Littleton 0-2 Boldmere St. Michaels Reserves
The Mikes reserves made the an early morning start for a 1.30pm kick off to Littleton a small village in the shadow of Evesham, where they was met by very hospitable club officials with a neat little ground and a good playing surface, the only issue to Mikes was the late appearance of a vehicle using Irish SatNav equipment that took them to Warwick and only arrived 15 minutes before kick off (Andre you plonker!). Mikes with a reduced squad to select from due to the early start, holidays, work commitments and injury to leading scorer John Williams had Roland Agbor and Andre Calder back from injury to compensate.
The game opened up with Mikes dominating possession and territory, but finding difficulty in breaking down a well drilled defence, Agbor was a constant thorn in the side of the home defence and opened them up on several occasions but Mikes struggling to make the most of the half opportunities that came their way, another great piece of play set Tom Clews free for a one on one with the keeper but he put the best opportunity of the half wide of the post. Mikes first corner of the game on 35 minutes by John Rutter, created havoc in the home defence but Littleton scrambled the ball away, but only as far as Rutter who nutmegged two players and chipped the keeper from 30yards into the top corner of the net with his right foot (well that’s his version, anyway)!!!! Littleton made several long ball breaks over the high line Mikes defence during the first half, but the outstanding central defensive partnership of youth team player Shane Maydhew and Calder mopped up any problems with their extra pace. Club skipper Tom Stephenson attempting to get some much needed match fitness back after a long injury was an awesome presence in the centre of Mikes midfield, and was the start point for all the good attacking moves to the pacy attack.
HT Littleton 0 v 1 Mikes Reserves
Littleton came out for the second half having been fed raw meet during the interval, as the young Mikes got kicked from pillar to post, Striker Clews almost lost his head with a vicious elbow attack form the determined defence that should have resulted in a straight red card, Stephenson got fouled every time he went near the ball, we had a conservative estimate that Stephenson gained the Mikes at least 25 fouls, and the home team contributed at least 60 fouls in all during the game. Mikes temperament was being tested to the full by the locals, and with little protection from the referee, Mikes right sided pairing of Lyndon Weller and Jack Brown took exception to the over physical nature that was being handed to them and “competed” for two tackles within a second of one another that left two of the home team lying in distress, this flash point ended with amazingly two of the home side being cautioned but one metre high Kevin Buxton being substituted by the Mikes due to damage to his eye and nose! Mikes continued to control the stop/start game and Weller finished the home side off with a smart finish from an acute angle. Clews failed to hit the target with another one on one with the keeper and Jamal Fuller had a glorious opportunity with header late on that went over the bar. This was a game of good experience for the young Mikes who stood up to the physical side of the game and kept their composure during at times a stormy cup encounter.
FT Littleton 0 v 2 Mikes Reserves
Man of the Match – Tom Stephenson
Footnote 1 – Thank you kindly to Littleton for the smashing hospitality, we really enjoyed our visit and genuinely wish you well for the rest of the season.
