ALCESTER TOWN 2-3 BOLEHALL SWIFTS: THE INDEPENDENT MATCH REPORT...

 Romans Muscled Out Of It By Opportunistic Swifts

Alcester Town 2-3 Bolehall Swifts

The Mowdog’s thoughts…

Alcester were bitten on the bum three times by Swifts and although they squandered several goal chances, the hosts simply couldn’t prevent their stubborn guests from leaving Stratford Road with a scrapped for victory. In a game which saw neither goalkeeper particularly busy, Bolehall were indebted to a goal-frame twice, as a shot by Ross Dempster struck a post and a free-kick by Owen Ward smacked against the same crossbar, as the Romans attempted to redress an awful start by their defence, which conceded two goals to the, er, canary yellow Swifts… 

Both teams had penalty claims, both teams’ number 8s were cautioned and both teams verbally harassed the officials from beginning to end. In fact, it was good to hear the Alcester players practising their maths, as they counted from 1 to 13 regularly, in a vain attempt to alert the referee to the time taken by Bolehall’s goalie Corey Samuels in clearing the ball from his hands.

The game was lit up for me by Dave Gadsby’s two-goal performance for the guests, Umit Eminoglu’s goal for the Romans from a clever free-kick routine and the fact that the Alcester skipper netted a goal for his team with a boot and was immediately treated by the club’s physio’ for an injury to, er, his hand or wrist… 

A late miss by Roman Kyle King and two more by Eminoglu ensured that Bolehall exited Alcester with three points.

The opening goal was a triumph for bullish play, for when Swifts’ left-wingback Rory Regan got by home defender Harry Jennings at the left byeline, leaving the Roman prone like a trampled legionary, a low pass towards the achingly open Keegan Butler resulted in a low drive by the number 11 past the static but helpless Alcester ‘keeper Joe Hindmarsh.

0-1...

Dave Gadsby…

Tattooed, he walked onto the pitch for the warm-up like he was about to fight for the middleweight championship of the world and he would put himself about superbly in a fine example of ‘proper’ centre-forward play… 

He added goal two, following a fine run to the right byeline by Ash Brown, whose centre the plunging Gadsby smashed into the net with his forehead from 6 yards. No defender made an attempt to prevent this and Hindmarsh stood helpless again as the ball bulged the roof of his net.

0-2...

If truth be told, Gadsby was a total nuisance, being denied another goal when Joe Drake-Cervantes got in a telling challenge later in the opening half. He made something of two late breaks too, as the ailing home defenders displayed laxity in the extreme. First, after somehow surviving a siege of their goal, Swifts cleared the ball, the lively and likeable Bolehall forward George Davis turned the ball on and Gadsby, onside, had gone. He powered past Drake-Cervantes into the clear and as the ball bounced up nicely on the hard surface and after spotting Hindmarsh well off his goal-line, the striker volleyed a smart shot over the gloveman from downtown.

2-3...

Another late break saw a low delivery from the left by Gadsby lead to nought…

Really liked the Gadsby shoves on shadowing defenders before long balls came his way, making this guy a real class act at this level…

So Gadsby really was ‘The Great’ on the day… 

THE GREAT GADSBY...

Umit Eminoglu…

This guy plays with panache and in a slightly laconic style, waving a left boot like a wand on occasions. He scored a fine goal, assisted by Ward, whose free-kick pass was smartly left alone by Tez Morton, hair wafting in the breeze, confusing the Swifts’ defence and allowing Eminoglu to sneak across from the right and poke the ball past the confused Samuels to drag the Romans back to 1-2.

1-2...

Eminoglu had driven just too high before the recess and then two late second period chances fell to the midfielder but both were squandered. A cross by the inventive Alcester replacement Jamario Belnavis bounced past a post off Eminoglu’s chest, before a one-two between the same players saw the playmaker lift a 16 yard shot wastefully too high. 

Eminoglu’s vision at times was impressive but the uneven, hard pitch often nullified the effects of his clever flicks and passes.

Ryan Stroud & Frazer Mullis…

The light-heavyweights in experience and build formed the hub of the Bolehall defensive performance. Their presence, their tackles, their interceptions and headers were central to their team’s hard fought win.

Mullis was hurt a coupe of times but recovered to remain on the field and guide his harassed Swifts to survival. Stroud nearly scored with a first period header at the right stick, too. 

They were protected somewhat by the defensive midfield play of Lewis Miller, who was generally to be found competing for possession.

Owen Ward…

His inventive free-kick which assisted for Eminoglu’s goal and his own free-kick shot which slapped the crossbar highlighted a busy and effective match by the midfielder, who did not deserve to be on a losing team, which suffered from defensive lapses at the most crucial times.

Steve Weladji from left-back and then in midfield was fully operational throughout the match and almost equalised with the last shot the game which drifted past the right stick. Substitute Mike Jennings forced Samuels into a low save at his right post in the latter stages too.

Ross Dempster…

Neat at times in the home attack but apart from striking an upright, his finishing would likely have disappointed him on the day. 

Final words…

There were cautions for Swifts’ Elijah Jones and Roman Oil Gibson, both wearing 8 but Jones had made a couple of harsh challenges before he saw yellow, whereas Gibson hadn’t.

"YES SIR, SORRY SIR..."

GIBSON WALKS AWAY UNIMPRESSED...

Visitors Regan and Georges Wisoba shot wide before the break and after Gadsby had had successive shots blocked, Mullis hammered an effort from 40 yards way too high.

Home skipper Drew Ricketts had regained parity for his group just after the interval, collecting a clearance and turning to shoot low from 19 yards but Samuels was unable to prevent the effort from going through him and into the right corner of the net as he attempted to collect the ball. As mentioned above, Ricketts celebrated by hurting a hand, or wrist… 

"GIMME A HAND, JOE..."

Alcester should have earned at least a point but poor finishing and careless defending for all three conceded goals cost them dearly. 

However, one cannot deny the commitment of Bolehall, who stood like Saxons in a shield-wall and subsequently denied the Romans…

TEAMS:

ALCESTER TOWN:

JOE HINDMARSH, HARRY JENNINGS, STEVE WELADJI, OWEN WARD, DREW RICKETTS (CAPT), JOE DRAKE-CERVANTES, KYLE KING, OLI GIBSON, ROSS DEMPSTER, UMIT EMINOGLU, TEZ MORTON.

SUBS:

MIKE JENNINGS, ARSHPREET SINGH, JAMARIO BELNAVIS, CRAIG GASIEWSKI.

BOLEHALL SWIFTS:

COREY SAMUELS, ASH BROWN, RORY REGAN, FRAZER MULLIS (CAPT), GEORGES WISOBA, RYAN STROUD, LEWIS MILLER, ELIJAH JONES, DAVE GADSBY, GEORGE DAVIS, KEEGAN BUTLER.

SUBS:

ZAC PRICE, TAYLOR RATCLIFFE, JOSH REEVE, MATT GASKIN, TOM REECE.