Shirehampton FC v Wrington Redhill FC

Saturday 13th February 2016

Wrington travelled to ‘Shire’ last Saturday and came away empty-handed. But Oh it could have been such a different story.

‘Shire’ us got underway but it was Wrington who threatened most early on. Shire moved the ball nicely but the Wrington back four and midfield worked hard to contain the league leaders. It was however Wrington who deservedly opened the scoring. Good work by Luke Patten allowed him to create enough space from 20 yards to fire a crisp low drive past the helpless ‘Shire’ keeper who remained rooted to the spot as the ball flew into the back of the net. 0-1

‘Shire’ continued to move the ball well but Wrington came up with all the defensive answers until a speculative shot from the edge of the box bounced up hitting keeper Clark in the face for the ball to run free in the six yard box to be tapped in for a simple finish.

The game followed the same pattern of Shire dictating the game but Wrington always looking dangerous on the break. As half time approached one of the pivotal moments in the game arrived with Chris Bradley breaking the offside trap but ‘Bradders’ was unable to beat the home keeper in a one-on-one duel.

H/T 1-1

Wrington kicked off the second half and were almost immediately in front again. Good play between Patten and Graham Cheeseman set ‘Cheeseo’ free and he smashed the ball home from 12 yards for the lead. 1-2

Then on 55 minutes the problems started. Wrington lost both Sam Johnson and Harry Iles from the defence in a matter of minutes and the rejigged set up did its best but the team could not hold the Shire front line who equalised almost immediately and went on to score two more quick goals.

Wrington still pushed hard and created a great chance that no one could get a foot too.

The game ran out as a home win 4-2

MOTM : Sam Johnson. Top performance until his injury

Manager Smith said, ‘I am very proud of the team including the lads that came on. We gave it a real go and I felt we were in control until we lost Sam and Harry. Make no mistake ‘Shire’ are a good side and should in my opinion win the league. But we showed that if you are well organised and the players apply themselves you can cause them problems. On to the cup now this Tuesday and I hope for another strong performance’.