ARROW VALLEY FC 1-2 PERSHORE TOWN: THE MATCH REPORT...

 Late Goal Adds Drama To Physical Tussle

Arrow Valley FC 1-2 Pershore Town

The Mowdog’s thoughts…

This was a tough fixture for Pershore against a robust and competitive Valley outfit. Long strands of grass caused some passes to whistle as the ball whipped across them, on what was a hard and slightly uneven surface, not great for the passing game teams seem to favour these days.

Certainly the Plums were given a fright, although their youngsters battled well after the break, following the withdrawal of experienced players like Jordan Adams, Josh Willis (who returned later and was duly sin-binned for a verbal reaction to the referee), Wil Beach (eventually) and the charismatic Umit Eminoglu. Yet Valley just couldn’t nick a winner, as replacement forward Leon Kandekore missed several chances. He was however, too often poorly marked by the makeshift Pershore defence.  

THE REF HAS A WORD...

During the match Kandekore might have done better with three headers, he saw a low shot deflected by Plum Jamie Callaghan’s timely challenge, then drove a shot on the turn past a post and in the closing seconds his skied effort was the final action of the encounter, after Cal Towler’s shot had been deflected for a flag-kick. 

Kandekore did set up an equaliser though, right on half-time, passing left to tricky winger Oli Whitehouse, whose low 17 yard shot beat Plum goalie Adam Hancox just inside his right stick. 

WHITEHOUSE (11) HAS JUST EQUALISED...

Overall, Pershore’s chances were limited, as passes often went astray and the lack of understanding between unfamiliar players was clearly visible. However, that is what pre-season is all about, I guess. 

Valley must have felt proud about their performance and to hold their visitors to 1-1 would have been the icing on the cake, until of course, Ollie Smith, the Plums’ left-sided offenseman struck in the final moments of regular time. 

Oddly, he scored with a header at the far post from a smart cross by the busy Kian Collins, whose evening was a mixed one. The delivery beat the jump of home defender Josh Russell, allowing Smith to rise and nod an easy goal past home ‘keeper Sam Robinson… 

After having to manage with ten men for ten minutes near the end, Pershore kept the Valley’s powerplay at bay, Hancox going down to his left to touch behind a Tyler Rees shot but surely the tackle of the match by Plum Leo Pinches robbed the powerful and marauding Shane Hancox of a shooting opportunity. 

The best moments…

The Pinches tackle was so good and worth mentioning again and he finished the game well too, making a couple of other important interceptions. However, there was a goalmouth thrill in the opening 45 when Valley’s Sean Mason found himself with room to shoot but his drive struck the foot of the left upright, then rebounded for Shane Hancox, whose low shot was saved by the right boot of the off balance Plum goalminder Adam Hancox.

PINCHES: SEATED AFTER ALMOST WRECKING THE RIGHT POST...

After the interval, Plum Joe Peachey (plum and peach? ) smacked a fine effort against the home crossbar but he had earlier been involved in a bizarre moment, for his right-wing centre had struck home defender Brad Jones’ knee and had flown straight into Robinson’s gloves, upon which the lurking Willis clutched his head in frustration. Jones certainly had a strong match overall for the Arrows…

Towler, the industrious Valley skipper, until he took a break, sent a fine volley from downtown just wide of the right post, before his colleague Cal Ribbans shot only just wide from 15 yards.

Subsequently though, the very best piece of action came from a cute free-kick on the right by the guests in the opening period. Eminoglu shoved a short pass forward to Willis at 18 yards and immediately made a rush into the penalty-box, likely calling for a return pass, which Willis delivered brilliantly with a back-heel. Eminoglu’s low centre wasn’t converted by Adams but the move was splendid to watch… 

EMINOGLU HAS SUCH CONTROL OVER THE BALL THAT WHEN HE CALLS IT, IT OBEYS...

Wil Beach…

Clearly the Plum-man was accumulating minutes, getting distance in his legs and he did make a few strong runs but his early goal was a comedy sketch and I reckon that many of the spectators present in the breeze and sunshine of Stratford Road would have thought that it was going to be a really tough evening thenceforth for Arrow Valley and their coaches, Stephen Voice and Dan Noke. However, that situation did not materialise…

Eminoglu’s deep free-kick dropped near the right corner of the 6 yard box and Russell’s attempt to clear struck team-mate Jack Grinnell (who would sustain an injury shortly afterwards) and that left Beach with the ball at his feet and an open goal. So, for the camera he chose a spectacular rising 5 yarder into the roof of the net…

BEACH CELEBRATES WITH, ER, NO-ONE...

Yeah, Wil, we liked that… 

Final comments…

Thanks to both clubs for providing the names and numbers of their players to facilitate giving credit where credit was due during my commentary.

The referee took the game seriously, which was interesting and creditable, hence the alienation to the sin-bin of Plum striker Willis, whose one real effort at goal from inside-right failed to curl in towards the far upright.

WILLIS IS EXILED...

There was a keen attitude shown by both sets of players and consequently the aforementioned Valley coaches, along with Danny Janes and Adam Parker from Pershore will have learned more about the players around their squads.

Towler, Jones and at times Dave Evans showed up well for the hosts, whilst to name but two, Adam Dankenbring did well enough at right-back for the Plums and unsurprisingly, the experienced forward Mark Magee never shirked his responsibilities and that did not go unnoticed…

SQUADS:

ARROW VALLEY FC:

SAM ROBINSON, KIAN DAVIES, JACK GRINNELL, JOSH RUSSELL, BRAD JONES, CAL TOWLER (CAPT), DAVE EVANS, SEAN MASON, LEON KANDEKORE, TYLER REES, OLI WHITEHOUSE, CAL RIBBANS, BEN JAMES, JAKE KING, TOM FISHWICK, CARL BARNETT, SHANE HANCOX.

UMIT 'ENIGMA' EMINOGLU: SKILLED...

PERSHORE TOWN: 

ADAM HANCOX, ADAM DANKENBRING, LIERAN JAMES, UMIT EMINOGLU, JORDAN ADAMS (CAPT), LEO PINCHES, WIL BEACH, KIAN COLLINS, JOSH WILLIS, MARK MAGEE, OLLIE SMITH, JAMIE CALLAGHAN, MAX THOMAS, BEN EPSLEY, JOE PEACHEY.