Washlands vs Gresley Rovers
Washlands AFC 1 - 2 Gresley Rovers Youth
(DJ Morgan Challenge Cup Final)
Scorers: Morton 22, Worth 49
Team: Ian Parker, Joe Tomlin, Chris Smith, Dave Hatfield (c), Rich Foster, Danny Gee, Luke Taylor, Mark Shorthouse, Joe Swift, Sam Worth, Paul Morton
Subs: Josh Gregory, Rich Hanslow, Tom Fletcher, Dan Woodings, Craig Harrison, Nige Brewin, Stu Haywood
Our final game of the season was the cup final, which was held at The Pirelli Stadium. We were against Washlands AFC, who have had a very good season, reaching several finals already this season.
We had a full squad to choose from, with both Joe Tomlin and Josh Gregory returning from injury. The pitch wasn't at it's best, however it couldn't take the shine off the impressive stadium.
We started off quite slowly, I'm not sure if this was due to a little nerves, but for the first 15 minutes Washlands were the brighter side. Rovers settled down though, and soon got ourselves into our rhythm, which was some relief to Nigel and me. We started to put pressure on them, looked the better team, although we weren't using the width of the pitch as much as I wanted. With 20 minutes gone, we were awarded a free kick from some distance out, and Taylor stuck a great shot unfortunately hitting the bar. Foster Knocked in the rebound, only to be flagged offside.
Soon after we opened our account, from some neat build up play. Worth's accurate cross was met by Morton who coolly slotted home. It was a quality finish, with him slipping his marker, and was typical of our top scorer's finish.
We had gone ahead and I feel it was deserved; however it took a couple of great saves from Parker to keep us in front. He was on top form, and certainly needed to be, as Washlands searched for an equaliser.
At the other end Shothouse had one cleared off the line as the game opened up. The midfield trio of Taylor, Gee and Shorthouse were working hard matching their counterparts work rate. The back four were organised, with Foster winning nearly every header, which, as we know is normally the case. Upfront Morton's energy was tiring to watch, as he was well supported from Swift and Worth.
With 4 minutes to half time Washlands equalised, after some pressure, it was a great strike leaving Parker no chance. It was a bad time to concede; however the signs were there.
Halftime I felt we'd let them back into things, but as I said we had enough in our locker to raise things. Shorthouse was struggling with his ankle, so we replaced him with Gregory at the break.
Second half got underway, and we had certainly raised things, as for the first time in the game we began to dominate things. We were using our wide men better, which stretched Washlands defence, causing them problems. Smith played a great ball to Swift, who's great out swinging cross found Worth in space, and he slotted home with a clinical finish. The goal had been coming, because we'd pinned them back, and it was the response Nigel and me were looking for.
So for the second time in the game, we'd gone ahead, but this time we continued to pin Washlands back. Worth's pace proved too much for their left back, and it saw the only booking of the game, when he was hacked down. We had another effort cleared off the line, as we looked to extend our lead, and looked relatively untroubled in defence. It was now a case of wave after wave of attack from us, however our finishing lacked that little accuracy.
With 18 minutes remaining, we replaced Taylor for Hanslow, it was tactical to try and give Morton more support. Taylor had been outstanding tonight, and again showed just how good he's become winning a lot in midfield.
Washlands went three up front, which didn't trouble our back four, with our skipper organising things to great effect. We were defending deeper than I would of liked, but were untroubled protecting our lead with relative ease.
With 8 minutes to go we made our final change, replacing Morton for Fletcher, as Morton was struggling with a groin strain. As we ran out the game, we never looked phased by them throwing caution to the wind, pushing four up front. Although we dealt with things comfortably, it was a huge relief to hear the final whistle.
Tonight we've proved how far we've come, and I still honestly believe that there's more to come. We've eventually been rewarded for our efforts and improvements, which is much deserved. It's a fitting way to end our season, and takes us into our summer break on a high. We've certainly proved the doubters wrong and continued with improvements.
I honestly cannot fault anyone's performance tonight; we worked as a team showing maturity way above our ages. A great tribute to all concerned, and showed great discipline again on the pitch, Well done ALL OF YOU.
The sponsors (DJ Morgan Engravers) named Sam Worth as "Man of the Match" which I cannot argue with, however everyone deserved that tonight.
Attendance: 237
