Wells Town Res 7-0 EAST HARLING RES Saturday 27th September A depleted and different looking Harling Res side made the long trip to the coast to face their toughest challenge of the season to date. Having been defeated the week before, avoiding a losing streak was not going to be easy. However, the conditions were surprisingly good for a coastal game with a flat pitch, low breeze and hot sun so it was game on. Best laid plans were quickly put to bed when in the 4th minute, a cross field pass was intercepted by the outstretched leg of stand-in centre back Iain Hamshaw but the ball ricochet into the path of a Wells striker. He managed to run on and, turning Ben Crone on the edge of the box, looped a shot over goalkeeper Ricky Davidge to make it 1-0 for the home side. The next twenty minutes saw Wells with the most of the ball, and the defence were having to work hard. Chances down each wing were minimal and drew little reward, whilst the midfield pairing of Shane Roten and Joe Feehan were struggling to get into the game as the home side pressed. Harling did find themselves with the ball in the Wells box on occasion but could not get a shot off. The visitors went 2-0 down on the 25th minute when a Wells player picked the ball up on the right wing, effortlessly passed at least three Harling players unchallenged and fired a low shot to Davidges left. Harling began to look flustered and began to make simple mistakes. Passes were in the air and not to feet, it seemed like the bounce of every ball was being misjudged and the control had gone from the players. The sheer determination and stubbornness of another stand-in centre back Ben Crone, who was made captain for the day, was the only real constant as he talked and tried to lift the Harling team, not just at 2-0 down but for the duration of the match. Half time came with Harling being 4-0 down conceding on the 40th minute after a low shot saved by Davidges left leg deflected straight to another Wells striker who took no time in smashing the ball into the roof of the net. The fourth was on the stroke of half-time. The half-time team talk was about trying to stem the flow of Wells goals and getting back to basics. Simple passes, winning headers and not giving up. One or two raised voices within the camp didnt help team morale and the team appeared to take to the field for the second half in low spirits. Sab Miah took over duties at right back from Charles Adams. The second half belonged once again to the home team. They ran the show up and down the pitch and netted a fifth after the left winger ran into the box, the ball then bounced around like a pinball as Harling tried to clear it but it fell to a Wells midfielder on the edge of the box who struck it home. Harling looked ragged, not helped by the fact that the players were starting to get goaded into banter with the Wells management team & bench. Josh Birleson got booked for pulling a players shirt, but the Wells player should have received his marching orders for his instance retaliation of hitting Birleson in the face as he was swung around, but this was missed by the referee. Tempers flared more when the Wells centre back went in firmly in one or two challenges before going in studs-up on Crone, who luckily pulled out of the challenge. The Wells bench seemed to think that if the ball was seven inches off the floor, it was acceptable to try to win the ball by going in studs up on another player. Regardless, Harling won the free kick but the game had slipped into little of a football match, more an opportunity for the Wells team to verbally batter their visitors on any occasion, even with the game sewn up at 5-0. Harling had two chances to score, one when Ryan Wheeler was put through into a one-on-one with the keeper but his final touch took him too wide, and another as the ball was cleared from a Harling corner into the path of the on-rushing Hamshaw, who struck a bullet shot from at least 25yards first time only to smash into the side of an unsuspecting Wells defenders head. Two more Wells goals followed on the 35th and 40th minutes of the second half, both from unchallenged headers from a corner and a free-kick. Thankfully the score was kept at 7-0 by an offside decision earlier in the second half. The final score was 7-0 to Wells capping a sorry afternoon for The Greens. Man of the match for Harling was without doubt Ben Crone, who talked, commanded, ran and battle for the whole game with the kind of passion this club is looking for. This was a bruising game in more ways than one. Aside from the scoreline, there is a lot for the management team to think about ahead of the next game, once again away. Unavailability hit the team hard yet again this week, with an unacceptable 31 players from the squad not available to play and this will be addressed. It is a shame that the team came up against the strongest side Wells have fielded this season. They look like a well run outfit, with a very strong squad to pick from if this is the level of their reserve team, good facilities and a great pitch. However they were let down by the conduct of their pitch-side staff and players who displayed an ugly level of abuse, language and professionalism during the game and a total disrespect for the our players, individually and as a unit. Lessons learned, we move on.
Posted on: Fri, 03 Oct 2014 20:29:19 +0000