Wickham 3 - 2 Wroughton (Karl, Josh, William)
Wickham 3 - 0 Wroughton (Karl 2, Josh)
With two weekends on the trot of no PHYL matches, Sunday saw the first weekend of friendly matches against North Wilts West Division sides. Wroughton easily won this Division so a close game was expected.
Match 43
Wickham experimented at the start with Josh playing at the back & Lewis Carter in midfield. Initially this seemed to work as Wickham dominated the first 4 minutes, however in Wroughton's first attack the ball was angled across Ben and into the far corner of the goal. It was now Wroughton who pressed forwards with the aid of the wind and Wickham found it difficult to clear their lines. Aiden came on for Lewis and Josh return to midfield but Wickham still had few attacks. As the half slipped into injury time William won the ball in midfield and sent Jordan away down the left. He drew the last defender and keeper before sliding the ball across the goal to an unmarked Karl to tap in for 1-1.
From the centre Wickham kicked the ball out for a goal kick. The keeper could only find William in the centre circle, who then looked up and chipped the keeper for 2-1. Midway through the half the best move of the game saw Wickham score again. A defensive throw-in was taken by William to Aiden. Aiden fired the ball towards both Josh and Lewis H; as they split, Josh took control of the ball flicking it over the defender before drawing the keeper to score. It was mostly Wickham pressure but with a minute to go Wroughton broke out and seemed certain to score. Two fine saves by Ben initially denied them the opportunity but the ball was eventually forced home. Wickham held on for the slim 3-2 victory which could, and should have been better than that.
Ben Grey, Jack Moore, Josh Way, Lewis Carter, Karl Admans, William Herrington, Jordan Burnett.
Subs:- Aiden Weeks, Declan Hess, Thomas Philips, Neil Edwards, Lewis Holborn
Match 44
With Wickham again playing the first half against the wind, it was all Wroughton pressure. The visitors could not believe their luck as Ben made four saves in quick succession, stopping the final chance just in front of the line. Neil replaced Thomas midway through the half but this had no effect. Jack picked up an injury and was replaced by Aiden but the Wickham defence remained strong. Wickham hardly had an attack worthy of the name, until, in the last minute, Jordan raced clear of the defence only to poke the ball wide of the goal. From the resulting goal kick Karl intercepted the ball and hit what could only be described as a back pass which somehow went under the keeper and into the net for a half time lead of 1-0.
Jack came back on for Declan and Josh replaced Neil. Wroughton initially attacked hard looking for the equaliser but Ben was there to make the saves. A clearance then found Jordan who flicked the ball onto Josh. He remained strong under pressure going all the way through to score. With eight minutes gone Aiden, in an advanced role, collected the ball found Karl in the middle; he laid the ball out Josh on the right and continued his run in the middle. Josh drew the keeper only then to slide the ball into the middle where Karl was waiting (with Jordan) to slot the ball home. A free kick on the edge of the Wroughton area was the only other good chance which Wickham had, but they were worthy 3-0 winners.
There were a number of people who could have won the Player of the Day Award, however for a string of quick fire saves it went to Ben.
Ben Grey, Jack Moore, Declan Hess, Thomas Philips, Karl Admans, William Herrington, Jordan Burnett.
Subs:- Aiden Weeks, Josh Way, Lewis Carter, Neil Edwards, Lewis Holborn