Wealdstone 0 – 2 Wivinhoe Town
Wealdstone0 - 2
Wivenhoe TownWhat can you say after a game like this?
The Referee turned up at 3:15 and the match kicked off at 3:30, as he was delayed in traffic, but at least he turned up which is more than you can say for Wealdstone, who despite being there in body certainly weren’t in mind or spirit.
They started OK, and could even have taken the lead on six minutes when Martin Carter beat three players, got to the byline in the penalty box and then cut inside to shoot, only to see his shot come back off the crossbar to safety, but that was just about the last inventive thing the Stones produced for the 90 minutes.
A poor half from both sides in terms of football, yet there were a number of chances at both ends. Andy Carter made three excellent saves midway through the half which kept Stones in the match as Wivenhoe gained a period of pressure and a number of corners – more a case of poor defending giving the ball away rather that inventive attack, but none the less when the opportunities fell, their shots were on target and thankfully Carter on form. On another day Mike Brothers up front for Wivenhoe may easily have had a hat-trick.
At the other end, Stones too had opportunities – a Robin Tucker header was just wide from a corner and Marvin Morgan had a shot punched away, but the best chance came on 44 minutes when Stones were awarded a penalty. Up stepped Tommy Williams and he contrived to become the third Stones penalty taker to miss one at home this season, as his shot, to close to the keeper, was comfortably saved.
Two changes at half time were intended to up the tempo, switching to 4-4-2 from 5-3-2, but in truth this made little difference to the match overall.
Wivenhoe still battled and forced their way forward, while Stones looked lethargic and lacking ideas and generally suffered from poor passing – the number of lazy and short balls played when in possession was astounding!
As Wivenhoe pressed, on 72 minutes they won a corner and the deep cross was good enough to wrong foot the Stones defence, allowing Caton to head home to give the visitors the lead.
This at least did spark Stones up a little and they too pressed forward, Morgan again with a shot on the turn, Carvell with a header and Tilbury with a shot and then a close range header on another day would have all scored but it wasn’t to be and with two minutes remaining and the Stones pushing well forward, Wivenhoe broke through, allowing Fuller to beat his man and then Andy Carter to seal the win.
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