Wrington Redhill Reserves vs Sporting Weston

Weston and District Division 2

10 October 2015 3:00pm

Wrington Reserves achieved back-to-back wins for the first time since their promotion to Division 2 with an excellent home performance against previously unbeaten Sporting Weston. The hosts showed real character in reversing the 4-1 defeat suffered on the opening day of the season – a result which made Manager Julian Moss’ team talk a straightforward one, as he challenged the nine players involved that day to make up for that lacklustre performance.

The hosts got off to the best possible start as a bright opening saw them earn a couple of corners, the second of which they took the lead from as Louis Rouvrais’ header fell loose in the six-yard box and Tom Johnson reacted fastest to poke the ball home.

Wrington made the most of the size of the Recreation Ground – far larger than Sporting’s home pitch – to play some attractive passing football, and a second goal followed mid-way through the first half as Matt Lenny (not Lally as incorrectly stated in last week’s report!) picked up the ball near the half-way line and threaded an incisive ball through to Michak O’Connor (Pictured) , who shrugged off a defender before his feinted shot committed the goalkeeper and allowed him to coolly lift the ball into the unguarded net.

In addition to his assist, Lenny also put in a terrific defensive performance alongside Nick Curtis – good communication and covering ensuring that Jacob Burnett was largely untested in the first half except for gathering a fierce volley cleanly. Curtis and Lenny were well-shielded by stand-in captain Joe Moore (owing to Phil Williams’ knee injury) and Paul Burnett, who was terrier-like in ensuring that Weston had no time in the midfield area.

Callum Briggs and Mike Clements were able to push forward from full-back, empowering Johnson and Kyle Selman to get forward in support of O’Connor and Rouvrais, who were linking-up well together once again.

In goal, Jacob Burnett showed how far he has developed in just five games, and there were no signs of the nervousness in evidence on his debut against the same opponents. Despite being untroubled in the first period, Burnett was alert early in the second period to tip a close range header over the bar, and was quickly off his line to slide a through-ball to safety, as the visitors’ best period went unrewarded early after the interval.

At the other end, Wrington continued to create chances – Selman almost turning provider as a fine move from defence to attack saw Rouvrais narrowly missing the ball with a diving header. The hosts didn’t have to wait long for their third, however, as Selman fed O’Connor who turned his marker and guided a curled effort into the far corner for his sixth of the season.

There was still time for Wrington to put a gloss on the result as substitute Mick Edmunds shook off his hangover to curl an unstoppable free-kick into the top corner.

FULL TIME Wrington 4-0 Sporting Weston

Wrington: J. Burnett, C. Briggs, N. Curtis, M. Lenny, M. Clements, T. Johnson, J. Moore (C), P. Burnett (M. Edmunds), K.Selman, M. O’Connor, L. Rouvrais (O. Withers)

MOTM: O’Connor