Wrington Redhill were in action for their first game since Christmas Eve at Castle Carey when they won 3-2, so the starting line-up had only one change with Ryan Pugh replacing the injured Jordon Bonner in the left back slot.
The visiting team was Welton Rovers Reserves who proved to be determined opponents on a heavy pitch. It didn’t take long for Wrington Redhill to create a great scoring chance when Joe Creese chased through on goal but his effort was off target. The next chance fell to George Fake but his strike was straight at Welton’s keeper Joe Beaverstock.
Welton’s main threat came from their direct play to get the ball to their front players with speed down the flanks, but Dan Ferguson marshalled his defensive line including Josh Pitt, Ethan Johnson and Ryan Pugh to snuff out Welton’s attacks and protect their keeper, Matt Hill. The first half closed without any goals with neither keeper really tested at this stage.
Wrington Redhill knew they had to raise their game for the second period to gain the three points that were there for the taking but an early setback occurred when minutes after the restart injuries to Ollie Clements and Joe Creese both had to be replaced with more than capable replacements in Travis Yule-Turner and Ayrton Phillips who immediately made their presence known and straightaway the hosts took a 1-0 lead. Reece Ferguson-Obamwonyi outpaced the Welton defence and fed the ball to George Fake who slotted past Beaverstock from a tight angle.
Another setback came when Yule-Turner was red-carded for a strong tackle resulting with the team facing a gruelling last half hour down to ten players. As expected Welton upped the tempo sending the ball forward to their front runners. A break down the left and a deep cross into the box was headed home for and equaliser at the far post.
Shortly after Pugh picked up an injury and Matt Walsh entered the fray and did well in supporting the defence and helped see out the immediate pressure. Their hard work allowed the midfield trio of Sam Parkinson, Leigh White, and Ayrton Phillips to get on the ball more and start to create their own chances again. Ferguson-Obamwonyi became more and more of a threat with his mazy dribbling skills unsettling the visitors’ defenders and led to holes opening up and with five minutes left a delightful ball from Parkinson found Fake who held off two defenders and from an acute angle found the net again to take a 2-1 lead to the delight of his teammates and supporters.
It looked like Parkinson was going to add a third but the ball just ran away from him as he was about to shoot. Wrington Redhill saw out the final few minutes to get a valuable hard fought victory
The supporters Man of the Match award went to George Fake scorer of both goals.
Team:
Goalkeeper: Matt Hill
Defence: Josh Pitt, Dan Ferguson, Ethan Johnson, Ryan Pugh
Midfield: Sam Harvey, Ollie Clements, Leigh White
Forwards: Joe Creese, George Fake, Reece Ferguson-Obamwonyi
Substitutes: Matt Walsh (for Ryan Pugh), Ayrton Phillips (for Ollie Clements), Travis Yule-Turner (for Joe Creese), Jack Hutchings (unused)