The Marches Two

Wotton-under-Edge 4ths 6 Cleevillians A 3

A DOMINANT home performance saw Wotton-under-Edge men’s fourths see off a spirited Cleevillians in the 15th match of the league campaign.

Building on some good recent form, a near perfect first half team performance saw a 3-0 lead for the men in blue by the half-time whistle.

The score was an accurate reflection of the team’s efforts with all departments showing great coherence, focus and intelligent play.

The defensive backline of Martin Dove, Nick Watt, Brian Patterson and Hal Smillie prevented any significant forays at goal, and were able to create an effective springboard for Wotton’s midfield to move the ball with finesse and speed.

The central midfield partnership of Gideon York and Rich Watts provided a consistent conduit for the ball to reach space in wide positions from which a constant wave of attacks threatened the Cleevillians goal and which resulted in a series of short corners in the early period of the first half.

As with much of the teams’ play, a growing familiarity amongst players is resulting in better, quicker and persistent patterns of play.

This familiarity was apparent with short corner routines being crisp and effective resulting in strikes from the club’s leading scorer, David Chevin and player-of-the-match Andrew Wallace to create a comfortable cushion within the first 15 minutes.

Forward momentum was maintained by the impressive work rate of Stuart Jones on the left and Smillie from deep on the right who carried the ball with impressive skill and pace.

The first half was all about attack and the pairing of Cox and Chevin once again resulted in tough questions for the opposition’s goalie and Cox in particular was unlucky not to add to his season’s goal tally.

An area where the team has perhaps shown a weakness this season has been the focus which follows the half time break, but a short corner was earned from the first play of the half and Chevin was clinical in finding the net.

Another series of good passing moved the ball forward giving Jones space at the top of the D and a wonderful strike saw a much-deserved goal.

After a fortuitous miss-hit, which left Dan Dyson helpless in conceding a goal, there followed a passage in the game when the visitors attacked with a nothing-to-lose attitude.

They were rewarded with two goals in quick succession, significantly changing the score.

In a league where margins between teams is often slim, this period of play served as a reminder to Wotton of the dangers of letting work-rate and concentration lapse.

Having been awoken from a relative slumber, Wotton raised their game and scored a sixth goal as Chevin completed his hat-trick.

The final whistle went with Wotton on the attack.