Worcester 2's on top form after a long distance away win against Shrewsbury

Shrewsbury vs. Worcester 2nds 21/11/15

Result 0-6

Worcester were in fine form and heading in to the 7th league game of the season with just 1 loss. With a slightly changed team due to certain personnel not being available it made this match report one of the more difficult ones to write.

At the Worcester meet time Worcester 2nds top scorer Ollie Ranscombe turned up with a new pair of shorts which had 5 pockets on, when asked why he needed 5 pockets his reply was “well, it’s a pocket for each of the back 5 Shrewsbury players” a brave comment! But with his new found status as the team top scorer. He just stood there and waited for someone to load his bags into the car.

A journey up the motorway to Shrewsbury on what was the coldest day of the hockey season so far and with strong winds to contend with Watling was wondering how his young team would fair in the harsh conditions. The game started and Worcester were in control from the whistle spending long periods with the ball being transferred between the back 2 of Tom Allen and James Neal, this pattern was a sign of things to come as the ball went back and forth, back and forth waiting for the Shrewsbury forwards to engage, however the Shrewsbury players just watched and waited. This didn’t stop James Neal and Tom Allen continuously passing the ball to each other over and over again this seemed to do the trick and send the Shrewsbury team to sleep. The rest of the Worcester players now getting cold noticed some snoring and decided to intervene and take the ball from Neal which started the first attack and produced and nice move to set up Steve Grant to slot the ball home to take an early 1-0 lead. This woke the Shrewsbury players and seemed to kick start their day.

When Shrewsbury did get the ball they did attack with purpose and each attack they had was stopped with tackles from the midfield 2 of Joe Sullivan and Max Braddick. When Shrewsbury did get through the midfield again the tackles came in from the defensive duo of Allen and Neal and each time they won the ball the passing began again, back and forth, back and forth for what seemed like an eternity each time. The Shrewsbury Players just seemed to enjoy the show of passing and soon started calling them Paul and Barry (to me, to you, to you to me). This possession was enough to stop the Shrewsbury team attacking the Worcester defence as each time they did Paul and Barry would take the ball and not let anyone else play with it.

Joe Sullivan who was involved in lots of Worcester moves also managed stop with Joe as he was able to collect the ball each time but then maneuverer ball perfectly to kick the ball sometimes with both feet. The Shrewsbury team were always relieved when the ball was passed to Joe as they were able to discuss what set piece they would like to run ready for when Joe kicked it. Fortunately for Joe Henry Jeffs was on hand to take the attention away from him and with some of the best Anti-skill Worcester has ever seen, he was able to beat player after player with touches and flicks that were truly incredible but not meant. These bits of Anti-Skill were noted by the Worcester players to discuss later in the bar…

Half time 0-1 Worcester

Watling pointed out that the 2nd team should be in a much better position than just the single goal ahead and explained that Worcester needed to keep concentration.

The second half was much the same but this half saw Shrewsbury get in to the D early on and get a couple of shots away all of which were blocked or deflected wide by the alert Tom Dalton. With one save being the stand out save of the match so far and was deflected wide with a very quick reaction save following a shot which took a deflection from a Worcester stick. Otherwise it was normal service with the Chuckle brothers claiming the ball and then only passing to each other for long periods.

With Shrewsbury trying to find a way of scoring without going near the Worcester D to avoid Paul and Barry, the Worcester lads were able to find some joy winning the ball high up the field and counter attacking the Shrewsbury defence winning 3 short corners in succession. Skipper Watling without his normal short corner team saw an opportunity to get some glory and demanded that every corner must involve him striking the ball at goal, the reason he gave was “well I scored last week”. This paid dividends on the second short when the first shot was blocked and allowed Steve Grant to get his second of the day.

The 3rd goal came soon after with another well worked goal and Joe Sullivan smashing the ball home to make it 3 – 0 this was the first time Joe was able to get hold of the ball without kicking it. This was rather badly timed as the football scouts had only just arrived to see this new wonder kid who could knock the ball around with both feet at will. Congrats to Joe for scoring his first League goal for Worcester 2nd team, well deserved.

With Joe Sullivan now using his stick, Joe Hughes was causing problems and busy working hard got a well-earned rest for a tackle he made, a big flat stick which took the ball clean and was about the set up a counter attack this was quickly stopped by the umpire waving a Green card in Joe’s direction.

Henry Jeffs was still trying to figure out how to use his new found Anti-skill to his advantage and did manage to free up Ben Martin who was able to put the game out of reach of the opposition finishing with ease to make it 4-0.

Sam Glass who had been quietly going about his business exploded in to the game with another trade mark run which started on the half way line and as he built up pace he broke the first stick tackle kept his balance and the ball, now making his way through the gears and moving left and right was able to break the next stick tackle this one a little more violent than the first. The next 3 attempted tackles followed that trend and Sam Glass who now looked like he had given up on moving the ball around just crashed through each one by the time Sam had reached the D and was about to shoot the umpire decided to award a foul and a short corner. Sam was heard thanking the Umpire for his patience and thought he might be better umpiring the Hunger Games next time out.

The final action of the game was Steve Grant slotting home the ball to complete a well-deserved hat trick and Worcester’s 6th goal. 6-0 Worcester.

Ollie Ranscombe Went home with empty pockets as he couldn’t entice any of the Shrewsbury players in to any of the 5 pockets.

Man of the match was Steve Grant for the hat trick he scored

DoD was Henry Jeffs who now has 2 problems to work out.

1. What is Anti-Skill and how does he use it in the future?

2. What does he bake for next week?