Bromsgrove Charity Cup Final
TS UNITS 2 v 1 Whychbold RBL Res
The UNITS took on Table Topping Whychbold RBL out of the Worcester league at Bromsgrove Sporting's ground in the Charity Cup Final
With only players playing in the previous rounds eligible we had 16 to choose from and gaffer Cuzer made some tough decisions lining up as follows:
Mala, Chinner, Lacey, Darbs, Barney, Coco, Baker, Ross, Pountney, Ashton & Taylor
Bench was Penna, Eggy, Jim, Turner & Marcus
After 2 cup final defeats in 2 seasons Cuzer shuffled the shape a little on a wide pitch and tried to encourage the UNITS to play football and stretch the play
The game initially was a battle but it soon became clear the UNITS held the edge in class and the game quickly flowed down the slope towards the Whychbold goal. Skipper Taylor did superbly well on 10 minutes to deftly skip between two centre halfs before firing narrowly over when only the keeper to beat
However 5 minutes later it was Taylor who put us ahead after some slick build up play the ball came to Paul in the box and he made no mistake shooting into the bottom corner
This settled the UNITS and the rest of the half was one way traffic with Mala a spectator in the UNITS goal
Pountney did well to beat his man and cross low only for Rossco to blaze over from 6 yards when he should have scored
Next Darbs had a couple of air shots in the box when a clearer contact would have found the goal
Ashton and Taylor again also went close as a shell shocked Wychbold had no answer to the UNITS movement in the final third
On the half hour mark we extended our lead to two when the Wychbold keeper made a right mess of a clearance, firing against his own player and the ball rebounding to Taylor who showed great composure to control the ball, set himself before sidefooting home from 20 yards into an unguarded net
We continued to press for the remainder of the half yet our achilles heel of not putting the ball in the net still haunted us as we couldn't add to the two goals
Half Time UNITS 2 v 0 Wychbold
The boys were in good spirits but focused at half time, we really should have been out of sight but you felt it would take something special for Whychbold to turn this around such was the UNITS dominance in the first 45
Now kicking down the slope Wychbold did improve early in the 2nd half but the UNITS back four was superb and still Mala had not had a shot to save. We still moved the ball well, Ashton having a shot blocked at the edge of the box and their keeper punching a corner from under the bar as the UNITS pressed for the killer 3rd goal
Shortly after Marcus replaced Ross with a shuffle in personnel but not shape
However the whole tie turned in a crazy 3 minute spell, firstly Taylor on a yellow went in for a challenge, was late and left the referee no option but to show him a second yellow leaving the UNITS down to 10 men. Cuzer re-shaped the side yet as we were re-grouping a harmless cross was dropped under no pressure by Mala and their striker prodded the ball home, game on!
This gave Wychbold a massive lift, their most dangerous ball was the long ball down the middle all night and this signaled the intention as they put ball after ball on us as Darbs and Barney were superb in heading away the majority
Ashton then got clattered and was helped from the pitch, Turner taking his place and shortly after Jim replaced Coco
It was now backs to the walls for the UNITS yet Mala only had one shot of note to save, pushing a deflected shot from 18 yards round the post
Wychbold sent their keeper up for a corner hoping for a grand finale and a chance to force extra time but it wasn't to be as the referee blew for full time and the UNITS finally banished their cup final hoodoo!
To a man the UNITS were excellent tonight, the first 45 was as good as we've been all season and again our lack of goals hampered us. In the 2nd half we showed real grit & determination to hang in there with 10 men and in true UNITS style we celebrated hard into the early hours
Man of the match could have gone to one of many but Chinner put in a faultless performance at full back and he got the nod
Cuzer
