Wilden Villages U12s vs WCFC Colts U12

Sunday 23rd May saw Colts look to bounce back after a run of difficult results, against a Wilden team that they had enjoyed a positive result against on their last meeting. On an unseasonably blustery day, Colts lined up with Elton in Goal, Glazzard, Sivaharan and Fisher at the back, Perks, Heywood, Coopey and Bousfield in midfield and Conner James ploughing a lone furrow up front. Both team started brightly with plenty of midfield steel on show, without much in the way of clear-cut chances for either team to boast about. Perks in particular was full of craft and guile in the early stages, linking up well with James on numerous occasions. The back 3 looking solid and protecting their ‘keeper well, seemed relatively untroubled by the best that the Wilden attacking threat could muster. However despite having the lions’ share of possession, the away teams chances were limited to long range efforts and scrappy half-chances as the home defence performed an admirable job of keeping the blue-and-white tide at bay. With 7-minutes remaining of the half, James was tripped in the area and the referee awarded a penalty kick to Worcester. James stepped up, only for his effort to be superbly parried by the ‘keeper. Bousfield however was fastest to the loose ball and prodded home to open the scoring.
Half time came with Beale, Davies and Box entering the fray. City showed plenty of effort in the second period, but were evenly matched by a spirited Wilden team who were buoyed by their narrow deficit. An open second period was played out in the same manner as the first, Elton rarely called into action but with Colts failing to put the home defence under any serious pressure. Box was particularly impressive with a combative 2nd half showing and Johnson, introduced into midfield showed an increase in confidence that will please the management team.
The final whistle came with Colts repeating the 1-goal winning margin that represented their previous success against Perdiswell a month previously. An encouraging performance, perhaps without the winning margin that may have been expected at the outset but showing that in general the Mercian Fortis Division 1 is a league of very narrow margins. James Glazzard scooped both MoM awards for a stoic and battling performance.
Managers man-of-the-match: James Glazzard
Players man-of-the-match: James Glazzard