Boldmere travelled to Curdworth to take on previously unbeaten league leaders FC Concorde in a testing league encounter and came away with the spoils after an emphatic 0-4 victory.
The returning Steve Cullen replaced Rich Leighton in goals and Liam Hannon returned to the starting line up to replace the injured Aaron Humphries. Boldmere were a little light on numbers with 5 regulars missing. Greg Nattress and Tom Shakespeare were the substitutes.
Boldmere started very well and pressed the Concorde team in every area of the pitch. After 6 minutes the 'Bulldogs' took the lead. Chris Dawber won the ball in midfield and powered forward before releasing a slide rule pass towards Hannon, Hannon skilfully dummied the ball which ran into the path of James Duff just inside the left hand corner of the area, Duff advanced before curling a superb goal into the opposite corner rendering the Concorde keeper helpless... A great team goal 0-1. Boldmere would not let the Concorde team settle, with Brady and Dawber dominating the midfield battle with their passion and determination. Paul Davis was a tower of strength at the back, nullifying anything that Concorde had to offer. Michael Dossett, Craig Oates and Adam Mills were solid and along with the assured handling of Steve Cullen the back four was resolute.
Boldmere were now well on top and with both wide men James Duff and Chris O'Brien working tirelessly for the team and Liam Hannon and Rhys Coombes up top creating problems with their movement the 'Bulldogs increased their lead on 28 minutes. The ball was won and a long ball hit forward, Coombes won his header against the towering defender and flicked on and Duff found himself in the exact same position as he was for his first goal, this time he shaped to go across the keeper before drilling a low shot inside the near post.....0-2 another top finish. Boldmere were not finished there and on 37 minutes increased their lead further. Some excellent work from Hannon out wide on the right and some neat interplay between him and Brady ended with Hannon slotting in skipper Brady who finished with a low hard shot across the keeper and into the net....... Half time 0-3 to the 'Bulldogs'
Half time team talk was easy for the gaffer..... "dont get complacent, keep your shape, do what youve been doing, stay solid". This is exactly what Boldmere did. The whole team worked tirelessly in their roles. Concorde were starting to tire. On the few occassions they had decent possession they looked a good team, however, Boldmeres strong work ethic, tanacity and no little football ability never gave the Concorde team a sniff. When Concorde did threaten the outstanding man of the match Paul Davis and the ever reliable Mills dominated and snuffed out any danger along with Oates and Dossett at fullback. Cullen was hardly called upon, but what he did he did with confidence. On 55 minutes the hardworking Hannon was removed and replaced with Greg Nattress. This gave Boldmere another lift and they started to ask even more questions. Maybe the final ball could have been better at times and Boldmere wasted those opportunities to maybe increase their lead. On 69 minutes the gaffer pulled off youngster Coombes who had put in a 'very good shift' and dropped Nattress into midfield, with substitute Tom Shakespeare taking up the left side midfield position, Duff moved up front as a lone striker as Boldmere looked to consolidate their lead and close out the game.
Concorde were tiring more now and Boldmere were still looking a threat, with the speedy Duff causing problems up top and the grafting O'Brien and tenacious captain Brady combining well. With Dawber marshalling in the holding midfield role, every Boldmere player never stopped working for each other. On 71 minutes Boldmere added to their tally when the industrious Nattress tried to put through Brady, the defender got there first, but this did not stop Brady powering through his challenge to leave himself clean trough on goal. The keeper advanced but Brady drove through him with his shot which deflected high into the net.
Time for one more goal maybe? Brady lobbed a fantastic pass to the speedy O'Brien (pictured below) out wide right, his control was instant and he fired in a brilliant cross that the advancing Nattress just failed to finish after the defender just blocked his excellent effort.
Chris O'Brien
So no more goals and the final whistle went with the 'Bulldogs' glorious 0-4 victors! A deserved clean sheet and 4 goals to boot! Thats 7 wins on the trot now as the 'Bulldog' steam train gains momentum!
A fantastic display from every man that played, culminated with a fantastic team performance. Concorde were beaten for the first time in the league and were beaten well and toppled from their perch at the top. The result now means Boldmere climb to third in the table on goal difference only and on 16 points
Next week the 'Bulldogs' play their first home fixture of the season, a Adam Dauncy Cup QF tie against high flying FC Sportsmans. With players returning Boldmere will hope to build upon this performance in what will be a tough encounter................. Come on the 'BULLDOGS'!!
