GNP SPORTS 2-4 MALVERN TOWN (AET): THE INDEPENDENT MATCH REPORT...

Hillsiders Raid Raiders Late, As Clark Finally Shakes Off His Shackles…

GNP Sports 2-4 Malvern Town (aet)…

This really was a cup-tie… It was eminently watchable, not only because of the six goals, plus a comeback win from 2-0 behind by Malvern and the fact that at 2-2, they had a player dismissed which added to the drama, but also because the encounter was liberally strewn by a plethora of foul challenges. Harry Clark, Town’s wide-forward was targeted for, er, ‘close marking’ by the Raiders and it wasn’t until he switched wings and away from the belligerent coverage of the wily Rhys Lyons, that Clark really turned the tables on his foes. However, the most important event in this tie was surely when GNP skipper James Bryson, who had earlier added to Scotty Hammond’s opening goal for the hosts, fouled Town’s Matt Turner outside his 18 yard box. Bryson hurt himself and he, along with the struggling Hammond, was immediately replaced.

READY TO GO...

INTENSE EXPRESSIONS...

LOOKS LIKE THERE'S BEEN A SLAP ON THE HEAD HERE...

Sam Hunt, he of the ‘physical approach’ which would lead to a red card, scored superbly from the ensuing free-kick and then, with Malvern sensing parity, Clark smashed a brilliant dipping shot into goal from the right flank and suddenly GNP looked rather vulnerable. Although Hunt was then sent from the field for pulling down one of Corey Brookes’ socks with a boot sole, Malvern would not be denied as replacement Ethan Moran was fed two assists by Clark in the latter stages of overtime. He did not scorn the chances from close range and the tie was over for the Raiders. And yet home forward Adam Knight had missed a great chance to score during the first period of extra-time… 

PRINZEL MAKES A QUIET COMPLAINT TO THE REFEREE WHO LOOKS 20 YEARS YOUNGER THAN THE BEARDED LAIRD'S SON...

MORE SITTING IN THE GNP DUGOUT...

MORE STANDING IN THE TOWN DUGOUT...

The joy for Malvern’s players, staff and keen fans was all too easy to gauge but GNP had thrown the game away in truth, predominantly by loosening their marking of Clark, following the losses of Bryson and Hammond. Certainly Town’s Jay Sauntson was a rock in defence, so that despite some threat from Hammond, Knight was kept on the fringes of danger, although he would be annoyed to have missed a couple of good opportunities. Both teams went at it for 120 minutes and to be honest, this was a fine advertisement for Step 6 football. Despite some strong performances from several Raiders, subsequently they were floored by the ability of Clark…

THE MALVERN DEFENCE WATCHES EVANS AND KNIGHT...

SAUNTSON: "THAT BLOKE IS SWEATING, REF..."

BROOKES HAS FOULED CLARK...

The opening period wasn’t overly inspiring but there was a fine reaction save by home ‘keeper Paul Lawrence to admire, who leapt left to turn Clark’s strong header against the inside of the upright, before Luke Edwards cleared the loose ball away. Other than that for Town, Clark had a drive blocked, James Febery nodded well off target, then he thought he ought have been awarded a penalty, following the close attentions of Edwards. Edwards, who defended sullenly, blocked out both Turner and Ben Miller whilst Lawrence caught a decent rising drive by Smiler Hunt. The hosts however were similarly lacking in thrust, bar two Rob Prinzel shots being deflected for corners, Bryson firing high twice following flag-kicks and also having a header tipped away from the right angle of crossbar and post by goalkeeper Hayden Whitcombe.

BROOKES, RIGHT: FIRST TO BE BROOKED, ER, BOOKED...

MORE TROUBLE AND EDWARDS, BALL UNDER AN ARM, LOOKS PEEVED...

Lyons’ far post header was stopped by Whitcombe’s legs too but despite his valiant efforts, the gloveman would be beaten by Hammond close to the interval. Jason Evans slipped Hammond clear at inside-left but after beating defender Curtis Smith, the striker’s left-booter was blocked well by the falling goalie’s groin area, thus allowing Hammond to regain possession, steady himself and smack a good right boot shot into the right side of the net.  

1-0...

HAMMOND BLESSES HIS BLUE BOOTS...

FEBERY CAUTIONED IN OCTOBER...
(IS THAT RIGHT?)

KING: OBVIOUSLY LOVED THE AGGRO...

GNP were probably more ascendant during the second period, although too many fouls, warnings and cautions interrupted the play, if truth be told, although the tense affair was still fascinating to watch. Hammond ripped the ball from Malvern’s inspirational skipper Louis Loader but in feeding Knight, the move stalled until Aaron Dickens crossed from the left-flank, only for the stretching Knight’s attempt to connect with the ball failed. Edwards then headed wide with much of the goal at his mercy from Dickens’ free-kick but a goal would arrive soon enough. A deep Prinzel set-piece from inside-right saw Evans unmarked beyond the left stick and his downward header was tapped into the net by Bryson with surprising ease.

2-0 BUT OMG, EVEN EVANS IS SMILING...

CLARK: HAIRCUT FOR THE VASE?

EDWARDS & TURNER...

The only other chance for GNP was when Whitcombe dived at the feet of the hovering Brennan King, who had been much involved in the midfield skirmishes. This led to replacement home defender Josh Nash scuffling with Malvern players, so that both he and ‘keeper Whitcombe were yellow-carded. At the other end, Dickens had defended a dangerous Town centre really well with his head, before that fateful free-kick concession, whereby Hunt curled a smart 24 yard shot high into the left corner of the net, past the flying Lawrence. The substitutions didn’t help the Raiders and suddenly, Clark latched the ball from the right-wing and his delivery soared over Lawrence and into the far corner of the net. A fine goal… Before the 90 minutes were up, Hunt had been sent off, Turner had sent a looping header over the target for the guests and overtime beckoned, with eleven against ten…

CLARK SPINS...

HUNT, RIGHT, SPINS A YARN...

HUNT HELPS PRINZEL UP...

EVEN MORE TROUBLE...

MILLER CAUTIONED THIS TIME...

KING DOWN, HUNT WARNED FOR 'THREAT'...

GOALIE WHITCOMBE DID HIS JOB WELL...

THE REF ASKS THE SKIPPERS FOR CALM...

PRINZEL TELLS KING HE'S GOT A SPIDER ON HIS NECK...

Yet both teams might have scored, before the Clark and Moran duo won the game devastatingly for the Hillsiders. Lawrence narrowed an angle from his left stick to deny the rushing Turner, home substitute Luke Swinnerton shot low to Whitcombe but then blasted a chance from 18 yards way too high. Town replacement Dave Reynolds, an ex-Worcester Raider playing against the GNP Raiders, fired an effort well over the target but also appeared late to poke a near post effort wide, with Lawrence static and expecting Moran’s low cross to fall into his waiting gloves. Raider Knight was denied by a low save at the near post by Whitcombe but then missed a chance he will no doubt rue for some days… A left-side delivery by the quick and useful Dickens found him unmarked, 6 yards out, right side of the goal but when he controlled the ball, he attempted to fool Whitcombe and when his low shot did beat the goalie, there was the effective Febery, whose feet somehow deflected the ball slowly past the right upright… Head in hands time for Knight…

SMILER HUNT...

2-1 AFTER HUNT'S FREE-KICK...

CRAVEN HAS CHOPPED HAMMOND DOWN...

SHEEPISH LOOKS...

...& A CAUTION...

YET MORE TROUBLE...

NASH, 14, IS LED OUT OF HARM'S WAY...

NASH IS YELLOW-CARDED ANYWAY...

CLARK, CENTRE HAS SCORED A FINE GOAL...

After Prinzel had driven over the target from 18 yards, Malvern’s Turner converted a centre by the increasingly dangerous Clark but was flagged offside and yet a similar pair of scenarios were played out with minutes remaining but this time, although Clark was again the provider, Moran grabbed a match-winning brace. First, a deflection off Clark’s low delivery from the right fell for Moran to convert and then moments later, Clark’s pass was tucked in again by the lingering forward. Game over… Kiam Galdins did manage a late shot from inside-right for GNP but Whitcombe made a fine save and substitute Dan Purvin was unable to divert the rebound into the net as he slid in hopefully… 

HUNT'S MAD MOMENT...

PRINZEL KEEPS THE PEACE...

OVERTIME...

GNP GET A TALKING TO...

HERE WE GO...

There was ecstatic joy at the final whistle for the visitors and GNP looked devastated, not surprisingly. There had been some poor challenges during the match, likely triggered by the treatment of Clark. Loader’s replacement Bryan Craven will be relieved that his overtime challenge on King was not punished by a second yellow card, having earlier committed a bad foul. How Lyons escaped a caution for GNP was puzzling but like the kid in class who somehow gets away with daft stuff, Lyons did just that… King was combative and deserved his booking, Febery did too for Town, as did Edwards for Sports. Miller and Sauntson had their names scribbled into the official’s booklet also and yet despite these cautions, the referee eased off in overtime and this almost certainly saved Craven’s bacon, for with nine men, the outcome would have been so different…

THE FIGHTBACK IS ON...

MORAN, RIGHT, BECOMES THE HERO...

REYNOLDS SEEMS TO WANT TO DO RELAY BATON PRACTICE WITH MORAN... ODD, THAT.

And so onto my own woes, for quite by chance, I was informed by Malvern’s officials as we walked towards the exit, that it wasn’t Matt Fusco, as I mentioned to them who had netted the winning brace of goals, but Moran… I checked the team-sheet which had been the basis of my live commentary and told them that in that case, the team-list had been incorrectly written down. One said: “That’s a fine, then…” Hence I was forced to cover my embarrassment by cropping the video clips which mentioned Fusco’s name and I also had to ‘voice-over’ the clips of Moran’s two goals… I hope the result is bearable for those who care to watch… Surely that shouldn’t have happened though?

.

EDWARDS: MR INNOCENCE..

YET, YET, MORE, MORE TROUBLE...

GAME OVER...

CRAVEN B...
(NOT A CIGARETTE MAKE...)

SEE WHAT I MEAN?

Players who impressed? For the Raiders, Lyons, Dickens, the original central defenders, whilst Prinzel, Brookes and King in midfield certainly gave their all. ‘Keeper Lawrence wasn’t culpable, Evans made a pair of assists and Hammond looked bright. Malvern’s Loader controlled his team for an hour, Sauntson was so good in defence, aided by the brave Harry Wickett, whilst Curtis Smith and Hunt were decent at full-back, Febery was an aerial presence and George Hayes was a good foil for the match winner, the exciting Harry Clark…  

CLARK: THE MATCH DECIDER...

Enjoyed that game, guys…

Thanks.

TEAMS:

GNP SPORTS:

PAUL LAWRENCE, RHYS LYONS, AARON DICKENS, ROB PRINZEL, JAMES BRYSON (CAPT), LUKE EDWARDS, BRENNAN KING, COREY BROOKES, ADAM KNIGHT, SCOTT HAMMOND, JASON EVANS.

SUBS:

LUKE SWINNERTON, JOSH NASH, KIAM GALDINS, DAN PURVIN, RYAN ISHERWOOD, SCOTT DAVIS (GK).

MALVERN TOWN:

HAYDEN WHITCOMBE, CURTIS SMITH, SAM HUNT, HARRY WICKETT, JAY SAUNTSON, JAMES FEBERY, GEORGE HAYES, LOUIS LOADER (CAPT), MATT TURNER, BEN MILLER, HARRY CLARK.

SUBS:

MATT FUSCO, ETHAN MORAN (THESE TWO ARE NOW CORRECT…), BRYAN CRAVEN, DAVE REYNOLDS, CHARLIE WEAVER (GK).