CADBURY ATHLETIC 5-0 SOLIHULL SPORTING: THE GAME REPORT...

 Expansive Cadbury Melt Solihull’s Resolve…

Cadbury Athletic 5-0 Solihull Sporting…

The Mowdog’s thoughts…

Pre-season, a dry pitch on a very warm evening despite a breeze and right from the opening kick-off, Cadbury dominated this encounter, not only because they are a successful Midland League 2 club and Solihull are newcomers to Division 3 but also due to the fact that the guests were missing a number of players and also their manager.

THE TOSS...

I scratched my head at the break because it was unfathomable that Sporting trailed by only two goals and to be fair, home left-sided flanker Sean Mcloughlin surely won’t have to practise corners again before the new season begins for real. He took a good number of flag-kicks during the opening period and only some desperate defending by Sporting’s number 2 and the 11 (Tyrell…) at the near stick and some good stops by goalie Luke Moss helped to prevent a real drubbing even before the interval.  

It was clear that the calm promptings of Jack McGinn in the home midfield, the strength of Wade Malley and Josh McGinley in attack and the expansive, two-flank approach by Cadbury would cause Solihull constant problems and indeed that was the case. The cause wasn’t helped by some lax Sporting defending and questionable marking but hey, this was a training match and the visitors displayed enough ability in their ranks last evening to suggest they might compete strongly in Division 3.

I have only a few names of Solihull’s players, so I will write this report as well as I can, using their numbers but thanks must go to Cadbury for providing me with a complete list of their competitors before the contest began.

The near misses…

Malley slapped a drive from downtown against the inside of the left pole in the opening minute which instigated a succession of corners for the hosts, although somehow the guests survived them. Luke Moss saved well from Malley’s point blank effort, before Malley scored the first goal.

McGinn had a low shot stopped by Luke Moss’ right boot, the energetic and rather decent Steve Ruck shot too high with his right foot and Tyrell (11) did well to block from McGinley, who was a worry to Solihull aerially and later in the match the striker nodded against the outside of the left upright from an awkward angle.

RED BOOTS BUCKY...

After half-time the back of Malley’s skull lifted a Mcloughlin cross over the target, then replacement Deon Colston (who wasn’t even given a number…Sad, really…) had a low effort stopped by Luke Moss’ rather effective right boot. 

Syrus Warren-Paul, The Bear, was foiled twice in succession by the floundering Luke Moss, following a smart exchange with Craine then the tall forward thumped a volley from downtown just off target.

The visitors rarely bothered home skipper Daniel Morris and sidekick Simon Chin but before the recess, one decent rush by the number 9 ‘Bucky’ led to a 25 yard shot drifting off target and also a centre from the right by the number 5 evaded two colleagues in the middle and rolled harmlessly wide.

In the closing moments against a much changed Athletic team, Sporting fashioned a chance for their skipper Liam Moss but a fine block by Ruck prevented any chance of a goal.

The goals…

The opener was a lunging close range header by a determined Malley who powered the ball past Luke Moss from Andrew Cooper’s right flank delivery.

1-0: MALLEY...

Malley turned provider for goal two, passing from the right side of the 18 yard box towards the totally unmarked McGinn 15 yards from goal. The execution from McGinn was splendid, as his right-footer curled away from the goaltender and dropped into the top left corner of the net.

2-0: MCGINN...

A fine one-two between The Bear and Mcloughlin set up goal three, as the winger crossed from the left and as the Growler moved in, his header flew into the net off the underside of the crossbeam.

3-0: THE BEAR...

Another neat Cooper centre from near the right byeline allowed Craine to lean forward and head an easy goal past the hopelessly stranded Luke Moss for 4-0. The only defender nearby merely raised a hand in the air, hoping for an offside flag. He didn’t get one…

4-0: CRAINE...

Finally, I think it was Lewan Tobin who slipped a smart pass through the sparse Solihull defensive cover for The Bear to latch onto and subsequently plant a measured low left-footer past the advancing Luke Moss and into the bottom left side of the net for 5-0.

5-0: THE BEAR AGAIN...

The final comments… 

The expansive Cadbury game featured Mcloughlin and Adam Bourne who were both quick, clever and tricky which allowed Cooper and McGinn to control proceedings and strikers Malley and the unfortunate McGinley the opportunity to utilise movement in and around the Sporting penalty-box. 

Later, substitute Tobin was hungry for passes out of defence and looked solid for his team, while adventurous right-back Ryan Spink was shifted into midfield as the match wore on and he gave a spirited display.

The guests were obviously well served by their goalminder, whilst skipper Liam Moss battled hard. 7 and 11, the skilful Rhys Bradshaw and the inimitable ‘Tyrell’ showed up well at times and the defensive number 2 made the good blocks mentioned above from early Cadbury corners. However, he was spoken to by the main official late on when he and a colleague treated home replacement Alex Adio like an NFL tailback, sending him crashing to the ground like a pair of linebackers stopping the run…

"WHAT WAS THAT ALL ABOUT?"

I guess parking is never going to be a joy at the Cadbury ground but it is likely that as a team they will be competitive again this season, as well as a good watch with those lively wingers using their pace and ability to deliver decent service for the central attackers and supporting midfielders. 

Of course, Malley’s pink footwear should feature well too…

The Cadbury Athletic squad…

FRASER OLIVER, RYAN SPINK, STEVE RUCK, JACK MCGINN, DANIEL MORRIS (CAPT), SIMON CHIN, ADAM BOURNE, ANDREW COOPER, WADE MALLEY, JOSH MCGINLEY, SEAN MCLOUGHLIN, LEWAN TOBIN, ALEX ADIO, TOM CRAINE, DEON COLSTOCK, WARREN THOMAS, SYRUS WARREN-PAUL (THE BEAR…)