BARNT GREEN SPARTAK 1-4 ALVIS SPORTING: MATCH REPORT...

Cruising Alvis Made To Work In the End By Barnt Green…

Barnt Green Spartak 1-4 Alvis Sporting

A first period of real domination by a speedy offensive Alvis brought the guests a couple of scrambled Dan Pidgeon goals but when the second-half began the Sporting striker sportingly assisted home defender Chris Bishop to lash a superb 18 yard left-footer into the bottom corner of his own net and the game was basically over, surely? Not so… I had mentioned to the Spartak manager GJ Singh before the second period began about his players actually needing to shoot maybe (although at the Alvis goal would have seemed the wiser option…) and his lads later responded, despite having lost Chunky defender Jahziah Campbell to a leg injury before the interval and influential midfielder Joe Sims actually during the break. Replacements Nathan Stoute and Nathaniel Hare certainly added some sparkle to the team and striker Nathan Coleman came alive too. He scored a scrambled goal and a couple of other chances were spurned, thus allowing Alvis, through the mightily quick and dangerous Pidgeon and Rickie Cutting, to dominate the latter stages, whereby Pidgeon acquired his treble.  

THE TOSS...

There was no doubt at all that Alvis looked the superior team, for their thrust was delivered by their two fast and lethal forwards; indeed Pidgeon swooped regularly upon Rickie’s cutting runs and deliveries… The home defence really struggled to contain Cutting in particular but the striker wasn’t as fortunate or as clinical as Pidgeon in his finishing on the night, otherwise the scoreline might have been embarrassing, notwithstanding Spartak’s remarkable second-half rally.

RICKIE LEARNS THAT THE REF WON'T ACCEPT ANY CUTTING REMARKS...

During a problematic opening half for the home team, their only attacking threat stemmed from a free-kick by Sims but Alvis right-back Adam Day headed the delivery behind for an unproductive corner. The remainder of the 45 minutes was a catalogue of Sporting offense. A low cross-shot by bright Alvis wide-player Corrie Powell was whacked from the defensive right upright by home skipper Earl Jordan, then when Bishop and goalie Lee Atkins hesitated, Pidgeon nipped in and set up Ben Cranage for a shot which was deflected over the crossbar by the harassed Bishop for a corner. However, the expected breakthrough arrived from a poor Atkins clearance which Cutting fastened onto; he raced to the right byeline and his low pass went straight to Bishop on the goal-line but the defender’s touch allowed Pidgeon to rap a low shot off the falling Atkins and into the net from close range.

0-1...

GOAL FOR PIDGEON...

A quickly taken left-flank free-kick by the guests led to a Pidgeon cross and a Cutting header which drifted off target, a Tom Cullen drive was saved comfortably by Atkins and another Cutting run on the right led to another low centre which this time wasn’t capitalised upon. The second goal actually stemmed from a poor Alvis pass but Powell won back the ball on the right and Craig Goodbody shoved a low, short pass from the byeline onto Pidgeon’s boot at the near post and the Tankmen were cruising.

SIMS LISTENS TO THE ACTIVITY OF MOLES BENEATH THE SURFACE OF THE PITCH...

0-2...

Cutting then broke centrally to feed a pass right to Pidgeon again but from an angle his low drive was well saved by the diving Atkins at his near stick, before more spadework by the sprinting Cutting led to a low centre again but this time the shot by Cranage took a slight deflection off Jordan on its way over the goal-frame. From the corner a long-range Cullen shot which was going wide anyway was fumbled for a corner by Atkins and subsequently the flag-kick from the left was headed clear from the far post by the alert home defender Nuuradin Ismail. 

The break arrived and visiting ‘keeper James Wardle had been virtually idle, hence my light hearted comment to GJ Singh about shooting but when the players returned from their half-time orienteering exercise to the faraway dressing-rooms and back, the second period opened with that stunning own-goal by the so unfortunate Bishop, who must deep down have admired the strike he conjured up, albeit into the wrong net.

A really fine, defence-splitting pass inside Jordan on the left set Pidgeon flying on the wing before he cut inside at pace and looked to get in a right-boot shot along the 18 yard line but Bishop, getting back, hacked a left boot at Pidgeon’s slight mis-control and the ball fizzed past his own goalkeeper to nestle in the lower right reaches of the home net. Remarkable…

IT WAS THE BISHOP, IN THE BOTTOM CORNER, WITH A LEFT BOOT...

"NO WAY HAVE I DONE THAT..."

Shane Brassington then produced a fine defensive tackle on Stoute, following a slick move between the ever-willing Nikinder Uppal and his sidekick Coleman. The latter’s clever pass inside Brassington meant a tricky right-boot tackle on Stoute but it proved successful. Superb work by Cutting from the left-flank saw him race inside past defenders but his shot bounced to Atkins, before the hosts missed a fine chance to pull a goal back. Coleman’s running power was beginning to upset the visiting defence and his run to, then along, the left byeline ended with an astute pass inside to the unmarked, busy Andre Tulloch, who leaned back slightly as he skied his 6 yard shot over a gaping target. At the opposite end, Cutting and Pidgeon combined to free Cullen for a shot which Atkins saved comfortably then Atkins advanced to his 18 yard line to deal with a bouncing ball but he was obviously aware of where he was positioned and jumped tentatively, whereby Pidgeon, always the opportunist, got to the falling ball first, only to be penalised, maybe somewhat harshly. 

THE TECHNICALLY NOISY AREAS...

Alvis were then pushed back by their hosts and a period of hard attacking materialised during which both defensive flanks were examined by Spartak. A fine pass by Tulloch towards replacement Ware saw Wardle finally involved and he raced left to kick the ball to safety but soon the hosts had netted what proved to be their consolation goal. A throw on the right was nudged on at the near post by the head of solid midfielder Aldin Kahriman and Coleman was able to turn on the ball from a few yards out and poke it past Wardle.

1-3: COLEMAN...

A fine Spartak move, started by Coleman and carried on by the rushing of Reuel Prescod, gave Hare the opportunity to slip a pass right for Coleman to run onto, having made a long supporting, unmarked run but the striker’s 8 yard effort at goal flew disappointingly past the near upright. Tulloch drove wide too, as an anxious Alvis attempted to restore some control but Kahriman fed Coleman again, only for his crowded 15 yard effort to fly some yards wide of the right stick this time. That moment really was Spartak’s last dangerous offering because once Cutting broke at inside-left onto the steady Goodbody’s pass and had rapped a 19 yard drive against the left post, Alvis reestablished control. 

WILDLIFE AT THE COPPICE: PIDGEON FACES HARE...

CUTTING BEMOANS HIS MISS...

Both 12s appeared: Shakeel Campbell replaced Tulloch for the hosts and Dildale Linton replaced the cramp-suffering Cranage for Alvis, before the smart Powell made way for David Tonks in light-blue too. An Ismail run for Barnt Green led to a byeline cross which nobody reacted to but then Cutting took centre-stage until the end of the show…

He fastened onto Day’s pass and raced away on the right, veered past Jordan and Stoute but with only the ‘keeper to beat, he lifted his 8 yard shot over the target. Soon though, a Linton challenge saw his pass deflect off Stoute slightly and Cutting was away again at inside-right but his shot, straight at Atkins, was dropped into Pidgeon’s path, whose delicate lift over the challenging goalie saw the ball take an age to drop, rather like a pigeon’s feather falling from the guttering and into the empty net. 1-4 and the game had finally been put to bed by the visitors but Cutting got away for one final time on the right and Pidgeon was a beak away from getting a telling touch to the resulting near post cross from his attacking partner. 

PIDGEON: HAT-TRICK MAN...

Five goals, some speedy running and dribbling with the ball had been on show and along with several creative passes this game had been entertaining enough. There hadn’t been so much aimless booting of the ball as in some games I’ve witnessed this season but when there is pace on offer, things do tend to appear more attractive. Cutting and Pidgeon were tough to deal with on the night and credit to both: Pidgeon for his goals and Cutting for his contributions. Cullen, Powell, Cranage and Goodbody formed a well rounded midfield troop and apart from some exposure on the flanks later in the game, the defence, with Michael Quirke and Sam Murphy in belligerent mood, protected Wardle well enough, I guess.

The hosts suffered before the break but regained pride afterwards and with more careful finishing could actually have taken the match to a really exciting conclusion. Stoute and Hare did well as substitutes and Coleman got better as the game wore on. Uppal moved well in possession and he suffered perhaps from too little good service but Kahriman never stopped grafting in midfield, Ismail battled well at left-back and skipper Jordan was an example to his colleagues. 

And Alvis march on… 

TEAMS:

BARNT GREEN SPARTAK:

LEE ATKINS, EARL JORDAN (CAPT), NUURADIN ISMAIL, JOE SIMS, CHRIS BISHOP, JAHZIAH CAMPBELL, ANDRE TULLOCH, ALDIN KAHRIMAN, NIKINDER UPPAL, NATHAN COLEMAN, REUEL PRESCOD.

SUBS:

SHAKEEL CAMPBELL, NATHAN STOUTE, NATHANIEL HARE, BENJAMIN WINDRIDGE.

ALVIS SPORTING:

JAMES WARDLE, ADAM DAY, SHANE BRASSINGTON, MICHAEL QUIRKE (CAPT), SAM MURPHY, CRAIG GOODBODY, CORRIE POWELL, TOM CULLEN, RICKIE CUTTING, DANIEL PIDGEON, BEN CRANAGE.

SUBS:

DILDALE LINTON, DAVID TONKS, CALVIN THOMPSON, CASEY WILLIAMS.