Worcester County Cup Final

Today Worcester made the journey to the home of Evesham United for the Worcestershire County Cup Final against Kidderminster Lions. It was a beautifully sunny day and the game was being played on Eveshams first team pitch. Worcester were playing in their green away strip and Kiddi Lions in their royal blue home kit.

1st half - Worcester had the better of the early exchanges and enjoyed most of the possession. It was not a surprise when Worcester took the lead. Tom Griffin won the ball on the half way line and played the ball up to Prince Henry. Prince made a good run down the line and cut the ball back to Tristan Webby who touched the ball onto Joe Palmer. Joe’s shot was well saved by the Kiddi keeper although the ball fell to Olly Berry who smashed the ball home from close range.

Worcester scored a second soon after when Prince Henry pulled an aerial ball down on the edge of the area before beating his man and then placing a firm shot into the roof of the net. The keeper did get a hand to the shot although he was unable to prevent it from going in.

Kiddi Lions did their best to get back into the game and George Bourne was forced to make a couple of smart saves, one notable one when he tipped the ball over the bar from a long range effort.

Worcester’s third goal was probably the best goal of the game and was a fine team goal. The move started with Tristan Webby who found Prince Henry on the wing. Prince passed the ball back inside to Tristan who found Tom Mills in the centre of the pitch. Tom placed a first time cross ball out to the wing which found Tom Griffin, he raced to the touchline before cutting the ball back to Tristan. Tristan placed a firm shot into the roof of the net from around the penalty spot.

Just before half time Prince got his second goal of the game when he picked up a loose ball on the edge of the penalty area. Prince beat two players before driving the ball low past the on rushing keeper. 4-0

2nd half - Any hope of a Kiddi fight back was quickly expelled as Worcester scored a fifth soon after the restart. The goal came from an Ethan Sherwood free kick which was just inside the Kiddi half, the ball was played into the Kiddi penalty area and the Kiddi goalkeeper failed to punch the ball clear with the ball just looping up in the air. Tom Griffin was on hand to head the ball over the line despite the desperate efforts of the Kiddi players to clear it.

Kiddi did start to see a little more of the play although their long range efforts were all wide of the target. Worcester continued to look threatening every time they went forward and Worcester added a sixth goal to their tally, Prince Henry’s hattrick. The ball fell to Prince from an Ethan Sherwood corner after the Kiddi defenders initially failed to clear their line. Prince beat the keeper from close range when he lifted the ball over the keeper and into the empty net.

The game was effectively now over although Kiddi, to their credit, continued to battle. Worcester scored a seventh goal when Callum Lovegrove picked the ball up on the edge of the Kiddi area and he curled a beautiful shot past the keeper and once again into the roof of the net. 7-0

The game petered out in the final stages as the heat took its toll on the players although there were scenes of jubilation on the final whistle. This was a professional performance from the Worcester boys which meant that they had completed a league and cup double. Well done lads!!!!!