STUDLEY FC 3-0 UTTOXETER TOWN: THE MOWDOG'S INDEPENDENT REPORT & SCREENSHOTS OF THE GOALS...

 Studley Manage, As Fuller Grabs Brace In Bracing Wind…

Studley FC 3-0 Uttoxeter Town

The Mowdog’s thoughts…

Finding a place to film from was a problem at The Beehive Arena due to a strong wind, some blinding sunny intervals and a small threat of rain. I had been offered a gantry but that would have meant trying to focus directly into the sunlight and with no shelter from a noisy and blustery wind, so I finally opted for the rail in front of a standing shelter with the sun behind it, which protected me well enough from the wind.

THE GANTRY...

The match itself was often untidy and lacking in goalmouth incidents and in truth neither goalkeeper was extended throughout the encounter. Studley passed the ball patiently on the artificial surface but penetration was rare on the day, partly due to some heroic Town defending by the powerfully built Rob Thorley and the guy wearing 17, a number which didn’t feature amongst those in the starting line-up on the team-sheet kindly given to me by a member of the Studley staff. 17 actually managed a strong 12 yard offensive header before the break but home skipper and goalie Brendon Bunn dealt with it easily.

The atmosphere at The Beehive was muted for the most part, as the teams struggled to master the windy conditions and it was some surprise when Bailey Fuller netted twice before the recess to place the Bees in a commanding position which they never relinquished.

Indeed, replacement Jamal Adams made the game ultra-safe late in the second period, after a fellow substitute, Fin Holmes had livened up the proceedings with a few rather rapid runs, a couple of decent shots and the assist for Adams.

Uttoxeter limited the damage but rarely threatened, with central striker Kieran Wild shooting well off target in the opening 45 and then he was later stifled as he chased through after the break.

The visitors were reduced to nine men at one stage, when defender Eric Graves then forward Hayden Brown were sin-binned, reminding me of an ice-hockey game and both sat out 10 minutes, punctuated by the recess. Graves’ grave action was for complaining that when Studley had scored their opener, which had stemmed from a corner on the left, the decision really ought to have been a throw-in. I believe that Brown’s misdemeanour might have been comments aimed at, er, the referees’ assessor in the grandstand…   

The half belonging to Bailey Fuller…

The Studley forward had nudged a close-range flick by the left upright in the opening half before Bees’ defender/long-thrower Harry Lake just failed to connect properly in front of goal as Sam Walton’s headed assist came his way. However as the break neared, Fuller threatened on the right, cut inside, veered outside again and delivered the ball from an angle, whereupon visiting player Dan Harper deflected the ball off course and slightly higher with his neck or shoulder and the unfortunate ‘keeper Lennon Grimley was beaten by the ricochet. 

ABOVE & BELOW: GOAL 1...

Almost immediately, a long free-kick by Brendon Bunn was misjudged, likely due to the swirling wind, by Town defender Rob Thorley and the ball dropped behind him on the offensive right. This time Fuller turned onto his left foot and drove in an angled cross shot which deviated away from Grimley’s dive and nestled just inside the left upright.

ABOVE & BELOW: GOAL 2...

In a matter of minutes, Uttoxeter’s resolve had been undone and yet they kept the hosts out for much of the second period, until of course, one of the Fins, Holmes, not Barker, was introduced wearing 11 and he saw to it that the latter stages of the encounter would bear a few exciting fruits…

Period two…

Zak Guinan, the Studley striker and son of course of Steve, who played for Plymouth (…I’ve always followed Argyle) and also worked with my relative Steve Burr at Kidderminster, looked rather surprised when he was shoved back into defence but in truth, he seemed relaxed there. As the half had plodded on, dominated by Studley, for whom left-wingback Harry Eden was extremely effective with his pacy runs and some of his deliveries from wide, something had certainly needed to change.

Holmes was the catalyst and he twice shot just wide of the target following smart rushes but when he volleyed a centre from almost on the left byeline after a physical dash into the penalty-box, his delivery was emphatically headed past the helpless Grimley by the hopelessly marked Adams at the far stick. 

ABOVE & BELOW: GOAL 3...

Adams had also been assisted by Holmes’ neat pass for a 15 yard rising effort, prior to the third goal but the ball had cannoned off the underside of the crossbar and was cleared by the desperate visiting defence. 

ADAMS STRIKES THE CROSSBAR...

There was in fact little else to enthuse about as the hosts played out the remaining minutes in readiness for the next challenges at struggling Bewdley on Thursday 11th April and then at second-placed Lichfield City on Saturday 13th.

They are of course already assured of a play-off berth…

The last words…

Right-sided defender Taylor Eades was prominent for the hosts, whilst Walton and Lake were not unduly worried in the centre and of course Eden impressed on the left-flank, as already mentioned.

James Douglas, wearing 12, combined well enough with Robbie Bunn, the unflappable John Mills and Reiss Taylor-Randle in the artificial trenches but despite the dominance, their foes never really went away.

Graves and his fellow defenders were industrious and apart from the opportunities listed above, they limited Studley to another couple of wayward efforts from downtown. 

The win was vital for the Bees and essentially the two subsequent quick-fire strikes before the half-time interval by Fuller achieved what was needed to be achieved…