finally Edge Out Plucky Alcester

Alcester Town 1-2 Droitwich Spa

This was not an easy watch, for the hosts rarely threatened the Spa goal and Droitwich made hard going of their offensive moves, although in fairness, visiting left-sided attacker Aston Gunter might have snaffled a hat-trick, after scoring then missing a close range header and also a late penalty. Home defender Ash Knights defended admirably however and in truth, neither goalkeeper was in any way busy. The game was wholehearted without doubt and Alcester’s club officials offered me a fine welcome, for which I thank them. It was good to meet Ben from Droitwich Spa FC too, who arranged for me to get the names of the Spa players. Interesting to meet Sam Tyack again, having moved from Moreton Rangers to Alcester and many of the hosts’ accurate midfield passes stemmed from his boots. The rain had held off, I liked being in the location of the once walled Roman town of Alauna, its name deriving from the River Alne nearby and as a heron flew past, I knew I’d chosen the right game to watch on this day.

TOSSERS SEELEY & BEACHAM, IF YOU WILL EXCUSE THE EXPRESSION...

The opening half was, I’m not ashamed to write, hardly a spectacle, with pre-season fitness at a premium but there was no shortage of effort on view. Maybe too many long balls were hit by Alcester, too often gobbled up by Spa’s skipper Mike Seeley and his sidekick Andy Crowther, for the two Alcester forwards were no match in the air for the taller Saltmen. Only an attempted one-two involving Tyack, which didn’t work and a shot from a corner by left-back Connor Poole, which was wayward, accounted for anything and it was Spa who dominated territorially. Several corners were won and it was clear that striker Nick Seaborne was going to be a threat aerially. Unfortunately, one of his headers was glanced well wide and a couple more were looped upwards and much too high but one, from Brad Burgess’ left-flank flag-kick, was nodded downwards, it was blocked by Keiran Downey and in the scramble which followed, Spa right-back James Ward pushed an opponent over to concede a free-kick.

THREE-LEGGED RACE AT ALCESTER...

One other decent move, involving an awkward punt clear by Spa ‘keeper Matt Oliver, then fine control by forward Macaulay Finch and finally a sweeping pass by Seabourne towards Burgess on the right, saw a low centre fly across the 6 yard box, but it remained untouched. The opening goal was a real surprise in the general mayhem and lack of pattern in the proceedings but ironically it came after two good pieces of defending by Knights. His relieving back-pass to goalie Paul Dipple was fine but the ‘keeper’s booted clearance was collected by Burgess, who clipped the ball forward towards Gunter and he benefited from poor control by home replacement Brad Daw to slot the ball low past a helpless Dipple. Wonder if Dipple is a cop? He could be Officer Dipple…

"I COULD HAVE STAYED IN AND KNITTED A PAIR OF SOCKS TONIGHT..."

0-1 NOW...

Daw and James Robbins had already replaced Downey and Poole by the time the goal arrived and the interval was signalled with Droitwich finally having grabbed some reward for their overall superiority. Young replacement Haydn Morris appeared for Spa after the break, relieving the nested, sorry rested Finch but remarkably, Alcester equalised with their first and what proved to be their only shot on target. The ball was lost in the Spa midfield, where Graham Pardoe had replaced the eager James Halsall, who had looked to pass the ball keenly in the opening half, possession swung to the left and was crossed in low by Danny Holliday. Seeley had been drawn towards the near post but couldn’t stop the delivery and with Crowther and home striker Steve Nurse missing out, Matt Trinder tucked a simple left-foot shot past Oliver from a couple of yards out. Famous namesake Tommy Trinder, comedian and ex-chairman of Fulham FC, would have looked at the spectators in celebration and bellowed: “You lucky people…”

PARITY...

TRINDER HAS STRUCK...

Really, the Saltmen dominated the affair from then on, but their final passes, or perhaps their finishing let them down, although much of the action took place between the half-way line and the edge of the Town penalty-area. Certainly Gunter was the main protagonist, for apart from a 15 yard header by Seabourne, which Dipple caught, all the real chances fell to the left-sided forward. One wild shot and one which flew close to the right upright but wide, were split by his best opportunity, when Burgess fed Seabourne to reach the right byeline, from whence his centre was really good and it beat Dipple but Gunter’s leaning near post header, under Daw’s challenge went wide of a gaping net from a couple of yards away.

SAM TYACK, NOT SO MUCH A RANGER, MORE A ROMAN NOW...

Before a Ward header struck a defender, the guests had won the game with a ‘proper’ goal by Morris, as his mum called it… Alcester’s marking though, from a longish throw on the right was calamitous. First home skipper John Beacham was beaten in the air by Seabourne, airborne, then the striker’s back-header was challenged for by Gunter and three home players, Knights, replacement Filippo Mannina and Daw but the ball fell kindly to the criminally unmarked Morris, who ‘properly’ converted past the advancing Dipple.

HAYDN MORRIS HAS NETTED THE WINNER...

DID HIS MUM NOT PROVIDE HIM WITH A HANKY?

BEATEN BY A 'PROPER' GOAL...

More hard work by both teams ensued but little goalmouth action was evident until Gunter’s little cross from the left, following a neat run from the right by Morris, ended with a push by Robbins on Seabourne, who was perhaps either unbalanced, or was maybe imitating a falling sack of corn and a penalty was awarded. Robbins had already committed two wild challenges, so perhaps the referee had decided the award of a penalty was a just punishment for the defender, as no yellow cards were going to be issued in a ‘friendly’ encounter. Gunter and replacement Joe Mayo chatted about the spot-kick, Gunter took it and deposited it over the crossbar. 

HOW TO BE TOTALLY IGNORED:
SHOOT A PENALTY OVER THE CROSSBAR...

Sharp sunlight lit up the final moments of the game and the players had all been through a testing 90 minutes plus. Certainly Knights, who had moved in the centre of defence, came out of the game with credit for Town, but he must have been sweating on his late deflection which flew upwards and dropped onto the roof of his own net. Chris Hill and Downey were constantly defending and did OK but in reality, little offense was created, despite the quick rushes of Sam Smith on the right flank. Beacham’s main contribution was destructive work and Tyack’s creativity was limited.

TYACK PASSES...

MANNINA: NO SERVICE AT ALL FOR THE WINGER...

Josh Seikora-Warmington, at left-back for the Saltmen, possessed a long throw, Seeley was a soldier, Burgess often bright, Max Crisp, hair a-flowing, was really competitive during his period on the pitch and Seabourne would maybe feel disappointed not to have snatched a goal. Morris was busy, did well to squeeze in his goal and I guess his mum gave him an embarrassing hug in the car-park afterwards…

It’s what parents do…

Teams:

ALCESTER TOWN:

Paul Dipple, Ash Knights, Connor Poole, John Beacham (Capt), Chris Hill, Keiran Downey, Sam Smith, Sam Tyack, Steve Nurse, Matt Trinder, Danny Holloway.

SUBS:

Brad Daw, Filippo Mannina, James Robbins.

DROITWICH SPA:

Matt Oliver, James Ward, Josh Seikora-Warmington, Mike Seeley (Capt), Andy Crowther, James Halsall, Brad Burgess, Max Crisp, Nick Seabourne, Macaulay Finch, Aston Gunter.

SUBS:

Graham Pardoe, Matt Green, Haydn Morris, Joe Mayo.