RACING CLUB WARWICK 2-1 BOLDMERE ST MICHAELS: FULL REPORT & IMAGES...

The Gloveman, The Postman & The Forgotten Man Steal An Unlikely Victory From A Seeming Defeat…

Racing Club Warwick 2-1 Boldmere St Michaels

(Polymac Packaging League Cup)

Yes, it’s true that both of these teams were without regular starters and in truth, it was clear which team hadn’t suffered postponements recently, for the Mikes have that all-weather surface to fall back upon. Initially they looked the sharper, quicker and in many areas, the stronger team physically. The Racers took a while to settle and they were missing their usual starters in attack, namely top scorer Sean Kavanagh, the tricky Josh O’Grady and centre-forward Luke Cole. However, Josh Blake was in the team from the start and there was a surprise call-up for Ross Briscoe of Whitnash and Coventry United fame, who engineered the late equaliser for Blake (the fastest postman in the Midlands?) and then scored the even later, dramatic winner himself. Goalkeeper Tom Cross wasn’t unduly troubled throughout this tie but his main contribution was a brilliant save to deny Aaron Ashford a certain goal, from which the resulting corner led to that late Racer break and parity. So, the match became a story of the Gloveman, the Postman and the Forgotten Man…

MARTIN SLEVIN LOOKS UP.
I DO TOO...

Warwick had earlier squandered a penalty opportunity too, for after Alex Forde had fouled Blake and conceded the spot-kick, also receiving his marching orders from the referee, home skipper Martin Slevin rapped a rising penalty against both uprights. No mean feat that, so he should receive some kind of prize perhaps, maybe the opportunity not to take RCW’s next spot-kick… The Mikes were usually dangerous in attack, often benefiting from some exciting wing-play by Ben Usher-Shipway on the right and to a lesser extent, Ashford on the left. Central striker Ryan Nesbitt was a tricky customer too and his set-piece corner during the opening period supplied Joe Lyng with his headed goal. Strangely though, few really close shaves were escaped by the hosts, despite some lusty midfield challenges and smart passes by the chunky Andrew Lewis, who reminded me of a particularly feisty bulldog whose bone had been nicked.

THE MIKES START THE GAME...

The two central defenders chosen by the Sutton Coldfield based outfit, skipper Harry Craven and Lyng were like pillars either side of Postie Blake, who at times appeared to be doing an impression of Sampson being unable to bring the temple down but with Ryan Shaw working hard in the Mikes’ midfield, the home trenchmen Henry Leaver, Luke Church and Rich Powell found getting a grip on the game somewhat more challenging until the second period. Slevin was always involved though and he generally seems to be the kind of all-action fellow a team would relish having on their side in a battle. Warwick’s other forward was Trea Bertie, who I have not seen play before but he was rapid, very rapid…

STRANGE COLOURS IN THE DRIFTING DRIZZLE...

Following an early free-kick, Nesbitt slung over a centre from the right for the guests and a deflection took it onto Usher-Shipway’s forehead but the ball flew beyond the far stick. A quick free-kick involving Slevin and Blake conjured up the Racers’ first threat but Jack Taylor’s delivery from the right soared disappointingly over the goal-frame. Nesbitt fired an acute shot into the side-netting from a good position, before Bertie’s pace took him away from the Boldmere Pillars, only for the chance to be snuffed out by the recovering Mikes, although Postman Blake was unmarked to the young striker’s left. Fair play to the Postie though, he didn’t remonstrate with his colleague. Refreshing that…  

WARWICK'S SURVIVING VIKING:
RICHARD WETBEARD...

A sleek Usher-Shipway run ended with a decent, if too well struck, centre then the Saints won a right-flank corner which Nesbitt took. The trajectory was perfect for the strapping Lyng to out-jump Martin Hutchcox and ram a downward header goalwards which bounced up and over Slevin, who had been posted (get it, Blakey?) on the goal-line. The ball entered the net just beneath the crossbar. 

GOALSCORER LYNG...

On a smooth break, Nesbitt’s clever flick released Ashford along the left flank but his progress was unluckily halted by a slip as he attempted a cut inside to maybe take a shot at goal. Lyng won a header from a J’Cee Abraham free-kick but the ball drifted well off target, a desperate attempted shot by Leaver rose a good way off target at the opposite end and Usher-Shipway shot at Cross, after the Racers had squandered possession, not for the first time. A Blake strike was deflected upwards into ‘keeper Reiss Wagstaff’s waiting mittens, Slevin was cautioned for a foul (not a rarity, eh, Martin?) but Abraham’s free-kick struck Leaver in Warwick’s defensive wall. Shame Leaver wasn’t John, so that Abraham took the kick, Martin committed the foul and the Marvin Gaye song title could have been completed with a John… 

DOWN GOES BERTIE...

...UP GETS LYNG...

As the hosts mounted a couple of more penetrating attacks before the interval, Church rattled a low shot wide, following another free-kick ruse by Hutchcox and Taylor but in all honesty, despite RCW’s efforts, the Mikes had deserved their half-time lead. I spent the break chatting to the secretary and manager of Shipston Excelsior FC, where I hope to visit next Saturday for the first time and decent folks they were… 

THE MAN OF LETTERS BEGINS THE SECOND PERIOD...

...AFTER THE REFEREE HAS PRAISED GOD...

Immediately after the restart, Blake won an offensive header but some rather hesitant Mikes defending sent Bertie ‘Woosting’ through for a one-on-one with Wagstaff and the goalie’s rush from goal did its job, as Bertie opened out his slim frame to fire a deliberate shot with the inside of his right boot but his miscue caused the spinning ball to bobble past the right upright. Lyng was booked for a pull back on the Postman’s arm and then from a Slevin free-kick, Powell nodded well wide. At least the Racers were more, er, at the races by this juncture and after Nesbitt’s right-side near post corner was nodded upwards into the sweaty gloves of Cross and then a fine run by Usher-Shipway had culminated in a low centre which fizzed across the goalmouth and had seen Cross slithering boot-first, the hosts began to force the game more.

"LEAP-FROG? BUGGER OFF..."

The catalyst was certainly the replacement of Church by Briscoe, that lean, frowning, angular forward who can be devastating on his day. Powell fed Taylor on the right and the right-back scorched a cross-cum-shot across the face of goal and then Blake fell inside the 18 yard box under a challenge by Forde, who was exiled to the racecourse by the official. Slevin’s subsequent penalty, hard struck and rising, whacked the left post, then the right, evading the follow-up run of Slevin and thus allowing the Mikes to clear. Yet another fine rush by Usher-Shipway ended with a low centre but this time Hutchcox was down to the turf to clear, before a 27 yard Leaver shot for RCW again drifted well off target.

SLEVIN STRIDES FORTH TO KICK A TRICK-SHOT AGAINST TWO POSTS...

Liam Naven-Jones replaced Ryan Billington for the hosts and his pace would go on to worry the Mikes, before Craven hauled back Bertie to earn a caution but the referee maybe could have played an advantage there, for the forward had still made his break over the half-way line. Blake’s delivery (get it, Postie?) from right to left allowed Naven-Jones to clip in a centre but first Slevin’s low header was blocked, then Briscoe’s low 15 yarder was too, although the resulting corner came to nought. Warwick were pressing against the ten men and Leaver was retired for the introduction of Paul Holland. Naven-Jones was unable to reach a long Taylor centre, Postman Blake shot an acute effort into the side-netting following a long Powell feed, Lewis was replaced by Mikes’ substitute Curvin Ellis and then the drama began.

BLAKE: LOST MINUS HIS BAG...

Usher-Shipway took possession on the right, shoved a fine low centre onto the left boot of the unmarked, supporting Ashford and it really did seem that the match was going to be settled but Cross plunged, dived, threw himself and as Ashford’s 7 yard strike left his boot, somehow the ball deflected off the ‘keeper and looped just over the cross-beam: a superb save and one that was the catalyst for the Racers’ late revival. The ensuing left-side corner was dealt with by Hutchcox’s header then Briscoe won possession, shrugged off a defender inside his own half, kept his balance and launched a fine pass for the speedy Naven-Jones to chase, leaving Brandon Williams and Craven in his wake. However, as Wagstaff advanced to the edge of his penalty-box, Naven-Jones was thwarted. The ball flipped towards Postman Blake though and his falling, off-balance attempt to get something on the bouncing ball saw his shot bounce into the empty net from 17 yards. Remarkable…

1-1...

BLAKE IS MUGGED, SORRY, HUGGED...

And then Warwick won it. The ball was taken at 18 yards, centrally, by Briscoe and he leaned, bent, attempted to control it under pressure and turned into the penalty-box, making a determined and hunched rush past defenders who seemed reluctant to challenge fully, in case they conceded another spot-kick, but on the Forgotten Man forged and from an angle he smacked a cross-shot past the helpless Wagstaff and deep into the far corner of the net. What a finish! Someone to my left said: “A goal fit to win any game…” And it was.

2-1...

BRISCOE HAS SCORED...

...& THE FORGOTTEN MAN IS REMEMBERED...

Powell nearly got to a late Bertie cross but the Mikes were beaten, shocked but beaten and RCW would celebrate the dramatic victory raucously…

POWELL TAKES A PINCH OF SNUFF...

WARWICK WIN- SURPRISINGLY...

I felt sympathy for Boldmere’s Ashford, Lewis, Nesbitt and especially Usher-Shipway, for they had done their bits. Williams had shown real promise at right-back but the relentless stubbornness not to be beaten had won its reward for the Racers, whose skipper Slevin never, ever, ever stopped working. Marc Passey held steady alongside Hutchcox when the Mikes attacked during that anxious first period but in the end it was down to Cross, Blake and Briscoe to rescue the match…

The Gloveman, The Postman and The Forgotten Man…

It’s what they do…

TEAMS:

RACING CLUB WARWICK:

TOM CROSS, JACK TAYLOR, RYAN BILLINGTON, MARTIN HUTCHCOX, MARC PASSEY, HENRY LEAVER, MARTIN SLEVIN (CAPT), RICH POWELL, JOSH BLAKE, TREA BERTIE, LUKE CHURCH.

SUBS:

ROSS BRISCOE, PAUL HOLLAND, LIAM NAVEN-JONES.

BOLDMERE ST MICHAELS:

REISS WAGSTAFF, BRANDON WILLIAMS, J’CEE ABRAHAM, RYAN SHAW, HARRY CRAVEN (CAPT), BEN USHER-SHIPWAY, ALEX FORDE, RYAN NESBITT, ANDREW LEWIS, AARON ASHFORD.

SUBS:

LOUIS CONWAY, EFE UNUARHEMHEN, SAM JEEVES, RIO BLAKE-HINDS, CURVIN ELLIS.