Cheshire Junior Cup, Round 2 (2 October, 2011).
Waverton Scorers (season's total in brackets)
Matt Sheen - 1 (7)
Alex Wilkinson - 1 (5)
Aaron Hassall - 1 (4)
Brandon Garland - 1 (1)
Report
Waverton went into this game with some trepidation, playing against a strong team (who are heading the Stockport Metro League) with an injury depleted squad which meant the Wasps could only field 11 (almost) fit players. They came out of the game covered in glory, with the best performance of the season earning the team a comfortable 4-1 victory, carrying them into Round 3 of the Cheshire Cup.
Waverton started brightly right from the start, taking the attack to Stockport, particularly down the left as Brandon Garland combined well with Matt Sheen to look particularly dangerous. Their early pressure almost told, as a goalmouth scramble saw the ball rebound back off a post before Stockport eventually cleared the danger. It was against the run of play therefore when it was Stockport who took the lead after about 15 minutes, with the Waverton defence for once missing a bouncing ball which the Stockport centre forward (their most dangerous player) pounced on to slot the opener past Jack Minshull.
The Wasps response to this setback was brilliant though. Instead of heads dropping, the magnificent 11 just redoubled their efforts and pushed forward with even more purpose, and as a result the remaining period up to half time saw Waverton simply overrun a very strong Junior Blues team, putting themselves very firmly in the driving seat. First Matt Sheen raced on to a great through ball from Brandon Garland and finished superbly from the edge of the box, and then soon after Brandon was "taken out" by the Stockport keeper for a penalty to Waverton, which Aaron Hassall slotted home calmly to give the Wasps a deserved 2-1 lead. The team didn't settle for that though and continued to push forward to take advantage of a clearly rattled opposition (who started arguing amongst themselves), with the pressure paying off as Brandon Garland made it 3-1 at the second attempt, the goal just reward for his performance. SJBs disarray at this point then led to a fourth goal, as they took far too long to organise themselves for a free kick on the edge of their box, with the referee allowing Alex Wilkinson to take it early into an unguarded net. It was a great 20 minutes of football and Waverton deserved to take their 4-1 advantage into the break.
There was no need for Waverton to chase the game any longer. To hold the advantage while protecting some of the injuries being carried, they set themselves up more defensively for the second half. Everybody played their part, from Matt & Charlie who defended from the front, the midfield who stayed strong (especially Aaron in a holding role) and the defence/goalkeeper who held out brilliantly against an attack who were clearly more used to scoring goals for fun and became increasingly frustrated as they were restricted to no more than the odd half chance.
The only real scare was a penalty to Stockport with ten minutes to go, but when that rebounded back off the bar it was clear to everybody it was going to be Waverton's day, and deservedly so. The third round will be played on 30 October, and after this performance the Wasps need fear no one in the draw. Given the strength of the team performance, (and for once a high ratio of goals to chances!) there was nobody singled out for MoM honours, all 11 players deserved to share equally in the glory!
No comments:
Post a Comment