PERSHORE TOWN 3-4 STUDLEY FC: REPORT & IMAGES...

Newly Wed Evans Brings Studley Some Honeymoon Bliss In Rain Soaked Pershore

Pershore Town 3-4 Studley FC

Studley’s Gareth Evans must have thought that a wedding hangover was going to wreck his evening on the riverside at Pershore, for the skipper was denied in the first-half at King George V Stadium by a fine save from Town’s net-minder Chris Rich. He then watched in shock as Lewis Clarke’s shot diverted onto his boot and from thence onto the base of the left upright. However in true storybook style, in added time at the end of the second period, Evans stretched for a deep free-kick by Eddie Wynne-Wilson and he couldn’t believe his good fortune as Rich’s flailing arm could only divert his shot into goal for a last gasp Studley winner. Was that better than the wedding, one wonders? No, maybe that’s an unfair question… Pershore hung wet heads in frustration, for they had responded well to an early deficit, had taken a 2-1 lead before the break, but had then been overhauled in a poor start to the second-half, before netting an unlikely 80th minute equaliser and finally being cruelly but probably deservedly beaten at the death by Evans the Boot.

THE BEES HUDDLE IN A HIVE...

Whenever I visit Pershore, I feel like I have returned to a time of “2-4-6-8, who do we appreciate?” or “Play up, Pershore” chants; those “If you all like Studley, clap your hands…”  days, which of course began to change for the worse when “2-4-6 and a bit, who’s the team that’s in the shit?” and “Where’s your father, where’s your father, where’s your father, Referee? Hasn’t got one, hasn’t got one, you’re a bastard, Referee…” could be heard on soccer terraces instead… Sad, but true. So it was good to see managers Quentin Townsend and Keith Draper talking together in a friendly old fashioned way before the above match started and I began to recall some of the glossary linked with ‘Association Football’ when I was younger… OK, Drapes and Quent are in their seventies now but they will still surely recall some of that jargon too… 

MICHAEL WRIGHT CHOOSES THE WRONG TIME TO NEED A PEE...

Town were bereft of members of their ‘half-back’ line due to injuries and winger Reece Jacobs was nursing an injury which had apparently needed a stretcher to remove him from the field in a previous game but it was good to see Jordan Hayward playing at a higher level in this encounter, a guy who remained loyal to Edwin ‘Starr’ Greaves at Brinklow last season. Hayward certainly impressed during a game I saw him play carrying an injury at the end of 2015-16 when he scored a fine goal… Pershore though began this match with little confidence, despite a 4-2 victory last Saturday, whereas Studley, minus a few starters on the opening day, had been beaten at The Beehive by Coventry Copsewood and yet the visitors started this game in the ascendancy, despite home striker and model Jamie Clarke’s early shot flying too high, following initial good work by Hayward and then a one-two between Clarke and influential midfielder Daniel Priest. 

KEITH DRAPER: IT RAINS ON THE RIGHTEOUS...

ARMS FOLDED, OR HANDS IN POCKETS?
HMM, MAYBE YELL AND SCREAM?

The opening goal stemmed from the movement and running power of Andy Nichol for Studley, who had already caused the hosts a few scurries and scares but as he raced onto a long delivery, home goalie Rich clipped him just at the left corner of the penalty-box and Nichol elected to shoot the spot-kick himself. His effort was really well saved by the lean and tall Rich, diving right but the rebound was comfortably tucked into the bottom right corner of the net by a relieved Nichol with his left boot.

GOALSCORER ANDY NICHOL, 7, WATCHES MICHAEL WRIGHT POSE FOR A 1950s FOOTBALL MAGAZINE...

Having drafted Gareth Hodgetts into defence alongside skipper Steve Webb and flaxen haired Will Stallard, Pershore certainly relied on the experience of Jamie Clarke in attack, alongside the very rapid Michael Wright, who shot low and wide from inside-right on one occasion and then reached a back-pass before Studley gloveman Ryan Young, only for the alert Keith Draper (the player) to sweep the danger away. Just previous to Wright’s second attempt though, Studley so nearly took a 0-2 lead which their lively approach had possibly deserved. First the elusive Nichol cut inside home defender Robbie Agar from the left, as in old fashioned wing-wizard style and unleashed a drive against the underside of the crossbar, before Lewis Clarke’s subsequent rebound effort was hacked from near his own goal-line by Hodgetts. The rain really fell then and conditions became unpleasant for the players, as emphasised by a wayward shot on the slippery surface by Studley’s Ollie Casey. 

JAMIE CLARKE: THE MODEL FORWARD...

The referee would spend a lot of this encounter writing names onto wet pages of his notebook, denoting cautions. Studley’s Luke Dugmore was the first to be booked, followed by Casey, then later by Town’s Jamie Clarke and inevitably Dane Aldington, before Town replacements Aaron Westwood and Scott Devlin fell foul of the man in black too. The second-half of the match would explode into action, then lull into the irritations and interruptions caused by six substitutions and the occasional warning or booking by the main official. 

Quite surprisingly though, back in the first period, a free-kick taken by Priest in the inside-left channel, following Dugmore’s caution, was headed down into the left corner of the net by Aldington who beat Lewis Clarke in the air. In fact Aldington’s defensive heading had been prominent in the early stages of the game for Town and so that equaliser might just have been a reward for his efforts. 

DANE ALDINGTON (8) HEADED THE FIRST PERSHORE GOAL, WHEREAS GARETH EVANS (9) NETTED THE OVERALL WINNER...

A short free-kick by Priest to Jamie Clarke saw the clued-in striker turn and lash a shot from 18 yards which deflected off Lewis Clarke for a corner but soon, after surviving at their own end, the Persian Priest passed well towards the left-flank and the number 10, the ‘inside-left’ Wright (left Wright?) sprinted like Justin Gatlin to harass and mug visiting right-back Lucky Nwosu, who considered himself unlucky to lose out but Wright moved forth to curl a low right footer round the advancing Young and just inside the right upright. 2-1 and Studley were rather bemused if not shaken, to be behind…

WRIGHT: WET BUT A SCORER...

Stunned into attacking, the guests pressed forward and Hodgetts was horrified when the ball skidded across his head to the feet of Nichol who ran forward to shoot but his low effort was diverted by the sliding boots of the despairing Hodgetts, as Rich moved to narrow the angle. The goalie punched the ensuing corner away but Studley retrieved the ball, Casey crossed from the left, right-footed and after visiting ‘centre-half’ Dan Dineen flicked the ball on with a glistening forehead, Evans was there to score, surely… The newly hitched ‘centre-forward’ fired a rising shot from a good position, slightly right of the goal-frame but Rich saved it really well. The second corner of that offensive threat by Studley caused a goalmouth scramble wherein Lewis Clarke grubbed a low shot on the turn which bounced off Evans’ unsuspecting boot and struck the base of the left upright, leaving the hosts begging for the interval and that soon arrived.

STEVE WEBB HAS A WORD...

ONE OF THE MANY: DUGMORE...

TORRENTS OF RAIN...

EVANS WATCHES AS A COLLEAGUE IS CAUTIONED...

WEBB HOLDS UP AN INVISIBLE RAIN SHEET...

Those three misses before the break had somehow pumped Studley up and they began the second-half in dynamic style, scoring twice and quickly, thus leaving Pershore totally demoralised for a while. First an early free-kick, 22 yards out was clipped smartly by the influential Studley midfielder Eddie Wynne-Wilson into the right side of the net, leaving Rich rooted to the spot, before Nichol’s right-flank cross from the byeline was blocked by the wholehearted Webb, trying so hard to galvanise his troops. Lewis Clarke then got his head to a Casey free-kick but despite an infringement being spotted, Webb nodded the effort off his goal-line anyway. Finally the sprightly Studley ‘outside-left’ Chris Cowley moved to collect a throw-in from the right and from that wing curled a left-booted delivery which was met by the switched-on Nichol’s head and his glanced effort flew beyond Rich and into the far side of the net. 

GREAT START TO THE SECOND PERIOD BY STUDLEY...

All that Town could muster was a lobbed header by Persian Stallard which was caught by Young, before Cameron Mathewson, then surprisingly Priest and finally even more surprisingly Wright were replaced by home substitutes Devlin, Steve Roche and Mitch Butterworth. Gone were the creativity of Priest and the extreme pace of Wright, then after Cowley had been beaten to a through-pass by Rich, the winger was replaced by Aaron Westwood and soon the scorer of a brace, Nichol made way for Josh Westwood. The period which followed was untidy and notable only for an attack by Persians Hayward, Butterworth and Clarke which produced panic, a cut inside by Aaron Westwood from the right then a curled effort wide and the replacement of the rugged workforce that was Dugmore by Danny Ludlow. 

JAMIE CLARKE (9) IS CAUTIONED...

...AS IS DANE ALDINGTON...

The game was in the balance still, despite the fact that too often the ball was thrashed high over as many trees as possible, bringing to mind the old comment: “Keep it on the island?” but quite suddenly with ten minutes or so remaining, immediately following the introduction of Ludlow, Jamie Clarke broke through the middle and beat Young with a low shot inside the right stick and to Studley’s disbelief, parity had been achieved by their opponents. A Wynne-Wilson free-kick struck the back of Lewis Clarke’s skull and dropped over the byeline but in truth it was the Persians who seemed to sense a possible victory at this late point in the rain soaked contest.

JAMIE CLARKE HAS MADE IT 3-3...

Roche’s one-two with Jamie Clarke led to a poor shot, Butterworth was proving to be impish on the left flank, shots by Jamie Clarke and Webb were blocked by Studley bodies but then, in the last moment or two, a free-kick was awarded to the guests. Wynne-Wilson’s delivery from deep on the right saw Evans leave Hodgetts in his wake then reach forward with one boot and his diversion fooled poor Rich whose flapping left arm deflected the ball into the right side of the net, as if he had miscued a left-hook on a punch-ball in his back garden. The ecstatic Evans celebrated as if it was his wedding night… Well, maybe. 

GARETH EVANS CELEBRATES HIS WINNING GOAL...

Devastated again, Pershore were finally beaten, looking shattered in truth and although the match had been really good entertainment, the hosts would find it tough to see it that way. One of the Studley coaches yelled that the winner had been deserved as the players celebrated with the goalscorer and I guess over the 90 minutes, that opinion was fair. Webb and Hodgetts did well enough in defence for Pershore, Hayward made some strong runs and Agar found space on the right but both Wright and Priest were missed late on. Casey, Wynne-Wilson, the ‘inside-forwards’ and Dugmore, the ‘right-half’ were busy throughout for the visitors but Nichol was a constant danger, Evans a constant pain and Cowley a constant trier in wide positions. 

The goalies removed their drenched, woollen, roll-necked jumpers, woolly gloves and school caps; the outfield players’ shin pads of canvas and wadding around lengths of cane were removed from hooped socks which had been kept up by black elastic garters, the lace was loosened on the caseball and the game was all over… As the famous Hugh Johns once said in a Central TV commentary when he thought the game should have finished, “It must be over; the trainer has emptied his bucket…” 

It was over, the rain stopped and Gareth Evans wondered how his honeymoon could ever match his late winning goal… 

Only joking, mate…  

TEAMS:

PERSHORE TOWN:

CHRIS RICH, ROBBIE AGAR, JORDAN HAYWARD, STEVE WEBB (CAPT), WILL STALLARD, GARETH HODGETTS, CAMERON MATHEWSON, DANE ALDINGTON, JAMIE CLARKE, MICHAEL WRIGHT, DANIEL PRIEST.

SUBS:

MITCH BUTTERWORTH, SCOTT DEVLIN, STEVE ROCHE, JOE BEVAN, JAMIE HEASON.

STUDLEY FC:

RYAN YOUNG, LUCKY NWOSU, KEITH DRAPER, LEWIS CLARKE, DAN DINEEN, OLLIE CASEY, ANDY NICHOL, EDDIE WYNNE-WILSON, GARETH EVANS (CAPT), LUKE DUGMORE, CHRIS COWLEY.

SUBS:

AARON WESTWOOD, JOSH WESTWOOD, DANNY LUDLOW, LUKE HINSON, MATT POWELL.