BEWDLEY TOWN 3-2 WELLINGTON AMATEURS: THE INDEPENDENT, HONEST & LIGHTHEARTED MATCH REPORT...

 Bewdley Are All Hart, As The Wellyams Rue Perry’s Dismissal…

Bewdley Town 3-2 Wellington Amateurs

The Mowdog’s thoughts… 

This JW Hunt cup-tie was a strange one to witness, for Wellyams’ Marc Perry was sent off during the first half and several other cautions were handed out by an often hounded referee. The underdog visitors roared into a deserved 0-2 first period lead and their second goal was a shorthanded one, as Bewdley stumbled and stuttered through such a poor opening 45 for a Midland League Premier outfit.  

Little creativity emanated from the Riversiders, although Luke Morris and Josh Carpenter might have done much better when offered two rare chances before the break. Visiting ‘keeper Jack Boswell displayed good handling and made a few fine saves but well into the second period, with Town pushing heftily forward like an uphill steam train, finally, striker Dylan Hart grabbed a brace, Carpenter slid in another goal and the Riversiders had survived an embarrassing possible drowning in the muddy Severn waters…

RUDD & ROONEY AT THE TOSS...

However, Wellington performed well before the interval, often finding room on their left flank where Ross Jones’ pace caused home defender Rio Bakala some anxious moments. Unfortunately, Jones was forced to drop to left-back following Perry’s dismissal and thus much of Ams’ initial offensive threat disappeared. 

ROONEY: GENERALLY AVAILABLE & SCORED GOAL 2 FOR AMS...

An early goal and some quick attacks, usually orchestrated by skipper Nathan Rooney and the cleverness of Evander Bagry, made Bewdley look ragged and disorganised at times and indeed both Ams' goals stemmed from lax play by their hosts. Rooney scored the second, although in truth home goalie Joe Stockton wasn’t unduly troubled by any other shots.

Certainly Bewdley might have won the game more convincingly in the end but that would have been harsh on their guests. 

Those Wellington goals…

Carpenter moved towards the half-way line in possession for Town but he was mugged by Leon Blake and the ball ran towards Matt Elsmore who neatly shoved the ball on as Blake rushed forth at inside-right. The Wellyman drew Stockton and slid a comfortable finish into the bottom left corner of the net.

It was the sheer perseverance by Rooney which caused goal two to arrive. His initial press led to the ball bouncing away from Town defender Elliott Sumnall and back to Rooney, then a quick one-two with Charlie Knowles saw the skipper suddenly through on goal at inside-right. Stockton again advanced but Rooney slid a similar shot to Blake’s earlier strike, low into the bottom left corner of the net with some ease.

Ross Jones…

The Wellyman’s pace caused problems for the home defence in the opening half hour but to be fair, Bakala did allow the winger to lurk in space a few times. Knowles headed a Jones cross over the target from close range which was a real miss and another Jones delivery caused confusion of farcical proportions for Bewdley at the far stick.

It was an unfortunate moment for Jones who was marking Carpenter when the Riversider equalised during the second period. A long, raking left-to right pass by Luke Gaffney appeared to bounce down just beyond the far post off Jones’ head but onto Carpenter’s right foot and although the forward’s shot was almost kept out by the sprawling Boswell, it crossed the goal-line…  

The inimitable Mr Hart…

DYLAN HART: A BRACE FOR HIS TEAM...

I saw Hart score the winning goal in a league encounter against a very poor Highgate team last Tuesday but he celebrated his goal in a corner, making it tough for the camera to spot in poor riverside light. I mentioned to him on Twitter that should he score next time I visited Bewdley, perhaps a more significant celebration would be useful. He agreed to do so and even to dedicate it to ‘The Mowdog’…

So, he began the fightback, scoring first with a close range header from a decent left-flank centre by left-back Jordan Graham. Boswell hesitated slightly, as did Ams’ defender Jussi Bagry and Hart nodded a simple downward effort over the goal-line. Ah, but did he celebrate? Er, no, actually… He ran back to the half-way line alone…

The dramatic winner came from a long booted pass along the right touchline by Town skipper Simon Rudd who seemed to play an unusually quiet game on the night. However, Rooney and his erupting dugout members were convinced that home midfielder Ryan Grosvenor had fouled the Ams’ skipper but the referee awarded nothing. Hence Hart raced away, reached the right side of the 18 yard box, veered left across a defender as he made for the corner of the 6 yard box and lashed a smart left footer past the helpless Boswell to secure victory.

And next?

Well, he ran towards the grandstand, making the sign of an ‘M’ with his arms and bellowed that his celebration was for “The Mowdog…”

'M' FOR MOWDOG...

Loved that. And thank you my good fellow…  

Hart was also involved with Carpenter’s miss, putting him clear into the penalty-box but Carpenter’s low flicked shot was really well saved by Boswell, dropping left to save with one glove. 

Hart shot well over the target from downtown before the break, was cautioned for a challenge on the ‘keeper as he chased a through-pass, clipped a 16 yard effort too high and then he received an unselfish pass from replacement Tyler Smith but was denied at the right post by a fine skidding save by Boswell. The gloveman made another save from Hart late on which I didn’t manage to capture clearly on the camera.

Other Bewdley goal chances…

Luke Morris fired off target during the opening half, following a decent right-flank run by Carpenter but after the interval, when Rudd was superbly tackled by Tyrell McFarlane, the ball rolled to Morris 15 yards out, right side of the penalty-area with Boswell out of position but the forward shoved his effort into the side-netting.

EARLY TROUBLE FOR AMS...

A back-header by McFarlane forced a flying palm-away by the advancing Boswell, another excellent stop by the Welly ’keeper, whilst Carpenter nodded too high from a Gaffney free-kick and Smith rolled a cross-shot only just wide of the left upright in the closing minutes.

Boswell also did well to hold onto low centres by both Graham and Carpenter.

Wellyams on offense…

Elsmore shot into the side-netting soon after the recess, when a third goal then might well have put a lid on the result but sadly, the camera lens had focused on a post supporting the grandstand and the clip is really poor.

THE REF PLAYS JUDGE...

Elsmore also had a goal disallowed for offside in the opening 45 although it did appear that it might have been a colleague who was too far forward and not him… Elsmore was also cautioned for shooting after being flagged offside on another occasion. Knowles was also booked for kicking the ball away…

The best shot for the visitors was when Rooney’s free-kick from downtown curled only just wide of the right pole, although Sumnall’s back header to Stockton nearly crept into his own net too, as the ‘keeper scrambled towards his goal-line…

Other cautions…

Sumnall, Grosvenor and Gaffney were yellow-carded for the Riversiders, whilst apart from the aforementioned, Blake and substitute Joe Delacoe were booked for the visitors. Apologies if I have left any misdemeanours out but in the gloom it was tough to see everything that the referee did, especially as he was often surrounded by bleating players…

HART WANTED A PENALTY.
HE DIDN'T GET ONE...

The dismissal for Perry was for a hard tackle on Grosvenor who was up on his feet immediately and it took several seconds after the official had been surrounded by a number of players, before a red card was produced. Maybe a yellow might have sufficed but then again, I was a long way off and the video footage is inconclusive either way.

The final words… 

Clearly not at full strength, Bewdley subsequently made hard work of winning this tie but thanks to a pair of opportunistic strikes by Hart and a finish by Carpenter, 10-man Wellington were finally overcome. In truth though, one had to feel sympathy for the visitors who at times looked the slicker, quicker outfit.

DECISIONS...

Good to say hi to several Wellington folks in the grandstand and to see my old schoolmate John Higgins there, who was watching the team he helps out at their School Grove ground.

So, for The Mowdog, it’s on to Studley FC v Worcester Raiders on Saturday…

TEAMS:

BEWDLEY TOWN:

JOE STOCKTON, RIO BAKALA, JORDAN GRAHAM, LUKE GAFFNEY, ELLIOTT SUMNALL, DAN FLOWERS, RYAN GROSVENOR, SIMON RUDD (CAPT), LUKE MORRIS, DYLAN HART, JOSH CARPENTER.

SUBS:

TYLER SMITH, BEN WORTHINGTON, CONNOR JONES, JOE SIDAWAY (GK).

WELLINGTON AMATEURS:

JACK BOSWELL, TYRELL MCFARLANE, JUSSI BAGRY, JEFF WATKINS, MARC PERRY, CHARLIE KNOWLES, LEON BLAKE, NATHAN ROONEY (CAPT), MATT ELSMORE, EVANDER BAGRY, ROSS JONES.

SUBS:

DYEREL HOOF, DAN BLACKWELL, EDDIE LEWINGTON, JOSH WORRALL, JOE DELACOE.