Warstones Wanderers 2 Trysull 3
West Midlands (Regional) League Division 1
At: Goodrich FC
Kick-off: 7-45 pm
Admission: £3; no programme
Weather: cold, dry
Attendance: 15 (headcount)
Duration: first-half: 45:06; second-half: 46:06
I made a very late decision to head out this evening and just about the only game I could comfortably reach was this local derby at Goodrich FC. During a fast-paced though largely chanceless first-half, Warstones took the lead with a penalty which was cancelled out on the half-hour. Trysull took the lead early in the second half and held it for barely a minute but ended up scoring what proved to be the winner just before the hour mark.I’d not seen Warstones play a home game before and must admit to not knowing much about the club. Looking at the history on their website and also Wikipedia, the club was formed in 2001 as an under 10s side and quickly grew into one having 25 different teams. The senior Saturday side, established in 2005, began in the Wolverhampton Combination and progressed into the West Midlands (Regional) League. The Saturday side has played home games at Parkfields Stadium, Long Lane in Essington, Sporting Khalsa’s old Glastonbury Crescent ground, Cradley Town and currently Goodrich FC.
I was warmly welcomed by officials from both sides and got chatting to a ‘groundhopping’ Warstones fan who’d recently travelled to the Mile End Stadium in London to watch Sporting Bengal. I also chatted to the Trysull Secretary and she corrected my pronunciation of the visitors; from now onwards I will now say ‘Treesull’.Looking at the league table, neither Warstones (6th position with 37 points from 23 games) or Trysull (10th position with 31 points from 24 games) could catch leaders Wellington Amateurs (54 points) or realistically finish in the top four. Yet, the two sides served up an entertaining game this evening.
Goodrich FC, off the A449 just south of the M54 in north Wolverhampton, is a familiar venue to me and tonight was in fact my third visit of the season. The feature I like about the ground is the unique purple stand on the back of trailer with the ‘long vehicle’ sign still in situ. The pavilion, which I still remember from playing cricket at the ground, is also worth seeing as well.
After the referee perfectly positioned the teams for the pre-match handshakes, Warstones (in pink with a black right sleeve, black shorts and socks) got the game underway defending the pavilion end in the first half. They suffered an early blow when Joey Williams picked up an injury and had to be replaced by substitute Ward Morgan.The game was played at a decent tempo and Warstones were awarded a penalty around the midpoint of the first half. Warren Hancox tripped Stuart Hillman and Ashley Stewart drove home from the spot. There was soon further danger for the visitors when Joseph Madeley played a free-kick forward into the area. Richard Smith’s header was parried by Trysull goalkeeper Marc Tandy and cleared for a corner.
Trysull equalised on the half hour. A free-kick delivered forward into the area and played towards goal where Chris Campbell slotted home a close-range shot. The visitors had the ball in the net again four minutes later. Warstones keeper Tom Griffiths pulled off a decent save to block Daniel Patrick’s initial shot and Mark Cartright, from an offside position, fired home.
From a Trysull point of view, it was a “good half” while the Warstones manager was not pleased by his side’s first half showing, demanding “45 minutes to get yourselves back in front”, etc. Good news for me during the interval was the tea bar in the pavilion being open with cappuccinos amongst the drinks on offer.Warstones soon got forward at the start of the second half and Hillman curled a 20-yard shot wide of the right-hand post.
However, Trysull took the lead in the 50th minute. Harry Charleswoth’s left-foot free-kick from just outside the area hit one member of the four-man wall and flew out to the left. The ball was played back deep towards the far post where Daniel Patrick drove a low angled shot into the far corner of the net.
But, Warstones got back on level terms a minute later. Standing behind the goal at the pavilion end, I got a perfect view as Hillman battled on the edge of the area to get in a right-foot shot which flew into the top right corner. Tandy produced a diving save to push clear a shot from Hillman as Wanderers looked to regain the lead.
In what was an entertaining opening 15 minutes of the second half, Trysull scored what proved to be the winner in the 59th minute. In a nice move, Charlesworth drove the ball low across the face of goal from the left and Patrick hammered home his second goal at close range.Warstones pressed for an equaliser during the last half hour, ultimately without success. Stewart fed Hillman inside the area but Tandy did enough to prevent the striker from getting in a shot. In the 80th minute, Tandy held a well-struck 22-yard free-kick from Ashley Quinn under pressure at the second attempt. Joshua Cook later drove through a crowded area and just wide of the left-hand post.
In stoppage time, a sliced clearance by defender Mark Cartwright presented Warstones with one last chance. Even goalkeeper Griffiths went up for the resulting corner which, alas, for the home side came to nothing.
Not that far away, Stafford Town visited Wolverhampton Sporting Community for a Premier Division game and recorded an impressive 5-0 victory. They seem to do well when I’m not there!
Warstones Wanderers (pink with black right sleeve / black / black): 1. Tom Griffiths, 2. Joseph Madeley, 3. Oliver Peake, 4. Joshua Cook, 5. Richard Smith (capt), 6. Jock Hardy, 7. Joey Williams, 8. Ashley Stewart, 9. Josh Carvel, 10. Stuart Hillman, 11. James Simmonds. Subs: 12. Kyer Williams (for Peake, 69), 14. Ashley Quinn (for Hillman, 78), 15. Ward Morgan (for Joey Williams, 8), 16. Aaron Chandler (not used), 17. Matthew Mullin (not used). Manager: Ashleigh Cook.
Trysull (yellow with blue sleeves / blue / blue): 1. Marc Tandy, 2. Scott Ballards, 3. Warren Hancox, 4. Simon Edwards, 5. Richard Watts, 6. Mark Cartwright, 14. Michael Brookes, 8. Mike Freeman, 9. Chris Campbell, 10. Daniel Patrick (capt), 11. Harry Charlesworth. Subs: 12. Jordan Russell (for Brookes, 81), 15. Tom Cowen (Charlesworth, 74), 16. Jonathan Patrick (not used). Manager: Arthur Patrick.
Referee: M. Keane.
Goals:
1-0 Ashley Stewart (24 pen)
1-1 Chris Campbell (30)
1-2 Daniel Patrick (50)
2-2 Stuart Hillman (51)
2-3 Daniel Patrick (59)
Cards:
None
