Match Report by West Midlands Police

PSUK MATCH WEEK 2 - Match Report v Warwickshire Police.

The lads welcomed Warwickshire Police FC  to Tally Ho hoping to follow on from the impressive 4-0 win over Northampton Police.

In recent years Warwickshire Police had gained the upper hand winning the last 3 meetings in all competitions.

There was only 1 change from the starting line up from Northants with MoM Jamie Ash being unavailable for selection. This saw Jacob Cassidy fill his usual spot at left back.

The match kicked off and West Mids struggled to get a foot hold in the game. The pitch conditions were less than perfect which seemed to suite a young and enthusiastic Warks side.

24” minutes had gone when a good break and cross from Warks was delivered down the right. The cross fell right into the gap between out rushing keeper and back tracking defenders. Confusions at the back lead to neither defender or goal keeper clearing the ball and left a simple tap in for the Warwickshire striker. A very poor goal to concede.

24” 0-1

This set back seemed to spur West Mids into life and from then on grew into the game.

However 7 minutes later, Right midfielder Shum Iqbal was sin binned for 10 minutes and booked for alleged dissent 🟨.

So 31” gone 0-1 down and a man off the pitch, the lads were really up against it.

West Mids despite the odds against them began to play some attractive football. Captain Alex Brogan saw a deflected shot fall to winger Mo Ibrahim (Ibby) just inside the box. Finding himself in space he shot over the diving keeper towards the top corner. However his strike was rising to quickly and crashed into the top of the woodwork.

2 minutes later and West Mids were now on top and forcing the game. A fantastic turn and run by forward Jordan Featherstone saw his shot go just wide.

Shum was then re-introduced into the game for the remainder of the half.

HT 0-1

The second half kicked off and West Mids continued to press on. Striker Ryan Tanner went close but couldn’t connect the way he would have liked.

The next attack saw the ball fall to Shum on the edge of the area. Without hesitation Shum smashed the ball towards the Warwickshire goal. Slam! What a strike that was! Absolutely no chance for the Warwickshire keeper who didn’t even move. A fantastic finish into the top corner from Shum who very much redeemed himself from the earlier sin-bin.

48” Shum

1-1

West Mids didn’t stop there and created several more chances before Tanner turned on the style. A long ball found Tanner out on the left running at the Warks back line. Skinning the full back he cut inside and silked past another defender. Now one on one with the keeper but from a tight angle, Tanner didn’t have much goal to aim for. However he found the gap shooting high and with reverse bend he smashed the ball across the goal and into the top corner. An outstanding solo goal!

57” Tanner

2-1

Now with the lead West Mids grew even more confident but failed to convert several chances.

Tempers then began to rise with a few late and flying tackles going in. Tanner then flew into a challenge from nowhere like A380 coming into land. He can consider himself lucky with that one as everyone on the pitch thought it was a red card except the Ref.

A mix up in the Warwickshire defence then allowed Tanner to tap in the third.

79” Tanner

3-1

The game then cooled down and some good football was shown from West Mids. With 1 minute to go, Shum was played the ball down the right. With a quick step over and shift of the ball he absolutely skinned the Warks left back. He then whipped the ball in to the box with a waiting Liam Warden completely free and 2 yards out from goal. With the cross beating the keeper, Warden had the whole goal to aim at with no defenders near him. A certain goal for a player of his standard. Oh dear!

Miss of the season, maybe decade! Stooping his head, he managed to hit the bar and send it over for a goal kick, Wow!

FT 3-1

After the game an elated Player manager Reiss Jeavons stated:

“I am really really pleased with that performance tonight. We spoke about keeping it tight at the back before the game and I think we are improving.

I was pleased with our shape throughout the game and we are weathering storms against good opposition.

Going one down and then down to 10 men a couple of years ago I think we would have given up and threw the game.

It was an excellent display all over and we scored some cracking goals. To be honest at the end, we could have had six or seven.

We  need to keep working, improving  and grinding out results. I am very proud of the boys, let’s keep this going. It starts from here❤️🖤”

MoM was awarded to Shum Iqbal. 🥇