Worcester run riot in Newcastle

Today Worcester made the trip up the M6 to play Stoke RTC at Newcastle-Under-Lyme College. The conditions were dry and bright and the game was played on an artificial pitch.

Q1 – Worcester came out of the blocks quickly and dominated the early spells. The forward line pressed the Stoke defence well which forced the home side into a number of early errors. One of these was pounced upon by Tristan Webby who crossed the ball to Tom Mills, who controlled the ball with his back to goal, turned and fired a low shot past the Stoke keeper. Worcester continued to dominate the quarter although against the run of play, Stoke drew level following a mix-up between two Worcester players. 1-1

Q2 – Worcester went in search of a second goal in the early stages of the second quarter and were rewarded when Tom Griffin found Tristan Webby who raced clear of his defender, rounded the keeper and tapped the ball into the empty net. As the quarter wore on Stoke came more into the game and equalised once again with a towering header from a corner. Stoke soon found themselves ahead almost on the halftime whistle after their striker's shot was initially saved by George Bourne, although it was a Stoke player who reacted quickest to the loose ball and he fired the ball into the net. 3-2

Q3 – After a frank half-time team talk, the boys came out for the third quarter in a determined fashion and scored 6 goals in this quarter! The first came virtually from kick-off when a pin point Olly Berry cross was expertly headed home by Tom Griffin. Almost immediately from the re-start Worcester took the lead when Curtis Turner outpaced his marker, beat the Stoke keeper to the ball, and laid the ball back to Tristan Webby for a simple tap in. The third was scored by Tom Mills who intercepted a ball in midfield, outpaced the last defender and placed a low shot into the far corner of the net. Tom Mills was once again on the score sheet for his hat-trick, when the ball broke to him in the penalty area and he scored with an almost identical finish to his second goal. The seventh goal was scored following a rare foray from defence by James Hatton and after some intricate play between him and Curtis Turner, Curtis found himself through on goal and he slotted past the onrushing keeper. Worcester's final goal of the day was scored by Olly Berry which was again scored following good wing play from Curtis Turner who got to the byline and cut the ball back to Olly for another simple tap in. 3-8

Q4 - The final quarter saw Stoke get a consolation goal, although in truth they were well beaten at this point. 4-8

Worcester responded well to being down at half-time and should be proud of their desire and determination to win the game. They fought well today and played some attractive football.

Match report by Marie Mills