Not the most convincing of performances but a win’s a win!
The Jags winning run continued with six from six after a hard fought 3-1 win over St Joseph’s Colts in the Bilston Floodlit Cup. In a game that saw Pricey touch the ball only a handful of times, one of which was to pick the Colts only real effort on goal out of the net after the Jags defence failed to clear a hopeful ball over the top, the resulting free kick was well finished by the Colts forward and frustratingly leveled the tie mid way through the second half.
It took Wyrley 10 minutes to settle on the large Bilston Town pitch but soon found their superior passing game, a lot of the possession unfortunately came to nothing as St Joseph’s where happy to get everyone behind the ball and defend. When the Jags did break lines a combination of assured goalkeeping or squandered chances saw the tie still level after twenty minutes but a quality finish from a tight angle from Luke saw the Jags go in at half-time deservedly in the lead.
With a large squad in a unique experience playing under lights and a decent crowd in the stands despite cold November evening it was important to give all the lads some pitch time. Plenty of changes were made during the break which again saw the Jags having to settle back into the game and despite some hard work especially in midfield lead by man of the match Coops much of Wyrley’s endeavor came to nothing. When Wyrley then failed to finish St. Joseph’s off with a couple of clear cut chances the writing was on the wall, the break away equaliser and extra time beckoned.
In short the squad then received what can only be described as a ‘junior hairdryer’ during the short break as our standards and philosophy had temporarily disappeared. It worked as the 10 minutes of extra time was played mainly in and around the Colts 18 yard box. As did Wyrley, St. Joseph’s then conceded a free kick in a dangerous position which was neatly dispatched by Taylor to the back post and calmly met by Tank (Tom Leak) who smashed home his first goal for the team to relieve the building pressure of the looming penalties. Tank’s performances this season have been a revelation and this goal was very much deserved. Taylor found his touch again down the left moments into the second period of extra time, beautifully skipping to the bye line placing an inch perfect pass into the path of Louie who side footed home the third and decisive goal, the resulting celebration by Master Grice and the two Oli’s needs to be discussed further in private!
Job done and a place in the hat for round two, they say good sides win when not playing well, I hope this was a case in point.
Man of the Match, by far his best performance of the season so far, covered every blade! – Coops