West Midland Regional League

Premier Division

Saturday 26th January 2018
Shawbury United 3-4 Tividale

No Shaw thing in Ludlow

 
We have all heard of the hairdryer treatment in the confines of the dressing room. Well I reckon after this first half performance the normally mild mannered Boss Dave King would have used it.

After the Haughmond defeat the week before, King decided to revert to a back four with Dan Bryson and Ben Birch the centre backs. He then brought in Tom Hurdman at right back and Jamel Fuller at left back. Pushing Darragh Bustin and Brad Welding into wide midfield roles. He kept the normal three centre midfielders of Liam Wilkinson, Lee Smith and Reece Shilvock but using Shilvock in a more forward role supporting lone striker Demetri Brown.

After a first 10 minutes that could be kindly described as a stalemate and the rain getting heavier by the minute Tividale took the lead with their first meaningful attack. Birch sent Hurdman down the right flank and he pulled the ball back from the by-line and Shilvock swept the ball home. Normally at this point Tividale would carry on pressing and go hunting more goals but today they just seemed to put the hand brake on and sat back.

Shawbury needed no invitation to now get at the away side and on 26 minutes Brandon Tanomjit just failed to get on the end of a brilliant Sean Evans cross. A minute later Ben Salter tested Ryan Cheshire with a snap shot. Tividale’s next chance after the opening goal came in the 29th minute. Shawbury’s Harvey Pearce who had stuck like glue to Brown all half was adjudged to have fouled him and Welding whipped the free kick just over the bar. Brown was unlucky not to increase Tividale’s lead when he cashed in on a rare error by Pearce but although he beat Shawbury keeper Tom Delamare with his shot it hit the inside of the post and came out.

Throughout the half Tividale were still not hitting their straps and looked uncomfortable with the new formation and on 43 minutes they were even more uncomfortable. Shawbury full back Lance Titley lofted a ball into the Tividale area and somehow Cheshire and Hurdman under pressure from Evans made a complete mess of it with Cheshire palming the ball into the full back and they both could only watch the ball bounce into the net. Right on the stroke of half time the visitors had a chance to regain the lead. A Bustin free kick was met by Smith but although his header was on target Delamere was equal to it.

Half Time:- Shawbury United 1-1 Tividale

 
The body language of the management and coaching staff at the end of the half time interval as they came from the changing room told the story of what they thought of the first half peformance. They immediately reverted back to their regular formation with Hurdman going inside to a centre back position, Welding right wingback, Fuller left wingback and Bustin playing up front with Brown.

With the rain now lasing down on 50 minutes Cheshire did well to foil Evans at the second attempt. Shilvock then had to go off after 55 minutes with an injury and he was replaced by Alex Cameron. Seconds later a Welding corner caused panic in the Shawbury area but they cleared. On 57 minutes Cameron just failed to latch onto another Welding cross, Smith was there to turn it home but he was flagged offside.

Although there was a massive improvement in Tividale’s all round play, they fell behind in the 65th minute. Shawbury were awarded a free kick on the edge of the Tividale box and Evans stepped up and fired it shin high past the wall, beyond the outstretched arm of Cheshire and into the bottom corner of the net.

That was the spur the away side needed and they then threw off the shackles and went all out attack and on 69 minutes they were level. Bustin went on one of his trade mark runs, outpacing his marker, attacking the opposition centre backs and firing past Delamere and into the back of the net.

On 74 minutes Shawbury could have been back in it. With the conditions underfoot getting worse Hurdman slipped and let in Evans but again Cheshire did well to get to his shot. Three minutes later and Tividale were ahead again. Bustin again causing havoc but this time he pulled the back to Fuller who did not need a touch as he drilled home Tividale’s third. Tividale were now in rampant mode and on 79 minutes they extended their lead. Brown with the cross to the back post and there was Cameron with the thumping header from 8 yards giving Delamere no chance.

With a two goal cushion and moving into the last 10 minutes Tividale’s normally sound game management should have kicked in. But a short back pass from Birch to Cheshire in the 85th minute allowed Shawbury’s sub James Blenkinop to cash in and that led to a very nervy last few minutes. But in the end the second half performance was a massive improvement and credit to the management and players for turning it around.

Full Time:- Shawbury United 3-4 Tividale

Tividale Supporters Man of the Match – Jamel Fuller

Tividale:-1. Ryan Cheshire, 2. Tom Hurdman, 3. Jamel Fuller, 4. Ben Birch, 5. Dan Bryson. 6. Lee Smith, 7. Darragh Bustin, 8. Liam Wilkinson, 9. Reece Shilvock (15. Alex Cameron 55), 10. Demetri Brown, 11. Brad Welding (14. Freddie Watts 90).

Unused Substitutes:- 12. Elliott Hartley, 16. Harvey Walker, 17. Matthew Hunt.