Sholing0-1Evesham

Scorers : Washbourne 45

Date : Saturday 14th February 2015 - 3:00pm kick off - Evo-Stik League Southern, South & West Division 1

Sholing : Matt Brown, Kevin Brewster, Liam Golding, Pete Castle, Dan Miller, Alex Sawyer, Nick Watts (Jess Walklin 79), TJ Cuthbertson, Dan Mason (Tobi Adekunle 62), Barry Mason [c], Marv McLean.  Subs Not Used : Rory Anderson, Mike Byrne, Declan McCarthy

Yellow Card : 

Evesham United : Kevin Sawyer, Sean Wood, Will Wellon (Kevin Slack 21), Jared Wilson, Matt Sysum [c], Liam Harding, George Washbourne, Nick Stanley, Ashley Edenborough (Elliot Kennedy 76), Adam Mann, Lee Smith.  SubN Not Used: Ollie Knowles

Yellow Card :  Matt Sysum 27

Attendance : 119

Man of the Match :  Matt Brown

Referee :  James Vallance.  Assistants: Colin Hopkins & Derek Pratt

Evesham completed the double over the Boatmen with the same scoreline as earlier in the season.  However, where that win was controversial, today's was much more deserved.

Team News:  Jack Smith missed out with a knock, Kev Brewster went to right back, with TJ Cuthbertson moving to centre midfield.

Friday's rain was coped with ok by the Silverlake drainage, however a heavy downpour an hour before kick off left the surface very heavy and the pitch soon cut up towards the clubhouse end.  The visitors were in third place when the game kicked off and you could instantly see they were fired-up to stay or improve on that position by a flurry of early attacks.  On 9 minutes, the ball dropped to an Evesham player six yards out but he scooped it over the bar.  The pace & movement of Evesham was causing us problems and in quick succession, Matt Brown had to be at his best to firstly deny an effort at point blank range and then to tip a curling shot onto the bar.   Evesham were well on top, but a great ball by Dan Mason found Nick Watts running in on goal with only the keeper to beat, he tried to slide the ball down the side of the big stopper, but Kevin Sawyer got a hand to deflect it just past the post.

Sholing came back into the game with Marv Mclean having some joy taking on the visitors right back. On 34 minutes, Marv left him for dead and put over a great left foot cross to the far post which Nick Watts took on the volley, but once again he was denied by the keeper who this time tipped his effort over the bar.  From a corner, Kev Brewster found Barry Mason running towards the unguarded near post, but his stooping header flashed inches over the angle of the woodwork.  Evesham looked certain to score on 43 minutes, but somehow Matt Brown blocked a goalbound effort with a world class save.   As much as the visitors forward play deserved a goal, it was frustrating that when they finally did score, it was right on the stroke of half time and from a defensive mistake.  Liam Golding didn't get a man-on call and was dispossessed by the lively George Washbourne and he had all the space in the world to advance and curl and effort past Matt Brown.  HT 0-1

The second half started with Evesham still on top and after a move down the right wing, the ball was thumped against the post with the ball bouncing across the goal line before being cleared.  The game slowed right down from the frantic first half action as the heavy pitch started to sap the energy out of the players legs.  The constant drizzle didn't help the surface, which was cutting up quite badly in places. There was no lack of effort by the Sholing lads, but Evesham were strong in defence as they kept us from even getting into their penalty area for much of the half.   There were a couple of late corners to the Boatmen, but despite one scramble around the penalty spot, we failed to work the keeper.  FT 0-1

Photos by Ray Routledge (click an image to enlarge)