Forest CFC vs. Wyrley Juniors

Result: Forest CFC 0 - Wyrley Juniors 7

Wyrley firmly in charge in the mud.

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Match Report

The conditions under which this game was played were quite simply atrocious. The pitch had a sea of churned up mud over most of its surface on which more rain fell as the game proceeded. In addition, players and spectators had to endure a bitterly cold wind.

The lack of a referee meant that a brave volunteer Leamore parent stepped into the breach.

Forest's record prior to this game was as dismal as the weather - they had lost all fourteen of their games played conceding 137 goals but scoring 22 in the process. Forest belied their record with a spirited start to the game which kept Wyrley at bay until the 20th minute when their defence was unlocked with a magnificent individual effort. Matthew Grendon collected the ball near the half-way line and then proceeded to dribble the ball through the Forest defence and the glutinous mud into the penalty area where he scored at the near post.

Within a minute, Wyrley went further ahead when Edward Marrocco slid a defence-splitting pass through the Forest defence for Thomas Evans who kept his composure and put the ball past Jade Barnes in the Forest goal.

Having scored Wyrley's second, Thomas Evans then contributed to their third on 28 minutes after he dribbled the ball into the Forest penalty box and unselfishly passed the ball to Luke Brown who made no mistake from close range.

Five minutes later, Wyrley forced a succession of corners from one of which Luke Brown climbed head and shoulders above everyone else to head home to make the score 0-4.

As they had done the week before against Leamore, Wyrley had wrapped up the game before half-time but not before Shaun Nicholls - on for the injured Matthew Grendon - had scored Wyrley's fifth when he slotted home after the ball fell to him from yet another Wyrley corner.

Half-time: Forest 0 - Wyrley 5

Wyrley's rotated substitutes every 10 minutes throughout the second half in order to prevent their wet and cold substitutes from succumbing to exposure. While this gave some players the opportunity to practise their skills in different positions, it also disrupted Wyrley's rythmn and possibly prevented the margin of victory being even greater. However, tired legs and increasingly deteriorating conditions contributed to a succession of missed chances.

Nevertheless, Wyrley managed to score two more goals in the second period. The first of these came on 55 minutes when Thomas Evans scored his well-deserved second goal and Wyrley's sixth. This was followed 10 minutes later when Edward Marrocco scored his first goal of the season and Wyrley's seventh when he collected a ball from Shaun Nicholls and hit a low hard shot which the Forest keeper was unable to hold.

What the scoreline does not tell was how hard Wyrley battled for their clean sheet. Despite being profligate in defence, Forest were cavalier in attack. At times the battle to keep Forest at bay resembled scenes from the Somme as players fell and slid in the mud. Jason Dennerley and Karl Deeley slid in with heroic last-ditch tackles which robbed Forest of chances at goal and Luke Moseley and Adam Nicholls scrapped and battled for the ball as though their lives depended on it.

Wyrley were physical when required but retained their composure when it mattered and continued to persevere with a game built around short passes and building play from the back particularly through the midfield of Simon Casserley, Edward Marrocco, Jordan Clarke, Matthew Grendon and Shaun Nicholls.

In the midst of the euphoria over Wyrley's eighth win in ten games, one couldn't help but feel more than a certain amount of respect for a Forest side that have battled through the season having lost all fifteen games played and having conceded 144 goals in the process and yet who continue to turn up week after week to play football.

However, any sympathy and admiration that one might have felt towards Forest was nothing in comparison to that felt for the person with the job of washing the kit.

Full-time: Forest 0 - Wyrley 7

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