TEAM DUDLEY 4-1 WORCESTER RAIDERS: MATCH REPORT...

Baffled Raiders Turn On the Officials As Team Dudley Manage the 3G Better…

Team Dudley FC 4-1 Worcester Raiders

When I watched Worcester Raiders at home a while back I was intrigued by their ‘link’ to the Oakland Raiders NFL team, who could never settle in either LA or Oakland, totally irritating a number of their fans no doubt. Strangely, they are now moving to Las Vegas but I doubt that was the main reason Worcester became crabby during this decent encounter in Priory Road, Dudley. The unavoidable late arrival of some Raider players after a day of work was not conducive to good preparation and their adaptation to the 3G surface wasn’t as slick as the Dudley lads’ ability to embrace the conditions and use shorter passing rather than the usual grassy pitch long-ball game often witnessed at this Step 7 level.

THE TOSS...

Certainly the referee took a lot of abuse from the Raiders’ players and coaching staff alike, mainly over a decision to disallow a strike by substitute Mitch Butterworth, who had been flagged offside with the score at 2-1 to Dudley. The clip I have of the incident is quite fascinating to watch and it seems that a linesman’s flag went up because Butterworth was leaning forward when Nick MacPherson's smart pass was released and his body was presumably seen to be ahead of the last defender. It wasn’t my decision to make but after watching Sky TV the other day and seeing Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher struggling with flags to get calls right, running the line is not a job for the faint-hearted. The Raiders though would not let the incident pass and cautions were served to some players, their dugout dwellers were warned by the referee who bravely strolled over to ‘have a word’ and in truth, Worcester struggled after that and conceded two later goals. They would return to Worcester with their tails firmly matted to their thighs and I began to wonder why offside can’t simply be flagged or not from the position of an attacker’s feet, giving the touchline official only one thing to concentrate upon, rather than considering leaning chests, angled shoulders, trusting hips, craning necks, pert buttocks or huge, sprouting Fellaini-like hair-dos… 

MAUVE MAN...

It’s fine, I’m OK, I’ll write the report now…  

Worcester looked stronger physically than the Dudley chaps, who seemed lean, quick and businesslike, wanting to pass the ball and use skipper Craig Edwards’ expertise to fashion a final pass but early on in this game, the only real threat came when Edwards’ low right-flank centre was bundled behind for a left-wing corner by visiting defender Sam Carey, as home wide-receiver Myles ‘The Sting’ Nettleford lurked with intent. Raiders managed only a deflected Lewis Butterworth shot and a Tom Hobbs header straight to home ‘keeper Jake Locke, from Rich Tompkins’ left-side centre. Hobbs’ challenge on Locke wasn’t appreciated moments later but a fine Edwards pass saw Brad Cox surge towards the Raiders’ 20 yard line but be stopped by a fine block.

LOCKE: NOT IMPRESSED WITH TOM HOBBS...

The opening goal was harsh on Dudley, who had opened the match in a more enterprising fashion than their guests and yet Worcester benefited from a long ball forward which was booted towards the inside-right channel and thus into MacPherson’s path by Tom Hobbs. The quick, strong attacker had moved onto the pass inside home left-back Kaighlem Duncan and MacPherson had then rushed on and beaten the advancing Locke with a low shot.

GOAL FOR MACPHERSON...

A superb 27 yard drive by Dudley Nets’ midfielder Preston Green crashed off the Raiders’ crossbar and into the welcoming gloves of the mauve-clad Dan Stephens, before Locke grabbed the ball in front of the onrushing MacPherson at the other end. Then Nettleford nodded a left-side centre into the ‘keeper’s midriff and as the half wore on, Dudley came more into the contest but their best offense happened between two efforts at goal from Worcester’s Carey. First Carey was fed by Matt Tyler and the overlapping right-back’s shot was turned into the near post side-netting by Locke but before Carey glanced a header near the interval from Tompkins’ free-kick wide of a glaring net from a few yards, it was the hosts who had looked more like scoring.

NETTLEFORD COUNTS THE LOOSE RUBBER BITS...

Edwards’ sidekick on offense James Hawthorne drove way off target, a fine pass by impressive right-back Lee Clarke led to a solid block by the Raiders again, before neat Dudley passing saw the emerging Alex Pinches rap a 25 yarder too high but most importantly, the Nets (there were so many nets lying around the complex that I reckoned the American sports theme should continue: NFL Oakland Raiders and NBA Brooklyn Nets) grabbed parity through their featured striker Edwards.

A BUTTERWORTH IS WARNED...

He had been fouled, he measured up the 28 yard free-kick and shot a hip-high effort past or maybe through the Raiders’ defensive line and Stephens, scrambling right was unable to prevent the ball from rolling inside the upright.

GOAL FOR EDWARDS...

...& PATTERSON SEEMS PLEASED...

The break having arrived, it seemed that despite some smart passing by the Nets, the final crucial feed had been missing, whereas the Raiders’ more physical approach had been too often unimaginative and unproductive. Home defender Jamal Patterson although lacking the stature of a brick shithouse, had used some good intuition to break up Worcester’s play on occasions but the willingness generally of the Dudley players to knock the ball about on the surface had been commendable for a team in the bottom two in the league. Worcester were in the top four in the division and more creativity would surely be needed from them in the second-half if the expected victory could be achieved, despite the speedy duo of MacPherson and Ant Smith working the flanks usefully at times.

CARD TROUBLE...

MORE TROUBLE...

An early second period free-kick by Tompkins at inside-right caused a melee in the Dudley 18 yard box but Tom Hobbs’ eventual 18 yard shot flew wide of the right stick, before a fine pass released MacPherson at inside-left, chased by Patterson and as the forward checked inside to curl a shot at goal, the defender managed a slight deflection to take the ball beyond the far, right post. A short Nets’ free-kick allowed the lively Marc Lawrence a shot which was deflected for a corner then visiting defender Glen Sitch was replaced by Casey-Joe Gormley. Hesitation in the guests’ defence though allowed Nettleford to steal in with only the goalie to beat but from inside-left he attempted to side foot a right-booter, which struck Stephens and looped onto the roof of the net.

Frustration was short-lived however for from the subsequent corner on the left, Nettleford assisted the switched-on midfielder Green to offer Edwards a chance he didn’t squander. Tom Hobbs had been finally cautioned for the visitors, probably due to a few offences adding up and the over-hit flag-kick from the Dudley left led to Nettleford running right to resurrect the attack; he stuck at it and benefited from a bounce off his shins to get to the byeline and shoved a short pass inside to Green, whose clipped cross, head-high was met by Edwards, twisting like a salmon leaping up-river and the header he achieved bounced into the left corner of the net. 

HAWTHORNE IN THE DARK...

Tom Hobbs made way for Mitch Butterworth as the guests attempted to regain some parity of their own but it was Dudley who created the opportunities as first Pinches got away at inside-right with sparse defensive Raider cover but pulled his angled effort across goal and wide of the far upright then after Nettleford ran for fun on the left and was flattened by visiting central defender and skipper Joel Hobbs, resulting in a booking for the Raider, Edwards curled a fine free-kick against the top of the left post from 25 yards, inside-left slot. Smith was then cautioned as tensions rose in the Worcester ranks but all verbal hell was let loose when Mitch Butterworth slipped clear to beat Locke off the inside of the right post but to be denied a goal by a waving flag, as described above. 

SMITH HATES YELLOW...

Dudley rubbed salt into the wounded Raiders’ irritation and anger following the replacement of the hardworking Cox by James Messenger, who smacked a clearance from the half-way line and Hawthorne ran on to evade the covering Carey and slip the ball beneath the advancing Stephens. 3-1 and joy for the Nets…

GLOOMY TALK IN GLOOMY CONDITIONS...

Unpleasantness then crept into the encounter as Lewis Butterworth was cautioned for continuing his complaints about the earlier disallowed goal and after Jack Humphries had replaced Joey Haines in midfield, Gormley was cautioned. Duncan was replaced by Dudley’s Alex Knight and some of the Worcester bench occupants then applauded the referee sarcastically for awarding their team a free-kick and the chaps were approached bravely by the referee. Stephens fumbled a 27 yard Messenger volley but Nettleford was unable to capitalise but all the visitors could muster was a pair of long shots straight to Locke, one from Joel Hobbs, by then playing as a forward. 

PATTERSON: ENJOYED HIS EVENING...

Nettleford made way for substitute Ryan Spittle, a middleweight boxer of a figure and he was instrumental in affording a slightly flattering fourth goal for his team. A Lawrence shot was blocked but Gormley’s touch led to Hawthorne accepting the opportunity to clip in a cross from the left which Spittle met at the far post with a half-volley from 7 yards but Stephens did so well to parry the effort, only to set up the deserving Green for a rebound goal. Green set off on a celebratory run but did Preston run to the North End? Possibly… 

GOAL FOR GREEN...

The game ended with grumbles continuing to emanate from the Raiders’ contingent but the Nets left the field joyously, for their approach had been smart often, creative too, with so many of their selected players eager and skilled enough to partake in the team’s footballing philosophy. The Raiders could have won this game in truth but they didn’t really manage to pick Locke in the home goal, bar MacPherson’s early strike. Maybe their late arrival affected their approach a little, but maybe their frustration about the disallowed goal and the subsequent bookings for dissent meant that their game plan went awry too, despite the rushing dangers evident from MacPherson and Smith. Tomkins’ deliveries from set-pieces were decent and Tyler worked hard alongside Lewis Butterworth in midfield but overall, one simply had to admire Dudley’s Clarke, Cox, Edwards, Green and Pinches when in possession, all of whom were well supported by their colleagues…

MATCH OVER...

Me? Shocked a guy in the college parking-lot who asked me dully what the score was… He then looked like he’d been offered three free pints of Guinness… Sadly, the entrance slip-road to the M5 south was closed. Why do they do that to me?

TEAMS:

TEAM DUDLEY:

JAKE LOCKE, LEE CLARKE, MARC LAWRENCE, BRAD COX, JAMES HAWTHORNE, JAHMAL PATTERSON, CRAIG EDWARDS (CAPT), PRESTON GREEN, KAIGHLEM DUNCAN, ALEX PINCHES, MYLES NETTLEFORD.

SUBS: 

JOSH LEMM, REECE BANCROFT, JAMES MESSENGER, ALEX KNIGHT, RYAN SPITTLE.

WORCESTER RAIDERS:

DAN STEPHENS, SAM CAREY, RICH TOMPKINS, JOEL HOBBS, GLEN SITCH, JOEY HAINES, ANT SMITH, MATT TYLER, LEWIS BUTTERWORTH, TOM HOBBS, NICK MACPHERSON.

SUBS:

CASEY-JOE GORMLEY, MITCH BUTTERWORTH, DYLAN HART, JACK HUMPHRIES.