LITTLETON 1-0 PERSHORE TOWN: MATCH REPORT...

Showers & Spite Spoil Sullen Saturday Scuffles…

Littleton 1-0 Pershore Town

Imagine watching a young newly qualified teacher attempting to manage a games lesson for a particularly unpleasant bunch of Year 9 lads, in front of an Ofsted inspector… Well, that is what I was put in mind of at Five Acres yesterday, for a referees’ assessor huddled inside a narrow seating area to keep out of the April Fool showers, as the main official in this match struggled to maintain order between two sets of players who had no respect for him, or each other. Tackles were occasionally careless, a few times downright nasty and yet the one player dismissed from the field, Pershore’s steady and influential skipper Shaun Griffiths, was exiled for a pull on home striker Kyonn Evans, who didn’t really appear to be in a sure goalscoring position. I might be totally wrong about that but the referee at first dismissed fellow Persian defender James Walker, before the decision was altered, possibly as a result of being placed under pressure from a number of complaining, demanding, ‘instructing’ players from both outfits. There is a thought that if he couldn’t actually identify the culprit correctly, then did he really see the incident clearly enough to dismiss Griffiths? 

GRIFFITHS EXILED...

THE GAME CHANGER...

PERSHORE WOULD MISS SUCH A PRESENCE...

Whatever the truth of the matter, the official had been lashed by rain, lashed by tongues, lashed by a desperation to impress an assessor and of course he self-flagellated by having taken on the very dubious vocation of refereeing at all; that is attempting to direct footballers who are liable to verbally abuse him for 90 minutes plus…

THE REF HAS MORE TO SORT OUT, FOLLOWING AN INCORRECT RED CARD...

The game changed following the sending-off of the Town defender and Littleton, despite not having previously had the better of this rather dismal contest, finally began to assert some pressure and might have netted more than the one goal preciously netted by Chris Hayden. Pershore were unable to respond and that would surely disappoint their coaching staff but the bragging rights belonged to the Ton Boys and I could hear them chanting in their changing-room from the other end of the parking lot afterwards.

INGRAM & GRIFFITHS PREPARE TO TOSS...

The rain began almost at the start of the game and my umbrella did well until some of the heavier stuff forced its way though the material before the interval. Using a camera and a dictaphone in those conditions is never a joy but this contest began with enthusiasm. Connor McCarthy in the home goal punched clear an early Steve Roche cross, Town goalie Shaun Edwards, who smiled once, collected an ambitious 23 yarder by Ton Boy Dan Holloway and then following Steve Webb’s centre, Roche exchanged passes with ex-Ton Boy Jamie Clarke but miscued straight to McCarthy. A Ben Lane corner was awkwardly headed too high by lively ex-Ton Boy Reece Jacobs, although Griffiths had looked better placed to head the delivery goalwards and although ex-Cageman (Coventry United) Dan Stokes forced a save from Edwards, he had been flagged offside by the dripping wet linesman in front of me.

THE EDWARDS SMILE...

GRIFFITHS, EVANS & WALKER...

And then came the spark which lit the fuse of rising tempers, when tough home left-back Aaron Xavier hammered Webb to the ground with a wild challenge. He jogged away sneakily too and the hesitant referee was at first confronted by Ton skipper Kevin Ingram before finally, the culprit edged forward to receive a yellow card. From the resulting free-kick by Lane, a near post nudge on by Jamie Clarke’s forehead saw Jacobs screw a good opportunity across the face of goal from 6 yards and wide of the left upright. Edwards held onto a dropping free-kick by Xavier from inside-right, although Stokes was inches from getting his head on it, a right-side delivery by Jacobs at the other end struck the far angle’s stanchion and following Walker’s free-kick and Jacobs’ challenge at 18 yards, Roche’s volley from 19 yards bounced past the left upright. 

THOMAS-ROBINSON CLEARS RIGHT-FOOTED FROM THE LEFT...

...& THE RAIN CRASHES DOWN...

Then the game soured again and the culprit was Persian Harrison Barrett who followed in after a foul by Hayden on a team-mate, sliding at the Ton man with studs revealed like the teeth of a shark. He was fortunate to receive only a yellow card, a reward also afforded to Hayden for his original challenge. All very foolish… And Barrett, despite some neat passes, played on the edge from then on and committed more fouls, eventually leading to a removal from the playground scrap by his coaching staff to sit in the headmaster’s dugout for the latter stages of the confrontation between these two feisty groups of adversaries.    

LANE: QUIET...

STOKES GETS FIRED UP...

The by now very angry Walker was cautioned for a wild challenge on Evans, whom he thought had used his arm to control the ball and the defensive Persian reacted with temper raw. Edwards had just previously been forced to deal with two Holloway free-kicks from 28 yards too; the first, a low shot was fumbled a little but he grabbed the loose ball quickly and the ‘keeper jumped right for the second effort, holding onto it head-high.

LANE HAS TROUBLE WITH HIS GEL...

"FIRM HOLD?"

XAVIER PREPARES TO HIDE...

...BUT IS CAUTIONED ANYWAY...

The break arrived in unpleasant circumstances then but after the April showers began to pass away, much of the second-half would be played in bright sunshine which heralded a decent period for the visitors. A left-side flag-kick by the strangely quiet Lane was nudged by Jamie Clarke’s head at the near edge of the 6 yard box and there was almost a statuesque reaction by a number of players as the ball rolled past the far upright, with Jacobs lurking but unable to pounce for the Persians. Griffiths then rose almost unchallenged for the next Lane corner from the left but failed to keep his header down from 6 yards, before Ingram did well to block a hard drive in a crowded 18 yard box by Jacobs. Barrett then left the field to be replaced by Tunde Ajibade. And then Griffiths was red-carded.

MORE HASSLE FOR THE REF...

BARRETT, BEHIND GRIFFITHS, IS BOOKED...

...& SO IS HAYDEN...

There was hesitation, both Walker and Griffiths appeared to offer responsibility to the other and Evans bustled in between them. Walker went to ground and as Evans fastened onto the falling ball some 20 yards out, Griffiths clawed at the striker’s upper arm and Evans flailed to the slippery, uneven turf over Walker’s prone torso. A red card was shown to Walker, then to Griffiths and thus Walker was exonerated, spending the remainder of the match absolutely at odds with the official. He was probably fortunate not to receive a second caution for his verbal assaults, although to be fair, his language stayed on the right side of decency. From the subsequent free-kick, Holloway clipped his shot only a little past the left angle of bar and upright.

JAMIE CLARKE IN PAIN...

...BUT GETS ON WITH IT...

JACOBS FINDS A COMMENT BY A LINESMAN AMUSING...

TROUBLE...

Soon Evans fed the ball inside to Hayden from the Ton left, who evaded Ajibade and clipped the ball cleverly over the defence and Stokes ran forward to reach the ball before Edwards, only to then nod the ball onto the roof of the net. Xavier was replaced by Matt Fuscoe for the hosts, before a low centre from the right by the hard working Evans was hacked out by emergency central defender Dean Waldron but Stokes’ instant 16 yard rebound drive skidded past the right post. A Dave Wilson 23 yard effort deflected off Stokes I believe and drifted wide as the hosts stoked up their offensive efforts and then Ajibade talked himself into a caution. The original foul was given against the Persian but he simply would not shut up and this reminded me of an incident in ‘Homeland’ on TV last Sunday, when a dodgy character sat in the back of a taxi in belligerent mood and responded negatively to the driver’s ‘passing the time of day’ questions, so that this conversation happened:

AJIBADE, LEFT, WILL GET HIS CAUTION...

“Let me ask you something: did I do anything, anything at all to suggest that I was curious about the sound of your voice?”

In response to the taxi-driver’s negative reply, the passenger replied:

“So shut the f… up…”

It was brilliant. The Pershore coaches tried so hard to make Ajibade shut up too, for even after a yellow card was displayed to him, he didn’t stop complaining… Taxi anyone?

FIND THE MISSING MANAGER...

WALKER WAVES TO THE LITTLETON BENCH...

The winning goal arrived when Brain, left-side, slipped the ball right for Hayden, again free centrally but this time the midfielder stepped right past Roche’s challenge and shot low through a crowded penalty-box into the bottom right corner of the net past Edwards. 

GOAL!

1-0 TO THE TON BOYS...

Harry Jervis replaced the goalscorer, before good play by Stokes led to an angled shot from the right by Brain which was comfortable for Edwards to save. Lane made way for Persian Will Stallard, Stokes did well to get to the left byeline but Fuscoe lifted the great chance offered by his colleague at the near stick, way over the gaping goal and Nelson Neto Antonio replaced the lively Jacobs for the guests. In truth the game limped and grumbled to an unsatisfactory close with two bookings for each side and nothing else to report. 

HOLLOWAY (8) ON THE RUN...

Fuscoe fouled Antonio and was cautioned, a very unpleasant Brain challenge on Webb infuriated the Pershore full-back, playing on the left since the break, then Roche was booked for arguing with the official which was interesting in the light of Walker’s unceasing barrage and finally Webb upended Holloway with aplomb, for he was still seething about the whack he had taken from Brain. Not good…

BRAIN, ABOUT TO BE BOOKED, LOOKS SURPRISED AT WEBB'S ANGRY RESPONSE TO THE BAD CHALLENGE...

The officials took a long time to exit the playing area and no wonder, for the referee had experienced a difficult 90 minutes or so and I would reckon that he was glad to grab his fee and rush home for a bowl of soup and a cup of tea.

Littleton threatened more when they were a player up and in truth Pershore seemed unable to adopt a more offensive attitude with only ten men. It was probably unfortunate for them that they had taken Barrett out of the game just moments before Griffiths’ dismissal. He might have made a difference. The Ton Boys were well served in midfield by the busy Wilson, Hayden and Holloway but in Evans they possessed a willing forward, in Stokes an intelligent runner but most all, in Lewis Clarke they fielded a resolute and effective central defender, especially as Pershore had a height advantage generally. 

Pershore, despite a real effort in attack from Jamie Clarke, were inept on offense too often and Jacobs was just about held in check first by Xavier then by the impressive full-back Shay Palmer. Webb and Rich Thomas-Robinson did OK as full-backs but Walker was prominent in defence for the Persians, although Griffiths had looked well in control until he walked from the field frustrated. 

Me? My socks were wet, actually… 

TEAMS:

LITTLETON:

CONNOR McCARTHY, SHAY PALMER, AARON XAVIER, LEWIS CLARKE, KEVIN INGRAM (CAPT), CHRIS HAYDEN, DAVE WILSON, DAN HOLLOWAY, KYONN EVANS, DAN STOKES, SEAN BRAIN.

SUBS:

MATT FUSCOE, ROBBIE AGAR, HARRY JERVIS, JOE KNIGHT, SAM LOURNAY.

PERSHORE TOWN:

SHAUN EDWARDS, STEVE WEBB, RICH THOMAS-ROBINSON, JAMES WALKER, SHAUN GRIFFITHS (CAPT), HARRISON BARRETT, STEVE ROCHE, DEAN WALDRON, JAMIE CLARKE, BEN LANE, REECE JACOBS.

SUBS:

WILL STALLARD, JELSON NETO ANTONIO, TOM ALLEN, CHADD BIRCH, TUNDE AJIBADE.