ALCESTER TOWN 2-0 COVENTRIANS: THE INDEPENDENT MATCH REPORT...

 Romans Triumph, As Coventrians Commit The Errors

Alcester Town 2-0 Coventrians

(Post Covid Lockdown Charity Cup Final @ Hampton FC)

Goalkeeping misjudgements were punished at the beginning of and then at the end of the opening period of this tie on a sunny afternoon in Field Lane,  thus handing Alcester the Covid Cup. Despite the lively crowd, the importance of the Final and the prize on offer, too often the match looked ragged, mistakes were rife and strangely, as time went on, the proceedings lacked atmosphere. The match was also officiated in a manner which allowed several bad challenges to go unpunished, yet Town replacement Kyle King was cautioned much later during the second period for his first real tackle, albeit a careless one. Later, Coventrian Harvey Middleton’s unwise thrust at Roman Dom Perkins earned him a deserved yellow card too.

HUGS FOR THE ROMANS...

COVENTRIANS' Liam Connolly (7) SEEMS TO BE EXPRESSING SOMETHING...

Otherwise, before the recess, Perkins grabbed hold of Coventrian Jeremie Agholor and slung him down but no foul was even awarded to the Blues, Roman Lewis Clarke’s foot-up challenge on Ben Newport looked naughty but was penalised, as did the hack through Liam Connolly by Alcester right-back Matt Bailey which was ignored by the official, who was about 8 yards away. All very odd…

TOSSING...

After the interval, Ricketts was not averse to barging Coventrian Luke Wilson in the back, twice, during set-piece plays and Joe Drake Cervantes escaped any punishment at all for shoving down Connolly and then Abel Osei Tutu inside his own penalty-box, which the nearby linesman ignored too. Even odder… Perkins then launched himself into Middleton full-on, an incident which brought, er, no reaction from the referee whatsoever…

MIDDLETON'S YELLOW...

CAUTION FOR KING...

So, to the football… Certainly, the Alcester midfielders Toby Scott and Sam Fitzgerald were generally more creative and effective than Coventrians Newport, Connolly and Wilson, although Wilson had two low free-kicks superbly saved by Town goalie Josh Benton during the opening period. He also had a second-half strike rightly disallowed by an offside flag. Although Ricketts was awarded the best player trophy, Clarke, Bailey and Scott were surely contenders for Alcester and central defender Dan Hume played a huge match for the lower ranked Coventrians, alongside the reliable Ryan Conneely.   

PERKINS MAKES A POINT...

CONNOLLY RIGHTLY WONDERS WHY THE REFEREE HAS LET CERTAIN CHALLENGES STAND...

The opening goal was simply ‘created’ by a punted clearance from Clarke, which Coventrians’ goalie Ricky Blewitt raced from goal towards his 18 yard line to deal with. However, he didn’t make it but Karl Walker did, nudging a header over the flailing ‘keeper and the ball bounced into the empty net. A disastrous start for the Coventry club, especially as usual goalie James Connolly was away playing in a Gaelic football Final, which his team won. 

1-0...

COVENTRIANS DEFENDING A CORNER...

DONALDSON GETS CREDIT FROM THE FANS...

Fair play to Coventrians though, they worked themselves back into the contest, when first Joel Heeley nearly got through onto Newport’s assist but was baulked by Clarke and Benton. Then twice Hume lashed efforts well off target, Newport fired wide of the left stick and Nathan Cadby was in at inside-left but his angled shot was blocked by Benton. Maybe Cadby would have chipped the ‘keeper, given the chance again. A weak Agholor header to Benton was followed by the two Wilson free-kicks, both turned away for right-flank corners by the diving saves of the competent Benton.

Town hadn’t really threatened too much after their first goal but Blewitt caught a chip by Ross Dempster, who also miscued from 14 yards, then from Bailey’s pass, Deards dragged a low shot wide. A weak punch by Blewitt allowed Clarke to have a shot which was blocked but the custodian’s second punch was even less effective right on half-time. Deards’ subsequent low shot seemed comfortable for the goalie but he seemed to go down too soon and mishandled the ball upwards for the lurking Dempster to nod into an empty net.

2-0...

BLEWITT AWAITS TREATMENT...

IT'S 2-0 & AN AIRCRAFT LANDS.
ODD THAT...

Blewitt was given treatment, half-time was immediately signalled and when the teams re-emerged, Coventrians’ left-back and skipper Aaron Donaldson was wearing the ‘keeper’s jersey. He would play well… 

Scott fired shots wide of each post for Town but Donaldson reacted so well when Dempster headed a Deards cross goalwards, flying right to turn the effort away.  Donaldson saved an angled shot from Dempster too, then palmed aside a Deards delivery, as well as saving comfortably from King and then from fellow substitute Reece Jacobs, who would also shoot too high from 15 yards. 

JACOBS: MIGHT HAVE NETTED A THIRD FOR TOWN...

AGHOLOR & THE COVENTRIANS...

Due to a lack of offensive ideas and misplaced passes, Coventrians failed to impress after the break, with replacement Ally Hassan, Connolly and Newport all too often frustrated, providing little service for forwards Agholor, Heeley and substitute Osei Tutu. Heeley did nudge a Connolly pass past Benton but Ricketts cleared the gently rolling ball away from his goal-line as Cadby slid in, Wilson’s volley was negated by a linesman’s flag and then passed inside for Connolly, who hadn’t made a forward move and maybe the midfielder should have tried a shot. Replacement Josh Dixon also shot off target from downtown. 

THE ROMANS FLARING...

MAN THROWS ALCOHOL AWAY...

WINNERS...

ROMANS LIKING THE FEELING...

Hence the game, interrupted by drinks breaks and untidy periods of play, almost faded to a tame, predictable finish, not reflecting the excitement the decent crowd had tried to engender. 

Congratulations to Alcester for winning the trophy and to Spencer McArdle and Hampton FC for organising the competition…

TEAMS:

ALCESTER TOWN:

JOSH BENTON, MATT BAILEY, DOM PERKINS, LEWIS CLARKE, DREW RICKETTS (CAPT), JOE DRAKE-CERVANTES, KARL WALKER, TOBY SCOTT, ROSS DEMPSTER, SAM FITZGERALD, CONNOR DEARDS.

SUBS:

KYLE KING, REECE JACOBS, OWEN WARD, HARRY JENNINGS.

COVENTRIANS:

RICKY BLEWITT, HARVEY MIDDLETON, AARON DONALDSON (CAPT), LUKE WILSON, DAN HUME, RYAN CONNEELY, LIAM CONNOLLY, BEN NEWPORT, JOEL HEELEY, JEREMIE AGHOLOR, NATHAN CADBY.

SUBS:

LEE KELLY, JOSH DIXON, ALLY HASSAN, BROOKE QUINN, ABEL OSEI TUTU.