BRADFORD TOWN 3-1 WILLAND ROVERS: FULL GAME REPORT + IMAGES...

Town Break Willand Resolve

Bradford Town 3-1 Willand Rovers

This encounter was played upon quite a heavy surface which made passing more of a challenge than was usual but certainly the game became a better spectacle as it wore on. Second-placed Willand were deservedly beaten on the day, one has to say, by a Bradford team lying two places below their guests in the Western League Premier Division at the start of the match. The hosts had not scored anywhere near as many goals as Rovers this term and so the outcome of the game was rather surprising. Both outfits had only been beaten twice but in truth, the visitors failed to impress on offense, despite the efforts of Luke Alden and skipper Brett Worbey. It was a pity perhaps that wide-player Luke Mortimore wasn't brought into the game more regularly. 

BRETT WORBEY ATTEMPTS TO HEAD-BUTT THE REFEREE BENEATH HIS CHIN...

THE STARVED Ws: WILLIAMS & WILSON START THE GAME...

Town though really did fashion the majority of the goalscoring opportunities and only a couple of first-half saves by the pink-clad Mike Searle in the Rovers’ goal kept first home skipper Rickie Scott at bay, then influential forward Will Hailston, who would later open the scoring for Bradford and then provide a smart assist for Kaz Rendall to settle the affair, despite a last gasp goal by the visitors. Hailston and the lively Dan Cottle kept defending Rovers Alex Faux and Adam Hill rather busy throughout the match, supported well by Matt Morris, who not only bagged a penalty and saw a fierce free-kick spectacularly saved by Mike Searle, he also took two harsh knocks and was replaced late in the game for his sufferings. 

MORRIS GETS THE BALL FORWARD FOR TOWN...

DEFENSIVE ROVERS: CONFIDENT AT THIS POINT...

A tentative opening to the game was livened a little when Rendall swung a pass towards the left and Scott did well to get by Mortimore and slip a low angled effort goalwards but Mike Searle dropped quickly to smother the shot with his legs. From a short Town corner, Morris’ in-swinging left-side centre drifted beyond the far stick where the oddly unmarked home central defender Billy Fletcher knocked the ball back into the mix but Chris Peck’s final shot was miscued. Fletcher would prove immense for his team and he, alongside the belligerent Hill would offer few openings to the visiting strikers Angus Wilson and Fletcher Williams. The unmarked Williams did get up well to nod a cross from the right by Mortimore over the target from a tight angle but in fact the hosts looked the more likely scorers as the half wore on. First Cottle miscued from 21 yards, inside-left channel, then a Hailston shot was blocked, before Scott’s right-booter rose too high from 17 yards.

"YOU GOT A FAG, MATE?"

FRUSTRATION PERSONIFIED...

Williams then failed to slip a telling pass inside home left-back Scott to offer his team a chance at goal, before he drove a sliced shot way off target himself and it really did seem that creativity was at a minimum for Rovers on the day. Morris’ fine right-flank centre for Town was inexplicably headed down by Rendall for Hailston, who had expected the burly striker to head for goal and had not anticipated such generosity and unselfishness. Worbey fired too high for Rovers and then Morris created a good shooting position for himself at inside-right for Town but he too was unselfish, just as Rendall had proved and although his low pass into the middle evaded the big striker, Hailston got in a low shot at the far side of the 6 yard box, only for Mike Searle, the Pink Panther, to spring downwards and thwart the Town danger man.

HAILSTON & WALL...

WHEN THE REFEREE ASKED BRADFORD TO FORM A PANTOMIME HORSE, THE PLAYERS COULDN'T DECIDE WHO WAS THE HEAD & WHO WAS THE ARSE...

GOULD & RENDALL: TRADING INSULTS...

Worbey was soon cautioned and the issuing of yellow cards would become endemic from then on, as tempers became frayed and late, sliding challenges became occasional releases for players’ frustrations. So many times one hears managers and coaches decry the football powers for taking away the physical side of the game and yet one of their own players only has be nudged off the ball and one hears screams like wailing banshees at a wake from the sidelines. The officials took some real stick during this game and all three of them did what they could I’m certain, but why any person in their right mind would willingly spend ninety minutes officiating and continuously being verbally abused is beyond me…

"MMM, NICE AFTER-SHAVE LUKE..."

WORBEY: "DON'T POINT AT ME REF, OR I SWEAR I'LL PLACE MY FOREHEAD ONTO YOURS WITH SOME VIGOUR..."

A low Town shot, I believe by Mark Wall, a real brick in midfield, was deflected past the left upright, a Hailston free-kick from 25 yards rolled wide of the left post with Mike Searle scrambling along his goal-line mire and then Peck was beaked, er, booked, before a Worbey free-kick struck Fletcher to earn the visitors a corner which came to nought. Cottle drove a shot to Mike Searle but the interval had arrived and really, the spectators present could only be wishing for a second period improvement and indeed, they received just that, with four goals, two penalties awarded and several more cautions being issued, leaving nasty finger marks on the referee’s smart yellow card… 

"YELLOW CARD? ME? I'M A CHURCHWARDEN, YOU KNOW..."

NAME IN THE BOOK & A PECK ON THE CHEEK FOR CHRIS...

COTTLE STARES DOWN AT THE BALL...
THE SECOND PERIOD IS ABOUT TO BEGIN...

WILSON: ONE OBSCURE SHOT AT GOAL...

THE REF NEEDS A WORD WITH WALL, WHO WALKS AWAY WITH DELIGHTFUL IGNORANCE...

Neat play by Mortimore led him inside from the right but the home defence did its blocking job on the winger’s drive, a low Morris shot rolled straight at Mike Searle at the other end and the visitors responded with a corner off home defender Ritchie Chandler. The short flag-kick by right-back Josh Searle, who played strongly for Rovers, fed Worbey inside the penalty-box but home defender James Moon ran at the Willand skipper and deflected the shot away for another corner. Josh Searle’s delivery this time was good towards the back stick but Williams, under no real pressure, jumped over Wall (jumped over a wall?) but headed much too high. That short period of pressure from Rovers was soon punished severely by Town, who netted through Hailston. He was fed by Cottle, right edge of the penalty-area and when his attempted pass bounced off Hill and back to him, Hailston veered past the Willand defender and across the 18 yard line, beating Faux’s challenge too and finding room to shove a low shot from 16 yards into the bottom right corner of the net, leaving the unsighted Mike Searle helpless.  

1-0 & HAS SOMEONE WON THE LOTTERY?

HAILSTON (11) HAS SCORED THE OPENER...

A fine one-two between Cottle and Morris saw the former race into the 18 yard box but Mike Searle had advanced from goal and grabbed the loose ball as Cottle was bundled into by Faux but no faux challenge was spotted on that occasion… A fine rush by the threatening Hailston (threatening hailstones?) was halted in a mean fashion by Faux, who was cautioned for his sin and subsequently, Mike Searle would excel himself with a dramatic save. Morris thrashed the ensuing 20 yard free-kick just right of the Rovers’ defensive wall and although it was plain that Mike Searle was struggling to get a clear view of the shot, he plunged left like a panther at a warthog but it was his trailing boot which saved the day, deflecting the drive over the goal-frame… A superb save.

MIKE SEARLE: BRILLIANT SAVE BY THE PINK PANTHER...

Glenn Gould was replaced by Rover Brad Ausden, who was forced to rip off his 12 shirt to drag on the correct number 14 but within moments, the referee was at the centre of the action again, for Morris was running towards the right byeline onto a smart pass by Cottle. Mike Searle ran left from his goal-line, threw himself downwards to try and snaffle the ball but when Morris went to ground like a spilled antelope, the officials decided to award the hosts a penalty. The video footage is inconclusive, so I cannot comment but Morris was going to be the one to take the spot-kick. Mike Searle was cautioned for his predatory dive to concede the spot-kick, Mortimore was also booked for some snide comment made and Morris rapped a low penalty into the bottom left corner of goal with the Pink Panther fooled.

A SLIGHT DIFFERENCE OF OPINIONS...

THE LINESMAN PRODUCES A REMARKABLE ANTI-MAGNETIC FIELD...

PENALTY GIVEN...

PENALTY SCORED BY MORRIS: 2-0 NOW...

ALDEN & MORTIMORE LOOK SUITABLY UNIMPRESSED...

...WHILST MORRIS IS SUITABLY CHUFFED...

Ritchie Chandler managed to nod a Mortimore cross over his own crossbar as Rovers drove forward, Ryan Guppy fired wide of the left upright, Bradford’s Ashton Shanley replaced the injured Morris, who had been treated twice for extreme pain and ex-politician David Steele replaced Williams for Willand. Mortimore then felt that he was fouled by Scott and had deserved a penalty and it was interesting to see that the ball had rolled forwards, not been diverted by the home skipper’s challenge… Hmm… Rendall stood in front of a Willand free-kick and was duly booked for being a pain in the neck but Worbey’s delivery was headed straight to home goalie Charlie Phillips by Steele anyway. That is the first time I have mentioned Phillips, which tells a story in itself… 

WILSON HAS KILLED FLETCHER...

Steele then squandered possession to Rendall, who fed Hailston in midfield and ran through the inside-left channel, whereby Hailston passed an accurate assist. Rendall was clear on goal and although he seemed to be about to open up his frame and clip a right-booter towards the right side of goal, he didn’t and instead poked a left-booter beneath the advancing Mike Searle. 3-0 and joy for Bradford…

"I'M A LITTLE TEAPOT..."
BUT IT'S 3-0 NOW...

"KAZ ME IF YOU CAN..."
NOT FUNNY KARIM...

AVON RIVER DANCING IMPRESSES HAILSTON...

Nathan Loader replaced the tireless Cottle for Town, before, finally, Wilson nearly snatched a goal back for the harassed guests. A right-side centre by Josh Searle led to a remarkable shot by Wilson in the near post area, facing the other way and screwing his body round like he was auditioning for Strictly Come Dancing and the ball, slightly miscued, looped upwards and bounced away from the underside of the cross-beam. Hailston slid into an opponent late to receive his caution, a deflected Alden shot was clutched by Phillips, Finn Young replaced Wall for Town, Guppy slid into Moon dangerously and was shown a yellowish card, a free-kick by Worbey was deflected for a corner and Phillips tipped Worbey’s in-swinging flag-kick over his crossbar. The second flag-kick caused the referee to spot Loader doing some pushing on Guppy and a penalty was signalled. Mortimore’s spot-kick was really smartly saved diving right by Phillips but Guppy converted the rebound well from an angle near the left byeline and the visitors finally had a consolation goal which would NOT have consoled them at all…

"YOU'RE GOOD, BUT YOU'RE BOOKED..."

MORTIMORE: PENALTY MISS SNAPPED UP BY GUPPY... 

In all honesty, Bradford looked the more creative of the two crews, although due to Willand’s confident play and their physical midfielders, Town’s best plays came from counter attacks. Little went well for Rovers on offense and when they did push on, the crossbar and a very few efforts were off target, leaving home goalie Phillips to experience rather a quiet afternoon. He even saved Mortimore’s penalty and would have been disappointed that his colleagues were not able to reach the rebound before Guppy fished out the loose ball and fired a reward for his sorties along the left flank, where the decent footwork of Alden was plain to see. Josh Searle continued to be a quick support player from right-back too but with two small forwards, a pudding of a pitch and therefore a preponderance of high service from deep, Wilson and Williams were generally starved of quality sustenance. 

BUILDING BATHED IN SUNLIGHT...

Hailston was good for Town in attack, Morris also, until he was punished for his winning and scoring of the penalty by taking a couple of whacks to render him incapable of continuing. Rendall battled on after an indifferent start and of course trundled clear to complete his team’s scoring late on, celebrating with a knee-slide, like he was in the finale of Dancing On Ice.

LATE FREE-KICK FOR ROVERS...

Me? Merely a 103 mile journey back to Solihull but it was interesting that as I left the ground a guy approached me and thanked me for not claiming my prize for winning the raffle: he was awarded it instead and he seemed really grateful. That warmed me… 

And after calling Mike Searle the Pink Panther, it was rather apt, after crossing Bradford’s smart Avon bridge, that I should eventually pass the National Trust’s Dyrham Park, so I mumbled to myself: 

“Dyrham, Dyrham; Dyrham, Dyrham, Dyrham…”

Yeah, it’s what I do…  

TEAMS:

BRADFORD TOWN:

CHARLIE PHILLIPS, JAMES MOON, RICKIE SCOTT (CAPT), CHRIS PECK, BILLY FLETCHER, RITCHIE CHANDLER, MATT MORRIS, MARK WALL, KARIM RENDALL, DAN COTTLE, WILL HAILSTON.

SUBS:

ASHTON SHANLEY, NATHAN LOADER, FINN YOUNG, SAM JORDAN, CARL CRABTREE. 

WILLAND ROVERS:

MIKE SEARLE, JOSH SEARLE, RYAN GUPPY, ADAM HILL, ALEX FAUX, GLENN GOULD, LUKE MORTIMORE, BRETT WORBEY (CAPT), FLETCHER WILLIAMS, LUKE ALDEN.

SUBS:

DAVID STEELE, BRAD AUSDEN, AIDEN MOYLE, RUSSELL JEE, JOE

CURTIS.