[JonInMiddleGA]

Sept 3, 2011

Blyth (4th, 3-1-2) vs Worcester (11th, 2-3-1 )

We're favored at home again, 6:4. Would really like a win here, to put the bad taste of the last outing aside. Back to our standard 4-4-2, mostly the usual lineup as well.

GK - Knight
D: Kendrick - Jones - Mellish - Purvis
MF: Phillips - Slaughter - Groves - Emms
F: Armstrong - Mole

4:40 - Mole chases down a lob into the offensive end, splits two defenders to run onto the ball, a few strides & fires, it hits the post & banks into the net ... GOAL !!! (1-0)

18:32 - Armstrong dials up a long distance shot from well beyond the arc & it flies wide. Our fifth shot of the early going, we're definitely playing aggressively in the offensive end.

19:16 - Carey-Bertram dribbles past two men into the box, Jones tackles it away ... ball skips straight to Smith who fires it past Knight & we're all even (1-1)

22:15 - Armstrong feeds Mole, who takes flight just right of center, on the run & fires, big punch out save.

29:05 - Purvis lobs a pass to the penalty spot for Armstrong, his header is stopped by a stumbling Dormand just short of the goal line. A promising look that I really haven't seen us produce before.

37:30 - Kendrick reverses thing with a pass to Emms in deep, a diving header and it's in ... but it's waved off, offside call. Armstrong is incredulous, and rightfully so from the replay.

Halftime - Outshooting them 11-4, 6 of those shots were on goal, but we're still even at 1. Let's stick with it, surely they'll start to get into the net.

47:19 - Slaughter picks up a lose ball & feeds Mole, takes it in on the left side & fires ... into the side of the net. Should have scored, had the keeper beaten. Too many long shots, we give touchline instructions to work pump the ball into the box, let's see if that produces higher quality chances.

51:04 - Emms corner kick to the near post ... Jones is alone, his diving header beats the keeper (2-1)

66:00 - Worcester has now made all three of their subs in the last few minutes, looking for fresh legs I guess. It's produces a couple of minutes of sustained pressure but our back line is up to the challenge.

68:00 - Buchanan on for a tired Mellish who has played well. Jones stays in despite having picked up a yellow along the way. Vipond on for Slaughter.

76:15 - Carey-Bertram gets off a shot from the arc as he dribbled in 1 against 3. It goes inches wide but Knight was late getting there, that could have been the equalizer.

80:20 - Thorley takes a header from a corner, it goes high & over.
New acquistion Osborne on for Purvis (Groves to RWB)

84:00 - Groves goes down, will have to get off for attention. We goes defensive & try to hang on here.

85:50 - Vipond has space for a shot from outside the box but it goes wide right.

90:00+ - 3 minutes of extra time, two of which are spent with us on offense.

Fulltime - Whew, got a little close for comfort there at the end but we finally close one out properly. This one was about the pressure we put on them early, leading to a 17-10 edge in shots, 8-3 on-target. Jones was brilliant in the air (5/6 headers) and provided the game winner on the set piece. Really tough not to be happy with them, and we tell them so, to their delight.

Knight 6.8
Kendrick 7.0, Jones (MOM) 7.9 & 1 goal, Mellish 7.1, Purvis 6.8
Phillips 6.8, Slaughter 6.8, Groves 6.9, Emms 7.7 & 2 assists
Armstrong 6.8, Mole 7.6 & 1 goal
Subs: Vipond 6.7, Buchanan 6.4, Osborn N/A

Post match stuff goes well, I exchange compliments with their coach through the media. Nice win to get with a week to prepare for our next match.