Faced with continued injuries and unavailable players manager Graham Cheeseman called up reserve players Marc Reese, Adam Caulfield, George Martin, Paul Faulkner and Anthony Badman to the squad and all of them played important roles in this Thursday night fixture against top of the table Chilcompton.
It was the home side that started strongly unsettling the visitors with Jake Horton winning an early corner which was cleared for another from Mason Gardener and Horton’s shot was parried by the ‘keeper Daniel Tamblyn. Chilcompton’s early chances came from free kicks taken by top scorer Ryan Gay which were collected by Matt Hill or off target.
A corner awarded which everyone could see should have been a goal kick resulted in Leigh White clearing to safety and another corner saw Hill Save from a Dave Edwards effort.
On the half hour mark a tremendous run down the left flank by George Martin and superb cross into the box was met by Paul Faulkner forcing a corner and then Mason Gardener fed Horton whose shot was saved by Tamblyn. Gay had a free kick cleared over the bar again and Faulkner’s defence splitting pass was run down by the ‘keeper just as Horton was about to strike.
For all the heroics of Dutch Holland, Marc Rees, Ethan Johnson marshalled by Whitey at the back close to half time Chilcompton struck to take a 1-0 lead. A ball was fired wide of the goal but reached Kieran Robinson who fired past Hill.
After the break Wrington Redhill continued to compete with Chris Bradley and Adam Caulfield working hard in the centre of midfield closing down their opponents well. 10 minutes in a goalmouth scramble ended with Hill clutching the ball and shortly after he came out best on a one on one with a Chilcompton forward. Also at this time George Martin was causing problems at the other end and it must be recorded that Paul Faulkner called on all his experience in winning high balls in important areas.
Chilcompton showed why they are destined for the league title when Gay surrounded by 3 defenders still managed to turn and strike just inside the post to clinch the game 2-0.
All players deserve full credit for their performances and Bill Gough’s man of the match nomination went to skipper Leigh White. He commented that it was a pleasure to have Paul Faulkner in the team which made him feel quite young again. He recalled playing in the same team as Paul when he was only 10 years old and Paul seemed quite old then!!
Team:-
GK, Matthew Hill
Defence, Chris Holland, Leigh White, Marc Rees, Ethan Johnson
Midfield, Mason Gardener, Adam Caulfield, Chris Bradley, George Martin
Forwards, Jake Horton, Paul Faulkner
Subs: Jack Board (for Mark Rees), Mark Brown (for Mason Gardener), Anthony Badman (for Paul Faulkner)