FLASHBACK: PERSHORE TOWN 3-2 LEICESTER ROAD IN 2017...

Reticent Officials Come To the Aid Of Fighting Pershore

Pershore Town 3-2 Leicester Road

The headline shouldn’t be taken wrongly. The referee of this match, being assessed, awarded the hosts a penalty, the scoring of which ultimately won the contest for Town but his back-seat handling of the aftermath to the incident could easily have led to some serious fisticuffs between players. Fair play to some of the combatants, who managed to restrain the understandably but unbearably aggrieved Matty Stenson, who had been adjudged to have knocked over Pershore’s Steve Roche. It appeared that Roche had simply lost his balance on the left byeline but the official saw it differently and Jamie Clarke’s spot-kick claimed all three points for the relegation troubled hosts. Bad feeling was thus caused by the referee’s decision and then his poor handling of the subsequent shoving, wrenching and profanity, much of it directed at the official himself, about which he took no action whatsoever… Badly done.

VEHICULAR CONGREGATION...

THIS IS THE RIGHT PLACE, THEN...

A later flashpoint following what seemed like an innocuous, if unwise, shove from behind by Leicester’s Amarvir Sandhu, saw home ‘keeper Shaun Edwards charge towards him like a mad bull indignant about Little Red Riding Hood’s choice of wardrobe. Interestingly, the trouble flared between Edwards and Stenson, for Sandhu had exited stage left, both were cautioned for their anger and so was visiting central defender Nick Hawkins, well known to me from previous seasons. It was good to see him again though and when he asked me at the start of the second period what I was doing at Pershore, I replied that it’s always good to watch a player slower than myself. His reply will not be mentioned in this report, written before the 9pm watershed, although the BBC’s Comic Relief ‘luvvies’ didn’t seem to bother about that on the following Friday evening… Badly done.

WHERE THERE'S A WILL, THERE'S A PIC...

HIGHLAND & HAWKINS...

The game was watchable, if only for two contrasting styles, with some real passion shown by both sets of players, some neat creative passing by Leicester on occasions and some counter-attacking by Pershore. The resolute home defending, with Shaun Griffiths and James Walker outstanding, was the main feature of the game but the first two Pershore goals were expertly taken and even Clarke’s penalty was struck with some style. Slack defending led to all five goals, yet oddly neither goalkeeper was really tested during the encounter, bar some comfortable collections of poorly struck shots. The wind was difficult, swirling around from the River Avon nearby and on a few occasions as players in possession ran towards the car-park end of the ground, the ball bobbled in random fashion, no doubt explaining a few losses of control in that area.

REF: "SORRY MATE, I NEED TO. THE ASSESSOR EXPECTS IT..."

The Persians would rue some misses, for the visitors soon scored with what the Kansas City Chiefs in the NFL would describe as a ‘broken play’. A right-flank corner was taken short by Jack Harrison to the brilliantly named winger Billy Bennett and although he passed the ball back to Harrison, the left-back’s return-feed sent Bennett on a scuttling retreat. However, his left-booted cross from deep towards the near post wrong-footed all the home players, the ball nudged off the stretching Waldron and there was Roadie right-back Josh Unsworth (thanks for the Twitter follow, El Niño) to net easily past Edwards. His goal celebration was good but to their credit, the Persians picked up their wicker shields and set about their foes.

UNSWORTH TURNS THE BALL PAST EDWARDS...

...& IT'S 0-1 TO THE ROADIES...

Steve Webb, who played a neat game in deep midfield at freezing Southam a few days previous to this gloriously sunny March Saturday, was forced to play at right-back on the day and his endeavour won possession for Dean Waldron to measure a fine pass between Roadies Callum Earls, who played strongly throughout, and Harrison. Reece Jacobs sprinted past the pair and thus made his way to the byeline, maybe 12 yards from the near upright but his cross on the run from that uneven section of the surface was accurate and met by the wily Clarke’s head at the near post, having left defenders in his wake. The spectacular effort glanced beyond goalie Will Highland and high into the far corner of the net.    

FLICKED HEADER BY CLARKE...

...& IT'S 1-1...

The interval arrived, there was parity, Chelmsley were winning at Heath Hayes and so Pershore needed a victory. The players returned to the sunshine with a replacement on the Leicester team, Amarvir Sandhu for Jordan Burrows, who hadn’t been able to exploit the space afforded him before the break by stop-gap home left-back Rich Thomas-Robinson who had played on the right side of midfield at Banbury Road, Southam on Tuesday evening where spectators had donned gloves and shivered.

An error in the Roadie defence allowed the loitering footpad Clarke to steal possession and run forward before releasing a smart pass to the left lane for Ben Lane to fasten onto fast… He measured his low angled left-booted shot across the diving Highland to perfection and the ball arrowed just inside the far post. The hosts were dreaming but the guests were simply buoyed to respond and they did so within moments. 

LANE SHOOTS...

...& HIGHLAND DIVES...

...BUT IT'S 2-1 TO THE PERSIANS...

A loose ball in defence by Thomas-Robinson was pounced upon by the drifting Tom McGlinchey, whose ghostly movements in possession were proving difficult for the Persians to deal with. He swerved into a shooting position, as if playing against static orange cones and clipped a casual 16 yard right-footer out of Edwards’ reach, high into the right side of the net. Smart, clinical and it all looked so easy…

MCGLINCHEY SHOOTS TO SCORE FOR THE ROADIES...

...& REGAINS PARITY...

A right-side corner by the Persians saw the ball run towards the left byeline, where Roche chased it, followed by Stenson doing  defensive duty but the Persian flicked the ball inside and then jumped as Stenson appeared to lift a foot. The referee pointed to the penalty-spot, presumably feeling that a slight trip had been augmented but Stenson was incensed, remonstrating in a soulful voice that he hadn’t touched Roche, whereby the situation ignited like a straw house suddenly bursting into flame from a small candle. Stenson was eventually grabbed by colleagues to prevent any further punishment being meted out but really, the scene became nasty, the language and accusations reached horrendous levels and yet the official stood just inside the 18 yard box and watched over it like a priest presiding over a pub brawl in Birmingham’s Broad Street.

Clarke finally rapped a good spot-kick up to the leaping Highland’s right and the Persians led the Roadies 3-2…

CLARKE TAKES THE SPOT-KICK...

...& HIS EFFORT BEATS HIGHLAND...

...TO WIN THE MATCH FOR PERSHORE...

A simple, innocuous incident as the ball rolled over the byeline, involving Sandhu and Griffiths, although it was tough from my position to see what actually happened, led to Edwards entering from stage left like a charging buffalo and trouble erupted again, revolving around Stenson, Edwards and Hawkins. Eventually, the referee resorted to cards for all three, bringing an unsavoury ending to the game. As Waldron got the ball away for Pershore for the final time, the covering defender was Leicester striker and leading scorer Stenson and his reaction at the sound of the final whistle was testament to his effort, commitment and all-round team play. He cared… Good job his frustrated kick of the ball didn’t go near the officials though!

DISBELIEF...

Yes, Leicester Road might have been the more creative, passing-wise in the above match but Pershore were really stout in defence and chances were certainly scorned by both teams. In McGlinchey, the Roadies had a useful deep lying forward and Bennett always needed watching on the flanks but Stenson was the kind of striker who worked manfully, both in possession and in movement. Earls complimented the brick shit-house Hawkins in defence, playing the ball away neatly at times, rather like Pershore’s James Walker was inclined to do and Joe Lyne often popped up in shooting positions, albeit his efforts at goal failed to trouble Edwards in the home goal.

Webb and Chris Priest did good things for the Persians, Roche and Waldron kept at it but Clarke and Jacobs often stretched the visiting defence, with the former’s two goals highlighting his usefulness in the home attack, whereas Lane was quieter but took his goal with aplomb. Griffiths and Walker though, were admirable in defence and although Leicester Road would feel dispirited by the result, one could not help but be impressed by the resilience of the home team, who were still in a dogfight near the bottom of the league…

Me? After an afternoon in the sun, I walked slowly to my car, overtaking a sprinting Nick Hawkins…

TEAMS: 

PERSHORE TOWN:

SHAUN EDWARDS, STEVE WEBB, RICH THOMAS-ROBINSON, JAMES WALKER, SHAUN GRIFFITHS (CAPT), CHRIS PRIEST, STEVE ROCHE, DEAN WALDRON, JAMIE CLARKE, BEN LANE, REECE JACOBS.

SUBS:

CHARLIE COTTERILL, TUNDE AJIBADE, THOMAS ALLEN, JELSON ANTONIO, QUENTIN TOWNSEND.

LEICESTER ROAD:

WILL HIGHLAND, JOSH UNSWORTH, JACK HARRISON, GREG DOWNES (CAPT), NICK HAWKINS, CALLUM EARLS, JORDAN BURROWS, JOE LYNE, MATTY STENSON, TOM McGLINCHEY, BILLY BENNETT.

SUBS:

JAKE HOLT, DARYLL THOMAS, AMARVIR SANDHU, SAM WELLS, RICKY BLEWITT (GK).