Casuals and Pelham followed on from their County Cup win last week with a 4-0 victory in the league over Birchwood Rangers to get their first points of the season. Pelham needed to build on their performance from last weekend which was much improved from pre season but not quite at 100%. This is exactly what they did and produced a great performance with a big victory over a much improved Birchwood Rangers side from two seasons ago. Birchwood Rangers started the game strong and instantly came out the blocks. They created the first couple of half chances but nothing too major that really threatened the Pelham back five. With just 5 minutes on the clock it was Pelham who struck the first goal. Some good play from the away side worked the ball forwards which eventualy found its way to Joe White. He had a coup;e of stabs at goal which was blocked by the Birchwood defence but however the ball fell at the feet of Charlie Daniels who reacted quickest and pocked the ball into the bottom corner making it 1-0. Birchwood continued to press now in search of an equaliser but Pelham stood firm and aftr about 10 minutes or so the home side started to tire and the game opened up. This allowed Pelham to control the pace of the game and se majority of the ball. Birchwood Rangers didnt really create anything of any worth in the first half whereas shots from Charlie Daniels, Rob Parrish, Joe White and Dan Boyce all tested the home teams keeper. However no chances were put away and the first half would end 1-0 with a fairly even contested first half but of the two teams Pelham were definitely on top. As the second half kicked off Pelham knew that Birchwood Rangers would push hard again for the first ten minutes in search of an equaliser and that is exactly what happened. However this time they created much clearer chances which neither of the Rangers strikers could finish off. After three big chances which should have been put away, one of which was a bullet header from a freekick which Dan Monk did amazingly well to save and tip round the post, Pelham needed to get a hold back on the game and nip this in the bud quickly. Thankfully for the away side they scored their second goal just at the right time and against the run of play, which knocked the stuffing out of Rangers. With Birchwood on top Pelham managed to attack themselves and win a corner. Gavin Brace delivered the corner and it dropped in the box to Rob Parrish. After a bit of a melee in the area it came back off Parrish and in to the path of Haks who let fly and smashed the ball home into the top corner giving the keeper no chance. At 2-0 down and nothing to show for after their great work, Birchwood heads dropped and Pelham got back on the ball, dictating the pace of the game and continuing the good work of the first half. They created more and more chances and came close with a wonderful team move which Joe White just couldnt quite reach to finish off and close thrugh a Dan Boyce strike hitting the outside of the post. However Pelham soon wrapped the game up and their third goal came after a throw from Danny McGurk found Charlie Daniels in the corner of the pitch on the edge of the area. Daniels managed to turn the Rangers defender, take it round another and slip the ball past the keeper via a deflection scoring his second of the game and seventh in two games. The goals were rounded off with literally seconds left on the clock as a Dan Boyce clip throigh the defence found its way to Rob Parrish who hit the ball first time on the half volley and into the back of the net making it 4-0 and rounding the game off nicely. The final whistle went and Pelhams hard work was rewarded with a much deserved clean sheet and 4-0 victory. More improvements on last weekend boys, particularly in the first half but still more to work on. The 10-15 minute period in the second half had to be battled through and we rode our luck during that period at times, However we eventually managed to turn that around and get a control back on the game. unfortunately better teams will punish us in that period but that is literally the only thing that could have been better today. Talking and organisation was fantastic in the most part and some of the football today played on the floor was the best I have seen for a long time. Mick struggled again to pick a man of the match today with so many brilliant performances. Not one person had a bad game again today and although there were a few contenders Mick decided that this weeks man of the match goes to Dan Boyce. Still more to work on and improve boys and tougher tests await us this season, starting with Sawbo Brewery at home next Sunday!!
