The Marches Two League

Wotton Men’s 4ths 2 Winchcombe 1

WOTTON-under-Edge came to this match with the knowledge that their opposition were top of the league and were starting a dangerous run of form, with strong victories over a number of other tough sides.

The first ten minutes were indicative of the way in which the match would be played, with Winchcombe working hard to retain the ball at the back, and then firing probing passes right up into the heart of the Wotton defence.

Despite a fusillade of challenging passes into the Wotton 23, the defence was more than a match for the Winchcombe attacking strategy.

Wotton’s defence was a very different starting line-up, with only the wing backs having recently played in the role.

Wotton keeper Dan Dyson worked hard to strike away the early attacks.

Pat Carr sat in the middle of midfield.

A series of passes were worked around the midfield base of Martin Dove, Jacob Phillips, and Gideon York, and sent up to the waiting sticks of David Chevin and James Cox.

Chevin went through into a 1-on-1 with the opposition keeper but he was upended by a Winchcombe defender.

A penalty flick saw Chevin slide the ball past the flailing limbs of the keeper, 1-0 to Wotton.

Winchcombe were made of stern stuff, however, and were not going to go down without a fight.

The ball flew from end to end over the next quarter of an hour, with both sides looking to regain an advantage.

Against the run of Wotton play, the Winchcombe attack took on a greater purpose, and they realised that short corners might well be a possible source of goals, rather than lashing out for the strike every time.

With two failed attempts under the belt, driven back by confident Wotton defence, a third found the Wotton keeper driving the ball right, before it was dragged back in and across to a waiting opposition stick by the post. 1-1.

Several penalty corners latter, it became clear that the pitch, and the umpiring approach, would only reward goals in open play, and Wotton redoubled their efforts to bring the ball up the pitch, with Carr at the heart of many forays into the opposition circle.

He linked with the flashing forms of James Cox and Chevin, both of whom had run hard for the entire match, chasing that second elusive goal.

With pain and suffering clearly visible on the faces of the opposition, Wotton launched a last attack, Cox drove hard at the left post and, as Chevin smacked the ball across the face of the goal, deflected it up and into the top left corner of the goal.

As the umpire signalled for that second hard won goal, the full-time whistle sounded at the far end, and Wotton raised their hands in victory to each other, saluting the drive and commitment won the game.