Today we made the short trip for another local derby against our old adversaries, Stourbridge Town. Games between the two sides have always been closely fought encounters and this was to prove no different.

1st Half – The game started with both teams enjoying spells of possession although neither side was able to dominate. Worcester had the better of the opportunities and went close to opening the scoring on a couple of occasions when Joe Palmer outpaced the homeside defence, although both of his shots were smartly saved by the keeper. Stourbridge did have a couple of long range efforts, and looked dangerous when they swung crosses in from wide areas although George Bourne in the Worcester goal and a well organised defence were equal to whatever was thrown at them. Overall, Worcester shaded the first half although there was no score.

2nd Half – Stourbridge started the second half in determined fashion and put Worcester under pressure and eventually the deadlock was broken after a penalty was awarded for a pull back on the Stourbridge forward. The penalty was well despatched into the corner of the net.

A change in formation put Worcester on the front foot and Stourbridge now sat deep to defend their lead. Worcester thought that they had an equaliser after a long distance effort was fumbled by the Stourbridge keeper. Ethan Sherwood was on hand to slam home the rebound, only to see the linesman rule out the goal for offside. This spurred Worcester on and it only seemed a matter of time before Worcester found an equaliser.

The equaliser did come with 5 minutes left to go, Prince Henry outpaced and outmuscled the Stourbridge defender only to see his shot rebound off the inside of the post and Joe Palmer was on hand to place a shot into the roof of the net. Worcester now smelt blood and far from settle for a draw and penalties, went in for the kill. With 2 minutes to go, the ball was in the hands of George Bourne who bowled the ball out smartly to Tom Mills midway in his own half. Tom turned, drove forward then found Tristan Webby, who outpaced the Stourbridge defender to reach the by-line. Tristan put a smart cross into the near post and Joe Palmer poked a shot goalwards, only for his shot to be blocked by a combination of the Stourbridge goalkeeper and defenders. Prince Henry pounced on the loose ball to place a clever shot into the corner of the net to scenes of jubilation on both the pitch and the sidelines (with George, Worcester’s keeper not wanting to feel left out running the full length of the pitch to join in with the celebration!).

Worcester held out for the final 2 minutes to secure a memorable win! This was a great game of football played by two excellent teams in a really competitive fashion. Our paths will cross again in the league fixtures and only hope that future games live up to this great display!

AWARDS : Gold –Zach Bowater, Silver – Ethan Sherwood, Bronze –Joe Palmer
(as awarded by opposition managers)