GALA WILTON 4-1 HANHAM ATHLETIC: THE INDEPENDENT MATCH REPORT...

Gala Finally Stretch Away From Plucky Hanham

Gala Wilton 4-1 Hanham Athletic

I had been invited to Gala Wilton by their ex-Cheltenham Saracens attacker James Bowers and he emerged from the dressing-room area with a mug of strong tea for me and a couple of programmes when I arrived in Gloucester, which was really decent of him. The welcome afforded by the club as a whole was friendly and Hanham’s contingent too were accommodating. Despite having the better of this contest, it took until late in the second period before Gala finally made the points safe with a pair of goals by replacement Jay Dare and forward Martin Smith. Hanham had unexpectedly reduced the 2-0 arrears prior to that with a solo effort by winger Conor Hartley and thereby lies a cautionary tale…

TOSSING...

IS DOBBINS' KIT MALFUNCTIONING?

An elderly bloke had parked himself to my right after the interval, clutching a radio and with earphones pressed into his ears. Every now and again he uttered sounds. That was off-putting. He then approached me and I was distracted, only just managing to press the ‘Record’ button on my hand-held camera in time to get some footage, albeit poor, of Hanham’s goal. I apologise wholeheartedly to both Athletic and Hartley, for the camera’s angle was low and the recording hurried. I ignored the chap completely after that… Badly done, Mowdog, badly done…

EARLY TROUBLE FOR MACE...

A GRIMACE...

...AND A BOOKING...

The hosts would be indebted to some marauding midfield play, in particular by Jordan Molyneux, but defenders Brad Loveridge, Sam Webb, Keiron Mace and Shay Lyons all looked generally strong for Gala. Visiting ‘keeper Luke Corbiere made several decent saves, which had kept the game close for longer than Wilton would have liked but in truth, Hartley wasn’t able to influence the game enough for the Miners, given the scant service on offer. The brick-shithouse pairing at the back for Hanham, Darius Davey and Luke Clapp, were forced to make a number of interventions as Gala pushed hard for goals but those two late strikes broke Athletic hearts…

THE GALA DEFENCE BACKS OFF...

The visitors were susceptible to home goalie and skipper Lewis Skyers’ skiers, meaning his huge punts forced Davey and Clapp to turn and thus offered Smith, Bowers, Ben Sluman and leading scorer Ryan Dobbins opportunities to race forth and harass their opponents. The guests provided little in the way of offense before the break in truth, merely a 30 yard free-kick from the beefy Davey which rolled harmlessly along the ground to a somewhat surprised and relieved Skyers. Davey was heard to say that he had slipped or something  when referring to the incident before half two began… Also, Hartley had benefited from a fortunate bounce off the determined Loveridge’s leg to make one run to the left byeline, from whence he wasted his cross.

SMITH IN AN AERIAL ASSAULT...

THE SOLID DEFENSIVE PAIRING FOR THE GUESTS...

The hosts, in contrast, did have goal attempts, for Smith glanced an early header from Bowers’ free-kick wide, albeit with the aid of a deflection for a corner. Sluman sliced wide and fired another effort across the goal-face, Bowers clipped a shot from inside-left past the far stick and saw a good chip from 18 yards trouble Corbiere but Davey was on hand to head the ball from the goal-line. Bowers regained possession though but sliced his ensuing shot past the right post on this occasion. The corners which Bowers took from the left caused problems for the visiting marking and indeed, when Mace, cautioned early for a foul on Hanham forward Harry Keen (interesting sounding name…), dropped off Athletic’s George Latham, who was also booked before the interval, the first goal arrived.

The header back across goal by Mace was simply nodded in by probably the shortest guy in the 18 yard box, Dobbins and Corbiere was thus beaten from a few yards out.

DOBBINS (9) HAS SCORED: 1-0...

Another similar corner saw Mace again drift off his marker but this time his header looped high past the right angle of crossbar and upright, then a couple of efforts at goal by left-back Sam Webb were off target and Dobbins raced away onto another Skyers skier but his chip not only beat the advancing Corbiere but also the crossbar from 18 yards out.

REF: "PULL YOUR SOCKS UP LAD, THERE ARE WOMEN PRESENT..."

SOMEONE KNEW THE CAMERA WAS ROLLING...

LATHAM WILL BE IN TROUBLE FOR THIS...

...YEP...

So, the recess arrived, the sun shone, the players took refreshments on board, a likely packed lunch of River Severn elvers, or possibly squab pie and the second period began with a succession of stoppages. These were due to fouls, delays at set-pieces, agonising waits for balls to be retrieved, as well as appeals made to the referee when twice he awarded free-kicks to Gala, although advantages might have been allowed. Of course the introduction of replacements, which totally affected any kind of rhythm to the match, meant frustration for all and sundry. Subsequently though, another corner by Bowers from the left would add goal two for Wilton. Smith had already sent a back header from a deep free-kick just wide with Corbiere arriving too late to get in a punch but Bowers would have a drive deflected for a flag-kick. His first delivery was quickly and fortuitously returned to him and he shoved a smart cross beyond the far upright for Mace to nod back across into the goalmouth. We had seen that before, methinks…

AWAY DUGOUT...

HOME DUGOUT...

SECOND PERIOD...

Mace’s header was nodded sharply away from Dobbins by the combative Hanham right-back Liam Robson but Lyons was on hand to nod the loose ball into the right side of the net from around 6 yards.

GOAL FOR LYONS: 2-0...

That really should have been game over but Hartley raced goalwards and forced his way to the left byeline, somehow nudging the ball through several players from the narrowest of angles into the net and it was 2-1…

WELL, SUDDENLY IT'S 2-1...

ENTER JAY DARE...

Skyers had already plunged left to push aside a low 23 yard free-kick from visiting skipper and top goalscorer Sam Brown, who had probably made sure that Davey didn’t get the chance to shoot this time, but from the second phase of that attack, Keen’s drive was deflected away for a corner. Skyers did knock a couple of crosses away confidently to be fair but soon the hosts were knocking at the door again. Dobbins shot two good opportunities without venom straight at Corbiere, before Dare was introduced but he too shot a left-booter weakly at the goalie. Soon though, the forward scored and he would be grateful to both Dobbins and another substitute Kieran Brice-Ingles for assisting.

Dobbins charged down a clearance inside the penalty-box at inside-right, Brice-Ingles showed fine composure to roll the loose ball across the penalty-area for Dare, who had two defenders to deal with. He side-stepped both, to his right and slotted a cool right-booter low into the net from 8 yards.

DARE HAS SCORED, IT'S 3-1 & FRY (9) IS GETTING A HEADACHE...

Smith then gained a reward for his efforts when a flicked-on header by Brice-Ingles fed Dobbins and the striker freed Smith precisely at inside-left and the forward didn’t disappoint, drawing Corbiere and slotting a low shot into the net.

4-1: SMITH THE SCORER...

Smith would have another drive deflected in a strong Gala finish, replacement Alex Pritchard had a hard 25 yard free-kick deflected, forcing Corbiere into a fine save down by his right stick and finally Brice-Ingles drove in a 25 yard effort which the ‘keeper leapt left for and tipped away from the top corner of his goal-frame.

HMM...

WARNINGS...

WAS THIS POSED?

So, the game ended as more of a spectacle, which saw the referee caution a member of the Hanham staff but once again there were moments of inconsistency by the officials and it became something of a lottery whether challenges would be deemed fair or foul… 

KEEN IS SPOKEN TO...

TROUBLE FOR THE BENCHES...

THEY WERE WARNED...

Certainly Molyneux was a sharp-edged coal in the sides of the Miners with his tackling and occasional deft footwork, leading to some creative passes. Bowers’ set-piece deliveries were usually good but with a confident goalie behind them, Mace and Lyons looked comfortable. Brice-Ingles added spice to the home attack when he appeared and Dare looked like he had tricks to offer but Loveridge looked composed much of the time for his team and played well.

DRAMATIC SILENT-SCREEN POSTURE SEEN HERE...

NO YELLOW, OR RED, FOR BROWN...

Hanham were up against it for much of the time but fault their effort one couldn’t, as Davey, Clapp, Robson and Jae Bateman stuck to their defensive tasks. Latham prowled midfield like a bear with sinus problems, Jamie Fry, like Hartley didn’t receive the service he desired but Brown led his team with some determination, despite the lost cause.

Me? A long drive back to Solihull and a meal out, cooked by friends. 

No washing-up for me then, which reminds me: sorry about the dirty mug, Mr Bowers…

TEAMS:

GALA WILTON:

LEWIS SKYERS (CAPT), BRAD LOVERIDGE, SAM WEBB, KEIRON MACE, SHAY LYONS, JORDAN MOLYNEUX, BEN SLUMAN, CONNOR HARMER, RYAN DOBBINS, MARTIN SMITH, JAMES BOWERS.

SUBS:

ALEX PRITCHARD, JAY DARE, KIERAN BRICE-INGLES, CRAIG HOWELL, ANDREW MOODY.

HANHAM ATHLETIC:

LUKE CORBIERE, LIAM ROBSON, JAE BATEMAN, LUKE CLAPP, DARIUS DAVEY, GEORGE LATHAM, SAM BROWN (CAPT), CALLUM GOULD, JAMIE FRY, HARRY KEEN, CONOR HARTLEY.

SUBS:

LOUS STRAWFORD, LEVI WHITE, CHRIS STRAWFORD.