Potters out fighting

An early 10am push back away in Leamington may have caught the Worcester Potters on the hop, but in actual fact, quite the opposite happened. Worcester started strongly, with sharp, positive, attacking play. Considering the 3 Badger squads were missing over 25 of their regular players, this was an unexpectedly positive result. Chances came early, with slick passing and in a tremendously strong 10-minute phase of play from the 20th to 30th minutes, Worcester had stretched into a 3-0 lead, with 2 terrific goals from Cameron Palmer and a smart finish from Connor Winkworth. This definitely dented the confidence of a sprightly Leamington team, but with a total of 11 players against Leamingtons 15, including a couple of clearly capable adults, we knew we had to pace ourselves and keep our shape. Defensively, it was a quiet first half for Worcester, with the keeper unchallenged, not a single shot on goal. The team talk at half time centred around demanding more of the same, with a quick refresher on making sure the ball travelled 5 metres before being struck into the D. Worcester blasted out of the blocks at the start of the second half, with Connor scoring his second goal of the game in the 4th minute, before Dominic Hole smashed the ball from the top of the D into the bottom right corner of the goal out of the reach of the outstretched keepers dive. This prompted something of a cavalry charge from one of the 2 Leamington adults, with some skills that wouldnt have been out of place in a Mens 3rds game, but the young Potters team remained calm, soaked up all the pressure that was pushed at them and they would have scored a superb counter- attack goal, had it not been for Cameron Palmer being hacked down in the D while in the act of shooting. So, it fell to Man of the Match Cameron Palmer to take the penalty flick himself, to complete his hat-trick, his second in consecutive weeks, after scoring 4 in last weeks match against Bromsgrove. With something of a scuffed flick, the ball deflected off the keepers left glove, then foot, before dribbling over the line. 3 for the game and now 14 for the season, for the increasingly prolific Palmer. The 6-0 scoreline did not flatter Worcester at all, who at times played hockey which many of Worcesters Mens and Womens teams would have been proud of. Outstanding performances from Luke Bowerman and Dominic Hole helped to ensure that Leamington remained under constant pressure throughout the 70-minutes. The young Potters team showed great fitness and stamina, with every player playing the full match. So, with a 6-0 win, a clean sheet, a hat-trick and many positives all over the pitch, Worcester tucked into the post-match hot dogs and chips VERY happy bunnies! Well done everyone.