BEWDLEY TOWN 5-6 AFC BRIDGNORTH: THE MATCH REPORT & MORE IMAGES...

Pike Attack Floors Riversiders In Eleven Goal Thriller…

Bewdley Town 5-6 AFC Bridgnorth

This was a remarkable game to witness, not only because of the number of goals scored but mainly due to the order in which they were filched. Bewdley led 2-0, were pegged back to 2-2, then led again 3-2, before Bridgnorth regained parity before the interval. Town netted again, only for AFC to equalise at 4-4, then the guests had the temerity to take the lead themselves, but Bewdley responded immediately to draw level at 5-5. I saw Bewdley draw 5-5 against Pershore a few weeks back, so maybe I thought that this match would end in similar fashion, until Cameron Milne’s late winner for the beleaguered visitors, who thus grabbed their first victory of the season so far… 

ADJUDICATING BETWEEN A PRIEST AND A PIKE...

I’ll describe the goals in detail at the end of my report but first of all I need to thank Bewdley Town again for their kind hospitality. It was also remarkable to see Bridgnorth’s Chris Crook (still smoking, as I remember him…), Kevin Buxton, Tom Whitney and skipper Jason Pike again, still playing for the club after many years… 

CHRIS CROOK WON'T TELL HIS MATE WHERE HE'S HIDDEN HIS FAGS...

The two teams played with such different tactical ideas, whereby Bewdley regularly looked to hook passes from the feet of midfielders Simon Rudd and Tiago Ribeiro for strikers Josh Carpenter and Lee Morris to race onto, a tactic which too often stretched AFC’s defensive three, Rod Dunn, Whitney and Harry Walker. AFC meanwhile, looked to the anchor of Pike, the creativity of Milne and Myles Arnold, then trust the power of central striker Tom Grainger and sidekick Karl Griffiths. Grainger nabbed a hat-trick and Griffiths scored a brace, whilst Bewdley’s Carpenter disputed the ownership of the match ball with Grainger by netting three times himself.

BEWDLEY'S KIT IS KINDA DECENT...

There could and should have been more goals, remarkably, for some of the defensive play was, er, lax on the day and some of the finishing was, er, blunt… Pike though ran most of the match from start to finish, looking confident, apparently having more time on the ball than others and passing it with comfortable ease. The AFC wingbacks, Buxton and the surging Aaron Weston offered support wide but it was clear that whenever AFC went behind they simply wiped the rain from foreheads, hair and beards and got on with it, so that by the time they led 5-6, they might just about have deserved their three points, something Town might just argue about…

GRIFFITHS WATCHED BY PRESCOTT & PRIEST...

Morris and Matt Kerby had scored from the hosts’ first two real attacks but Ribeiro had also fired a decent free-kick just too high and Morris had dragged a poor effort wide of the left upright when clear. After AFC had scored through Grainger, Kerby drove two shots way too high, Morris nudged in Carpenter’s right-side delivery but was flagged offside, before the man with socked knees went close again with a shot which grazed the crossbar from 15 yards.

SURELY THIS QUARTET SHOULD BE ON A CATWALK?

AFC had already seen shots by Buxton and Arnold blocked in the opening moments, before they went a goal behind, then before Grainger had nicked that important opener, Arnold had seen a low effort deflected wide and Milne’s standing header from an Arnold corner had flown wide of the left stick. At 2-2, Pike’s first-time drive from 28 yards rose too high and Buxton’s low cross-shot whizzed by the far upright, then at 3-3, a quick free-kick freed Griffiths but home goalie Isaac Culver saved smartly with his legs. Strange that the Culver save was the only one worth mentioning, for all the other efforts at both goals were largely off target, or blocked.

MILNE: "DON'T TELL HIM YOUR NAME, PIKE..."

Half-time arrived and the players hurried to wax beards, gel hair and wash knees, before returning to continue to play in the rain showers…

REF: "NO, I'M NOT PLAYING LEAP-FROG WITH YOU, OR ANYBODY ELSE FOR THAT MATTER, SO GET UP..."

Oddly, the action continued in its relentless manner, for after a weak Carpenter effort straight to Crook, he added goal four for Town, which was immediately equalised by Grainger’s powered shot. Two close shaves for the visitors followed when first, a quick free-kick led to a left-side cross by Kerby which was stabbed wide, right-booted at the near post by the lurking Morris, a feat re-enacted by central defender Sam Prescott later in the half. Secondly, a Prescott header was hacked away by a combination of Arnold and Crook on the goal-line but the ‘keeper reacted quickly from the floor to grab Adam Beardsmore’s close range rebound shot.

IS THAT FAN REALLY WORKING WESTON LIKE A HAND-PUPPET?

At 5-5, a Rudd pass saw Crook begin to advance from goal to clear but he and a defender hesitated, leaving Crook exposed and Morris in possession but the forward’s left-footer from 12 yards, right of centre was brilliantly tuned aside by the leaping, stranded Crook and Carpenter was unable to direct an awkward rebound. Walker made a great challenge on Morris before the winner went in at the other end and a very late header by Prescott from a corner rose too high. 

GRAINGER'S GOAL CELEBRATION ENDED WHEN A CORNER-FLAG DROPPED ONTO HIS SKULL...

The visitors had pulled back to 4-4 from a corner conceded by Town when Culver leapt right to make a good save from Milne’s 24 yard free-kick, then after that, both Pike and Milne fired off target. At 5-5, replacement Oli Waddison cushion-volleyed a Pike free-kick for Culver to gab, as Griffiths’ arm struck the goalie, and then of course, Milne struck the winner.

THE GOVERNMENT WOULD BE IMPRESSED BY BEWDLEY'S SOCIALLY DISTANCED GOAL CELEBRATION...

REF: "NO, CHRIS, YOU BLOODY WELL CAN'T NIP BACK TO THE CHANGING ROOM FOR A FAG..."

All very exciting then… Bridgnorth had passed the ball well at times but there always seemed to be a shocked expression on home skipper Ben Priest’s face, not only at Bridgnorth’s resilience, but also at the referee’s performance. Certainly, the official appeared to irritate a few players but in truth, the guy did his job, didn’t caution anyone and was generally well supported by his assistants…

WHEN PRIEST'S LANGUAGE IS FOUL, HE NIPS TO THE CONFESSIONAL & CONFESSES, ER, TO HIMSELF...
(IS THAT RIGHT?)

The goals:

1-0: 

Kerby got away on the left and Morris raced onto the low centre, clipping it first-time past Crook from the left corner of the 6 yard box.

2-0:

Rudd’s long, outside of right boot pass freed Kerby at inside-right and he wove patterns before shooting not too hard to Crook’s right but the ball skidded by the gloveman and the hosts were 2-0 ahead.

2-1: 

Grainger collected the ball on the right side of the 18 yard box and his pass found the volleying boot of Griffiths for a measured finish high to the right of the diving Culver.

2-2:

Fine work on the left by Weston and his low centre found Grainger criminally unmarked, whereupon he swept the ball past Culver from 12 yards, first-time, left-footed and into the right corner of goal.

3-2:

Whitney was unable to get onto the ball and Morris rushed away at inside-right, his centre finding Carpenter 6 yards out, left side of goal and his first-time effort flew into the right corner of the net.

3-3:

A free-kick, central and from downtown by Pike led to confusion on Town’s 18 yard line; Priest moved left and Griffiths ran forth, cleverly side-footing the ball past a badly exposed Culver.

4-3:

Rudd, totally unmarked, right side of goal, headed onto the crossbar, Carpenter retrieved the ball near the left upright and unselfishly passed to Ribeiro, just 4 yards out but Crook saved well, only for Carpenter to latch onto the loose ball again and pot a low right-footer into the far corner of the net from the left byeline.

4-4:

Following Culver’s fine save from Milne’s free-kick, the resulting corner caused some mess, the ball bounced away from Rudd and Grainger pummelled a left-footer into the roof of the net from 7 yards.

4-5:

Grainger rose at the near post to glance Pike’s left byeline free-kick into the right side of the net.

5-5:

Carpenter fell, plunged and generally dropped forward like a shoebill stork bombing into a pool onto an unsuspecting lungfish, to nod Rudd’s right flank centre into the net at the left vertical pole.

5-6:

A hustle by Griffiths with the home defenders led to the ball rolling out to Milne and his low 18 yard shot steered its way past two defenders and into the left corner of the net to subsequently win the match for Bridgnorth…

THE ROLLING STONES SANG IT:
'IT'S ALL OVER NOW'...

A great game to watch…

TEAMS:

BEWDLEY TOWN:

ISAAC CULVER, STEVE CLARKE, CHRIS SEEKINGS, BEN PRIEST (CAPT), SAM PRESCOTT, ADAM BEARDSMORE, TIAGO RIBEIRO, SIMON RUDD, JOSH CARPENTER, LUKE MORRIS, MATT KERBY.

SUBS: 

TOM SMITH, BEN WORTHINGTON, LAURIE MORRIS, RYAN GENISTER, JOCILEY TRINDADE.

AFC BRIDGNORTH:

CHRIS CROOK, KEVIN BUXTON, AARON WESTON, TOM WHITNEY, ROD DUNN, HARRY WALKER, JASON PIKE (CAPT), MYLES ARNOLD, TOM GRAINGER, KARL GRIFFITHS, CAMERON MILNE.

SUBS:

OLI WADDISON, ELLIOT LEE, GEORGE MARSH, LEWIS AYRES, JOSH GARRINGTON.