Wyrley Juniors vs. Leamore Boys

Result: Wyrley Juniors 2 - Leamore Boys 1

Leamore prove to be a tough nut to crack

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Match Report

This match was expected to be close after the last meeting between these two sides ended all-square and goalless - and close it was with the result hanging in the balance right up to the final whistle.

Two clear-cut chances fell to Jordan Clarke within the first 15 minutes. Jordan was put through on the left on 9 minutes from a pass from Thomas Evans and shot wide with the keeper closing in; then on 15 minutes, Jordan got onto the end of an excellent cross from Richard Bullock to bring out a good save from Aaron Allcock in the Leamore goal.

Despite Wyrley's early chances, it was Leamore who got their noses in front on 18 minutes when Wyrley were unable to deal with a high hanging corner which seemed to hover over Mark Biddulph's far post before dropping into a melee of players where the ball bounced around until prodded home by Leamore's Matthew Hacker - with the Wyrley players claiming a handball.

Wyrley responded with a couple of efforts from long-range, before getting the equaliser on 32 minutes when Richard Bullock showed real composure to ride two tackles while dribbling the ball into the box before crossing low to the far post where Jordan Clarke was waiting to despatch the ball into the net.

Leamore responded immediately with two attempts on goal which brought out good saves from Mark Biddulph - the first after Jason Dennerley slipped on the soft surface, and the second from a free kick.

However, Wyrley had a golden opportunity to put theselves in front before the break when Jordan Clarke got free on the left and put a perfect cross into the box where first Thomas Evans and then Richard Bullock had close-range shots blocked by the impressive Aaron Allcock in the Leamore goal.

Half-time: Wyrley 1 - Leamore 1

Wyrley made their intentions clear right from the start when Matthew Anstey charged down a Leamore clearance, played the ball out to Jordan Clarke at the far post who in turn laid the ball inside for Jaffa but his shot went just wide.

The second half was characterised by an initial period in which neither team managed to establish the dominance of midfield and the game flowed from end to end.

This gave the Wyrley defence plenty to do to contain a lively Leamore attack but the partnership of Jason Dennerley and Todd Wootton at the heart of the defence, combined well with Luke Brown and Adam Nicholls across the back to keep Leamore's chances to a minimum.

Particularly impressive was Wyrley's ability to keep possession for extended periods in the Leamore half of the field. On one such occasion, Matthew Anstey ran at the Leamore defence, crossed the ball wide to Jordan Clarke on the left, from where the ball was worked back across field via Simon Casserley, Jaffa and Edward Marrocco to Richard Bullock on the right.

Wyrley worked hard to keep possession when they got it and battled to get it back when they lost it.

As the half wore on, Wyrley's workrate and level of fitness saw them exerting an increasing dominance on the game, and creating more chances in front of the Leamore goal.

The breakthrough came on the hour mark when Richard Bullock curled an inch-perfect pass to the feet of Matthew Anstey who had made a run through the Leamore defence. Matthew ran into the Leamore penalty area and pulled the ball back into the stride of Jaffa Mayer who held off the close attentions of the Leamore defenders to put the ball into the net to make the score 2-1.

Wyrley had to work hard to maintain their lead until the final whistle as Leamore came in search of an equaliser.

On 70 minutes, Mark Biddulph did well to hold onto a well-struck free kick. Then on two occasions in the dying minutes, Leamore came close to rescuing something from the game when they hit the bar twice. The first of these was direct from a free kick conceded for obstruction by Jason Dennerley. Then in the final minutes, Edward Marrocco pulled off an astonishing block on his own goal line to send the ball up onto the crossbar via a reflex save by Mark Biddulph after it seemed certain that Leamore must score.

But despite Leamore throwing everyone including the goalkeeper forward for a corner in the dying seconds of the game, Wyrley held on to claim all three points.

This was an important result in maintaining Wyrley's league position. Before the game, Leamore were sitting four points and two places above Wyrley in the table. The win means that Wyrley close the gap on Leamore to one point with Wyrley having three games in hand.

Full-time: Wyrley 2 - Leamore 1

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