Good afternoon Panthers fans, a great day of football on grass at the Shelfield Academy today. The Panthers lads really rolled up their sleeves, battled hard and did the watching crowd proud today, in a barnstorming cup competition, well done all!
Beechdale
After a tight match the last time around, in all honesty Panthers dominated proceedings today. Panthers got off to a tough start though, conceding Beechdale’s only goal after failing to clear lines efficiently. Panthers responded immediately, with Joshua executing a neat Cruyff turn past two players with a great run, followed by a great cross made by Ritchie, with the goal gaping. Panthers then applied real pressure camping out in Beechdale’s half. Ritchie then hit the post hitting the ball with his weaker foot. Wyrley then turned the screw with three dangerous corners from Joshua in quick succession, with Ryan and Willo making a real nuisance of themselves in and around the box all half. The pressure paid off finally as Beechdale failed to clear, Ritchie scored a wonderful left footed strike, giving Panthers a deserved equaliser. Ryan was replaced by Reece who was also really unlucky not to score. Frazer came on in the second half, defending well and holding his position superbly. Wyrley continued the second half as they ended the first, with real territorial pressure from a series of dangerous Joshua corners. Again, this pressure told as Beechdale failed to clear these corners and Joshua capitalised from a tight angle via a deflection off a Beechdale defender to make it two one. Willo also came close with a brave header. Now, enter the man of the match, Wyrley keeper Vinnie Jones. Beechdale desperate to get an equaliser, pressed forward and shot from distance for Vinnie to save and gather well. He also kicked superbly adding to the territorial advantage that Wyrley had over Beechdale. Then came the deciding point in this match, Willo who had been all over the pitch today working superbly, was penalised for handball, the ref giving a penalty in the dying minutes. Beechdale’s number 3 struck it hard and into the centre of the goal and Vinnie parried it superbly and narrowed the angle bravely on the rebound to ensure Beechdale missed. The final whistle then went, giving Wyrely a deserved victory.
Midlands Soccer Academy
A pulsating game and truly one of two halves. The first half, sadly for Panthers belonged squarely with MSA. MSA caught Wyrley attacking on two dangerous counter attacks with the MSA players finishing superbly for a two nil lead. A further crisp finish combined with an excellent free kick made it four nil. Some tough tackles flew in throughout the whole half,pushing Wyrley back further. Then Wyrley made the watching parents proud with a rousing and spirited comeback, which on another day would have lead to victory. Ryan lead the charge with a lovely direct run and shot which hit the post for man of the match Ritchie to grab his second goal of the day. The second half started and Willo and Ritchie took a grip of the midfield pushing MSA back, with Ryan dangerous throughout the game. MSA then scored a controversial fifth with Vinnie Jones still on the floor after a nasty collision, MSA scored with the goal allowed to stand. This spurred Wyrley on further, Joshua on as a second half substitute scored Wyrley’s second with a great run and long range shot to make it 5-2. Credit also goes to Frazer who again held his position well repelling the few MSA attacks in the second half. Willo then scored a deserved third after more pressure rounding off a good performance from him. Joshua came close with two free kicks, with Ryan and Reece also coming close. MSA were relieved to hear the final whistle and any watching neutral would have been spellbound with Wyrley’s fight back. Well done lads, you made us all proud today!!
Beechdale 1 Wyrley Panthers 2
Goals Ritchie/Joshua
MoM Vinnie Jones
MSA 5 Wyrley Panthers 3
Goals Ritchie/Willo/Joshua
MoM Ritchie
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