1:00pm Sunday 29th November 2009
Badsey Rangers u12s 1, Bredon Colts u12s 0.
BADSEY Rangers had the first chance in this Ambassador Cup first round clash when Matthew Knight broke free to shoot wide.
After a goalless first period, the second-half opened with Badsey on top and the pressure paid off when a Bredon handball in the box resulted in a penalty to Rangers.
The cool Nathan Bolland stroked the ball home.
Badsey could have extended their lead when first Tom Benfield shot just wide and moments later Danny Evans burst through to shoot narrowly wide.
Jordan Nailor had a great chance but it was well-saved by the Bredon keeper, then Ryan Attwood clipped the bar.
The last 10 minutes belonged to Bredon as they put pressure on the Rangers goal. But defensive rock James Spencer, kept them at bay.
Josh Mann also pulled off two great saves near the end. Bidford u14s 3, Welland Junior Colts u14s 0.
POOL ‘B’ outfit Welland Juniors travelled to the Big Meadow for this Ambassador Evesham League Cup first round encounter. It was Welland who started the match in determined mood, keen to upset the league rankings.
On 10 minutes, Bidford made the breakthrough with Liam Connolly presenting a perfectly weighted through-ball for James Mudie to round the Welland keeper.
A second goal soon followed for the home side after superb work in the midfield from Joe Denham and Alex Grant, who found Mudie and he completed his brace.
Half-time saw Bidford make personnel changes with Ryan Woods and Ollie Bladen leading the frontline and Luke Allman strengthened the midfield, while Josh Edkins resumed his postion in the centre of defence.
The match was finally closed out by Connolly 10 minutes from time when he glanced home a Woods corner to grab his side’s third.
Broadway United u15s 3, Badsey Rangers u15s 0.
THE early exchanges saw chances created at both ends with Broadway going close in the first minute and Badsey responded with an effort from Jack Milward, which was smothered by the Broadway keeper.
The hosts took the lead on the quarter-hour when Ben Hoskins netted from 20 yards.
But this seemed to galvanise Badsey and the next 15 minutes saw a midfield battle develop with few clear chances at either end.
The second-half started well for Badsey, as they forced two early corners, the second of which resulted in Milward going close at the far-post.
Broadway batted back and extended their lead when Hoskins netted his second after the Badsey defence failed to clear a long cross.
In Badsey’s midfield, Tom Collins and the tireless Spiers worked hard but a third Broadway goal saw Hoskins complete his hat-trick.
Badsey dominated the final few minutes of the match but failed to score.
Droitwich Spa Hawks u12s 0, Pershore Town u12s 2.
MELLISH was standing in for Pershore’s usual keeper Goode in this Ambassador League Cup tie and kept a clean sheet. Pershore dominated from the start with McIlvenney’s early shot going wide.
Five minutes later he found the back of the net only to be ruled offside. Constant forward pressure saw Pershore win a corner on 15 minutes.
Barnett curled straight into the goal for a well-deserved early lead.
Droitwich battled to get into the game and robust challenges caused minor injuries to Courts and Edney.
Just before half-time Driskell went for a run down the left, jinked past Thomas and Phillips only to hit a harmless cross which Parsons cleared easily.
Stand-in manager Paul Smith’s half-time talk did the trick and within the first five minutes, Shepherd’s long throw was flicked on by Barnett to McIlvenney, who squared to Kimberley to shoot into an empty net.
Hill and Thomas were winning everything in midfield before McIlvenney had another goal disallowed for offside.
Mellish cleared a cross from Deehan as Droitwich pushed for a consolation.
Phillips and Parsons won all the long hopeful balls as Pershore hunted more goals. With two minutes to go, Driskell broke through but, with Mellish advancing menacingly, he shot wide.
Evesham United Robins u12s 2, Sheppey Swifts u12s 3.
TWO goals in the opening 10 minutes from midfielder Sam Brookes helped Sheppey Swifts to a first round cup victory over nearest rivals Evesham.
But they had to overcome a spirited fightback from the Robins who netted twice in the last five minutes to set up a nail-biting finale.
The game was just eight minutes old when Brookes latched onto a loose ball on the edge of the box to volley left-footed into the corner of the net.
Ninety seconds later, a quick break by the Swifts saw Cavan Ryan thread a neat ball into the path of Brookes who fired home from six yards.
Sheppey dominated most of the first-half and went close to extending their lead with efforts from lively striker Ollie Brothwood just off target.
But minutes before the break they were grateful for Joe Sandham’s goal-line clearance and a full-stretch save from keeper Josh Rogers as Evesham looked to cut the deficit.
In the second-half, and with the wind behind them, Evesham pressed in search of a goal but they couldn’t break Sheppey’s resolute defence.
Midway through the half, Sheppey looked to have sealed the win when Brookes’ pass found Ryan, who neatly found the net at the second attempt after his first shot was stopped by a defender.
But Evesham finally got reward for their effort with late goals from Ben Jinks and Ben Coley to set up a thrilling end to this cup tie.
St Mark Dragon’s u11s 9, Evesham United Robins u11s 0.
EVESHAM Robins’ three-and-a-half year unbeaten league record finally ended in spectacular fashion. St Marks won the toss and played with a strong wind behind their backs and peppered Evesham’s goal and the visitors had no answer going into the break 6-0 down. In the second-half, Evesham now had the wind behind them but couldn’t get their shots on target.
But they had to contend with being second best with St Marks scoring three more in the late stages of the match to complete a miserable defeat.
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