Welton continued their assault on an unprecedented quadruple today with a very forgettable 1-0 Victory over lowly FVA Jerusalem.
Welton ground out the victory on a shocking pitch against a determined Jerusalem with the only goal of the game coming from the penalty spot when Sam Gordon converted after Luke Clifford had been unceremoniously brought down by the Jerusalem goalkeeper.
Big Al again shuffled his hand for todays game reverting to a surprising 4-5-1 formation with Rick Ossai in the sticks protected by a back four of Taylor on the left, Snookes and Chesman in the middle and fan favourite Will Carter being reinstated in his beloved right back role replacing Jaz Dhindsa. Across the middle were Clifford L on the left, Gordon on the right and a central trio of Stocks, S Clifford and Craig Wilkinson came back into the side to replace the injured Tom Wilkinson. Scott Coupland was left to plough the lone furrow up front. On the bench were the unfortunate Drabble, Tom Bowey and Rash.
Welton started the game the brighter of the sides and created the first real chance when good work by Gordon down the right saw the ball arrive at the feet of Luke Clifford. Weltons leading scorer chose not to take a shot from 20 yards out on his left foot but instead opted to turn back inside onto his right, This allowed Jerusalems rear guard to regroup and Clifford could only drag his shot wide of the keepers right hand post.
Welton never looked at their fluent best though and were creating very little in the tricky conditions. A frustrating first half hour was then played out with very few chances to speak of as both defences were firmly in command. During this time three Jerusalem players were yellow carded for needles back chat.
Welton eventually made the breakthrough when a move of rare quality saw Luke Clifford dart forward through the middle. Clifford knocked the ball past the advancing goalkeeper who hacked Clifford to the ground leaving the referee with no choice but to point to the spot and give the keeper a yellow card.
Up stepped Sam Gordon to take the penalty despite fierce complaints from Grandad Clifford who had earlier labeled Gordon a wazzock. Gordon soon made a believer out of Grandad though as he sent the keeper the wrong way and slotted his spot kick home off the post low to his left.
This goal should have spurred Welton into life but the first half continued to be a scrappy affair with Welton never really creating anything up front as Weltons midfielders struggled to get forward to support Coupland.
Things almost got even worse for Welton when had it not been for brilliant defending from Will Carter Jerusalem could have gone in at half time with a deserved equalizer.
A ball over the top from Luke Forbes sent Jonny Bell through one on one with Ossai. The former Lincoln City forward scuffed his shot past Ossai towards the empty net only to be denied by a trademark goal line clearance from the impressive Carter. Carter slid in and kept the ball out although replays show that some of the ball may have crossed the line.
Half time o-1
Welton improved slightly in the second half but still looked far from their best. Welton wasted a host of opportunities with the entire attacking quartet guilty of squandering decent opportunities.
The Welton management had seen enough and midway through the second half they reverted to last weeks 4-4-2 formation and James Drabble came on up top to replace Craig Wilkinson. Social started to create a few more clear cut chances as the hosts pushed on to try and get the equalizer and had it not been for several good saves from the keeper Welton would have put a bit more of a gloss on the final score.
Jerusalems keeper made two excellent saves firstly from a Drabble header and moments later the Jerusalem stopper dived low to his right to deny an excellent effort from Simon Clifford.
Jerusalem still looked threatening going forward with Weltons midfield men at times guilty of not tracking back and had it not been for the excellent Welton back four the Socialites would not have left Skellingthorpe with their vital three points. Despite their lack of quality going forward Welton were determined not to concede and through their bodies in the way of absolutely everything and headed away any aerial threat thrown at their goal.
The only other action of note saw Tom Bowey come on to start his eventful day replaceing Luke Clifford and the cult hero did himself no harm in his quest for regular first team football putting in a responsible shift on the right wing.
Weltons management team will take great heart at the way their players dug deep to grind out a clean sheet and earn themselves a precious three points but they must know that they need to improve next week for the arrival of Queen Bess in the hotly anticipated County Cup quarter final.
Final score FVA Jerusalem 0 – 1 Welton S&SC
Match Ratings
Ossai (7) kicking was hit and miss but made some decent saves.
Taylor (9) looked comfortable at left back.
Chesman (9) looks like a great bit of business. Very strong
Snookes (9) solid as a rock
Carter (9) vintage performance at right back
Stocks (7) scoring run is over. Battled well
C Wilkinson (7) Battled hard in the midfield bog.
S Clifford (7) unlucky not to score.
Clifford L (7) won penalty, Shouldn’t go out on a Saturday night!
Gordon (7) scored the vital penalty
Coupland (7) struggled in lone striker role. Never stopped running though.
SUBS
Drabble (7) added power to the attack
Bowey (7) a different problem for the opposition defenders.
Paceys bonus points
S Clifford ***
Snookes **
Carter *
Can we have you?
Difficult one this week. No real stand out players just a hardworking side who belied their lowly league position to cause Welton a real scare.
You’re Not very good!
The pitch was more suitable for grazing cows rather than playing football on.