Write up from Northamptonshire Police

Match Report – Staffordshire Police (A)

Venue: AFC Norton, Stoke-on-Trent

A squad of 14 made the two-hour journey north to face Staffordshire Police, with everyone showing great commitment by arranging duty changes and rushing to make the minibus. We have previously played Staffordshire whilst on Tour in Spain so we knew they were a strong side. We were confident this was going to be a good game. We set up with an attacking 4-3-3 formation hoping to utilise the wide pitch and use the pace and physicality we had in the chosen 11.

Starting XI

GK: Ewan Cox
RB: Harry Paul
CB: Lloyd Monger
CB: Adam Perch
LB: Aus Baller
CM: Prem Patel
CM: Luke Richardson
CAM: Adam Caulfield
RW: Greg Bennett (C)
ST: Ryan Dyer
LW: Louis Brandham

Subs: Ollie Sizer, Luke Ingham, Sam Donald

First Half

Staffordshire took the lead through a scrappy corner. Although the initial delivery was cleared, the loose ball fell to a player on the edge of the area whose effort took a wicked deflection and nestled into the bottom corner.

The hosts doubled their advantage after a through ball released their winger, who rounded Euan Cox before calmly rolling the ball into an empty net.

A dangerous cross into the box then allowed their striker to make it 3-0, before a fourth arrived via another deflected effort that looped into the top-left corner.

Half-time: Staffordshire Police 4-0 Northants Police

It wasn’t our best opening 45 minutes, and we played into Staffordshire’s strengths. Some tactical adjustments were made at the break with the aim of turning the game around.

Second Half

The response couldn’t have been better. Just two minutes after the restart, Ryan Dyer slipped a pass into Louis Brandham, who was brought down inside the penalty area. Dyer stepped up and, despite giving everyone a few nervous moments, converted from the spot to make it 4-1.

Five minutes later, Greg Bennett drove inside and threaded a superb pass through to Dyer. His initial effort was well saved, but he reacted quickest to somehow squeeze the rebound home from an almost impossible angle.

With the momentum firmly swinging our way, Staffordshire managed to halt the comeback when a slip at the back allowed them to race through and restore their three-goal advantage.

Northants refused to give in. A free-kick from around 35 yards was delivered into the box, where Ollie Sizer produced a clever backwards header to guide the ball beyond the goalkeeper and make it 5-3.

As we pushed hard for another goal, Staffordshire broke away on the counter to score a sixth.

The scoring wasn’t finished there. Ryan Dyer showed tremendous strength to shrug off two defenders before firing home at the goalkeeper’s near post to complete an excellent hat-trick.

Full-time: Staffordshire Police 6-4 Northants Police

While the final score suggests a comfortable home win, it doesn’t tell the full story. The second-half performance was full of character, intensity and quality. After a difficult first half, the lads showed great resilience to fight back and were unfortunate not to get more from the game.

Men of the Match

Adam Caulfield & Prem Patel

Both were outstanding in midfield, matching Staffordshire’s technically gifted players stride for stride and never stopping running.

Caulfield won so many aerial duels he’s quickly earning the nickname “Peter Crouch”. The only thing missing now is the Robot celebration when he finally gets on the scoresheet.

As for Prem… they say 70% of the Earth is covered by water—the other 30% was covered by Prem Patel on Thursday night.

Honourable mentions also go to Ewan Cox, who produced an outstanding performance in goal despite the scoreline, and Ryan Dyer, whose second-half hat-trick almost inspired an unlikely comeback.