Wellington Amateurs 1 v 1 Boldmere St Michael’s Reserves
After Saturday’s visit to Ellesmere, Boldmere Reserves travelled to Shropshire again to face newly promoted West Midland League Division 1 side Wellington Amateurs. Things got off to a bad start with debutant goalkeeper Paul Fryer pulling a muscle in the warm-up, meaning Rob Clarke started the game.
The game exploded into life in the first minute. Wellington Amateurs kicked off and attacked the Boldmere goal. The ball was cleared up the right flank to Jamel Fuller, who played in Mark Mason with a defence splitting pass. With the Amateurs back line totally sliced open, Mason unselfishly squared the ball across goal for Tom Clews to run the ball into the empty net.
The young Mikes more than proved a match for their more experienced opponents, creating a great chance when Jamel Fuller ran through one on one, but his low shot beat both goalkeeper and the far post. Kieran Robinson then smacked the post with a brilliant 30-yard free kick that beat the home keeper all ends up.
The home side came into the game as the half wore on, creating a few half chances but the half time whistle came with the Mikes still a goal to the good.
There were a number of changes at the break, with the home side starting at a distinctly higher pace. The young Mikes midfield were struggling to get the ball down on a lively bone-hard surface and were being overrun. Boldmere’s more experienced back line saw the Mikes retain a foothold in the game, looking dangerous on the break. However, Amateurs were well on top and it was no surprise when the equaliser came, a corner being powered home by a defender around the hour mark.
The Mikes still attempted to get the ball down, but were losing the midfield battle. A number of chances were spurned by the home side, with Clarke making several good saves to keep the things on level terms. However, Boldmere showed good fitness levels, getting more into the game in the last 10 minutes. They created some good situations, but wasted their best good chance to win the game, the home keeper making a decent save with his feet after the Mikes sliced through the home defence with their best passing move of the half.
Overall, the Mikes showed good character to stay in the game when it threatened to get away from them in the second half. It proved a valuable learning curve against a more experienced and physically strong side. The Mikes were dominant for the first 30 minutes and should have increased their lead. John Wilson commented that a fair reflection on chances would have been 9-6 to Wellington, but he’d have taken 1-1 before the game. The Mikes remain unbeaten in pre season, but will look for improvement in another testing fixture on Saturday, when they visit MFA side Oldbury United.
First Half: Rob Clarke, Tom Bayley, Steve White, Sean Henry-Williams, John Rutter, Jamel Fuller, Joe McGrath, Lee McCarthy, Keiran Robinson, Mark Mason, Tom Clews.
Second Half: Rob Clarke, Tom Bayley, Steve White (Tom Clews), Sean Henry-Williams, John Rutter, Jamel Fuller, Dominic Colson, Andrew Keighley, Luke Bradley, Mark Mason, Tom Clews (Nathan Whittingham – injured - Keiran Robinson).
