THE R.M. SMITH STRATFORD ALLIANCE CUP FINAL, BRETFORTON O.B. 2-1 MEADOW PARK: THE INDEPENDENT, HONEST, YET LIGHTHEARTED MATCH REPORT...

 Bretforton Lift RM Smith Cup In A Contest Of Attrition…

Bretforton Old Boys 2-1 Meadow Park

The Mowdog’s thoughts…

The Home Guard Club has rather poor lighting, the pitch is tight, lacking both length and width, the surface for this match was uneven and before the match the pitch actually revealed holes. Yes, holes, which had to be filled in… This was, er, a Cup Final… The encounter, between Stratford Alliance Division 1 Bretforton and Division 2 Meadow Park was refereed in classic parade ground, sergeant-barking-orders fashion by the main official, which I guess was fitting, as it was played at the Home Guard Club… Echoes of “LEAVE THE BALL…” bellowed after yet another free-kick had been awarded will remain in my ears for several days…

That very frequent yelling at players was seemingly unnecessary, for this was neither army, nor school but the inconsistency displayed with the distribution of yellow cards was quite clear. The game was ruined by the lack of opportunity afforded on such a crowded pitch to play expansively and that hindered Meadow Park. Certainly Bret knew that their opponents had won all seven of their league encounters this term and liked to pass the ball and so they played the game effectively, crowding, baulking and physically mauling their opponents who were simply not allowed to get going. 

Late in the match, Park did threaten but Bret goalie Josh Mann made only one save yet what an important one it was! He plunged right to keep out a spot-kick by Park skipper Sam Horton and effectively secured the trophy for his team.

The match was thus scrappy, littered by fouls, dominated by the referee and in truth was rarely, if ever, an enjoyable one to watch, especially as the final of a cup competition. Indeed, both Bret goals were scrappy and Park’s was basically a wide delivery from the right which dropped beyond Mann into the net.

So few shots at goal were actually attempted that thrills and spills were never evident, whilst spectators were treated to a succession of stoppages, the voluminous berating of culprits by the main official and the players being unable to find space in midfield, resulting in creativity being minimal on the night… 

BEDDOES SPOKEN TO, ER, YELLED AT...

HORTON IS CAUTIONED, LOUDLY...

It was like watching a nine-a-side game on a five-a-side pitch…

THE TOSS...

The Bret goals…  

The opener was untidy, for a head-on by Will Stevens saw the skilful Jamie Clark latch onto the ball near the right post, covered by Park’s Bailey Eades and right-back Lewis Burford. The ball ran kindly under pressure for Clarke who prodded it into the bottom right corner of goal from a couple of yards away.

The next Bret attack saw a deep free-kick challenged for on the left side of goal by Park’s tall and strong midfielder Nathan Benson. I believe that the linesperson on the far side signalled for a goal-kick but the referee overruled him and awarded a left-flank corner to the Old Boys. Looking at the footage, it seemed that Benson didn’t get a touch but the Park player himself made no objection to the decision, which says a lot… 

The flag-kick saw Bret defender Fin Fowles steal a yard behind marker Eades at the right stick and nod the ball tamely downwards into the net from a yard.

FOWLES WOULD SCORE FROM THIS SET-PIECE...

Other offense from Bretforton…

Not much of it really… Beddoes was a mild threat before the break and sliced an effort into the side-netting after the interval but little else materialised. 

Lewis Fathers, who was noticeable physically for Bret, was cautioned in the first-half, followed by Stevens and Morgan Ballinger after the recess, although several others will be counting themselves rather fortunate not to have been disciplined too, especially Manny Singh who on one occasion yanked an opponent back, as well as conceding a spot-kick late on…

JAMIE CLARKE & ROMAN TIMMINS...

Meadow Park’s offense and behaviour…

Certainly central striker Connor Powell made a few threatening runs but three times his shots flew wildly too high. He was cautioned too, although he was perhaps fortunate to escape punishment for one or two other ‘enthusiastic’ challenges, which arrived a trifle late…

Benson shot wide and then too high from downtown after the break, Jed Morris headed over the crossbar in the opening half and Mason Taylor shot off target in the opening moments of the encounter. Taylor had a second period free-kick blocked by Bret’s defensive wall too, whilst a weak Horton header was clutched by Mann late on.

Horton’s penalty miss was interesting because I had just said to ex-Shottery United manager James Taplin that a defender taking a penalty was often a dubious choice and that maybe Mann would cover himself in glory. And so he did, diving low to his right to beat the effort away with some comfort if truth be told.

MANN IS ABOUT TO SAVE HORTON'S SPOT-KICK...

The right-flank pair from Meadow Park: Lewis Burford & Dan Jarvis…

So, Dan Jarvis made a few rushes on the right before the break but was unable to capitalise, running the ball out of play a couple of times and once, from an assist by Powell, the ball bobbled away from him. 

However, he scored when for the first time, two defenders seemed to back away from him and although as he progressed the ball really did bobble at his feet, he somehow delivered it from the right wing. The ball soared into the far top corner of the net, with ‘keeper Mann unable to reach it. A fluke? Maybe… But enough to reduce the arrears to 2-1 before half-time…

JARVIS HAS JUST SCORED FOR PARK...

Both Jarvis and left-winger Ryan Timmins were unable to attack outside much, due to Bret’s smart tactic of denying space near the touchlines but I mentioned to James Taplin at the interval that I was surprised that the Park wingers hadn’t switched flanks as an experiment. Thus instead of attempting to squeeze outside, maybe turning inside would cause some discomfort to the Old Boys. Strangely, Jarvis did move to the left during the second period and defender Burford moved into a more attacking role on the right, allowing Meadow Park to achieve some threat at long last. 

However, Bret defended with an absolute passion and despite a few dangerous dribbles into the heart of the Old Boys’ defence by Jarvis and to the right byeline by Burford, goalkeeper Mann wasn’t unduly troubled. Until that is, Singh lunged in on Jarvis at inside-left…

It looked rather a rash challenge to be honest, Jarvis went down and the ball appeared to evade Mann who had to recover and drop upon it as it rolled towards his goal-line. However, the referee awarded a penalty to Meadow Park which of course Horton was unable to convert… Singh mentioned to me after the match that it hadn’t been a penalty but in that light, at that distance, I was unable to comment…

JARVIS IS DOWN...

...BUT BRET SURVIVE THE PENALTY...

The last words…

Praise has to go to Bretforton and coach Steve Edghill, who performed strongly individually on the field of play, for the Old Boys’ game-plan worked like a dream and the young Park outfit was stifled in the dim surroundings, on a cramped pudding of an undulating playing surface with filled up holes…

Ballinger defended stoutly for Bret but Ben Herborn’s speed of recovery kept Ryan Timmins quiet for the majority of the tie.

YET ANOTHER STOPPAGE... (YAWN...)

Bret took their two real chances, whilst Park failed with their wonderful chance to regain parity from 12 yards… Benson, adept on the ball but also strong in the air, might just have been a danger as a target-man in the latter stages… Who knows?

Subsequently, strength and physical nous won out for Bretforton, whilst Meadow Park simply didn’t recover from shipping those two soft goals early on…  

FINAL WHISTLE...

JOY...

Congratulations Bretforton! 

TEAMS:

BRETFORTON OLD BOYS:

JOSH MANN, STEVE EDGHILL, MORGAN BALLINGER, FIN FOWLES, MANNI SINGH, BEN HERBORN, LEWIS FATHERS, SAM BEDDOES (CAPT), JAMIE CLARKE, DAN FRANCIS, WILL STEVENS.

SUBS:

HARRISON MIDDLETON, TAYLOR DAVIS, OWEN HORNE, JACK NAILOR, KAMIL ZIEBA.

MEADOW PARK:

MAX ALLEN, LEWIS BURFORD, ROMAN TIMMINS, SAM HORTON (CAPT), BAILEY EADES, MASON TAYLOR, DAN JARVIS, JED MORRIS, CONNOR POWELL, NATHAN BENSON, RYAN TIMMINS.

SUBS:

JON TROTH, DAN EVERTON, JOSH THORN, JACK SUTCLIFFE, BRANDON ASTON.