Report by Robert Jones
USW Men’s 1st 3 – 3 Hartpury Men’s 1st
Date: Wednesday November 15, 2017 (14:00)
Venue: USW, Sport Park, Treforest
USW got the game underway and after a quiet first few minutes, Hartpury created a goal scoring opportunity which saw Ethan Moore miss a golden chance from nine yards out.
Steve Savage’s side responded well – Kane Owen delivered a perfect cross for Tom Holland who squandered the chance to put his side into the lead.
The game was a very tight affair with both sides looking dangerous. Hartpury were awarded a free-kick about twenty yards out which was struck by Sammie Hicks, but well saved down to the keeper’s right by Ashley Morris.
USW dealt with Hartpury’s attacks by piling on the pressure. The home side forced three consecutive corners and with the third, managed to capitalize on very poor defending from the visitors. Ellis Bellamy made the most of the chance by knocking the ball home from two yards out.
The home side, on the attack again, were awarded a dangerous free-kick, which Kane Owen stepped up to. It was a tantalizing ball for his team-mates but they couldn’t get the vital touch.
Hartpury responded less than two minutes later with a great finish from Sammie Hicks. The midfielder’s curling shot from the right side of the penalty area left Ashley Morris with no chance.
USW were unaffected by the equalizer, producing the best piece of play from the first half, which saw a great cross delivered into the path of Dane Griffiths. Griffiths took a brilliant touch and finished low in front of the on-rushing keeper, Harvey Rivers.
Hartpury again didn’t take the second goal lying down, and instead produced another excellent piece of play to even the score again at two a piece. The goal came when Ethan Moore picked up the ball on the edge of the USW box and calmly finished into the bottom right corner.
The second half saw USW slowly get the upper-hand and with their dominance came a great chance to go ahead for a third time. Ellis Bellamy made a run down the right hand side and played a through ball that got cut out but he was tripped after the pass. Louis Gerrard’s free-kick was skied high and wide over the crossbar, which was a disappointing outcome to what was a great chance.
Hartpury started to come more and more into the game and were looking extremely menacing going forward. Hayden Turner then put pay to some lacklustre defending from USW with a cross coming from Kingsford Agyei which fell to Turner, who turned and rifled home a stunning left-footed finish.
The game at this point was very much in the balance, with another goal looking possible at any minute. With the clock ticking down, USW needed a piece of brilliance from someone. That’s exactly what they got when Bellamy drifted passed a defender from 30 yards out and executed a screamer that left Harvey Rivers with no chance whatsoever.
Both teams were pushing for a winner but in the end a draw was the final and probably fairest result, and one that both managers were content with.
This was the reaction of USW’s Steve Savage, who spoke to Robert Jones and Ethan Harris:
Be the first to comment