Second half revival brings three goals and three points for USW Men’s 1st

by Ethan Harris

USW Men’s 1^st 3 – 0 Chichester Men’s 1^st

Date: Wednesday, November 22^nd 2017

Venue: USW Sport Park, Treforest

The University of South Wales kicked off a scrappy first half against Chichester University, with the home side having the better of the chances during the first period, despite what appeared to be an evenly matched affair.

The first chance fell to Sam Jones, when Ellis Bellamy cleverly beat his man down the left-hand side in the 21^st minute, working his way into the box to float a cross into the area. Jones leapt brilliantly to beat his man to the ball in the air, but watched in agony as he saw his headed effort flash just wide of the right post.

Only moments later, Jones found himself involved again when USW hit Chichester on a lightning fast counter after clearing a free kick to the away side. A long-grounded clearance slipped through the defence, and the pace of Jones was simply too much for the last line to handle.

Jones bore down on the goal with determination, but again was unable to find the net after a superb acrobatic save from a resilient Chichester stopper, who had not been called into action much throughout the first period, but his heroics meant that the sides went into the half on level terms.

The second half saw a gritty and tenacious USW side emerge, characteristics that were on full display when in the 50^th minute of play, Louis Gerrard’s exquisite piece of individual play found Kane Owen in the attacking third, and he was able to slot in Ellis Bellamy.

The USW winger tempted his defender with his back turned to the goal, but a slick piece of movement gave him the space he needed, and he made no mistake as his left-footed strike fired the home side into the lead.

Dane Griffiths was promptly substituted not long after the goal, which saw Louis Gerrard placed up front for USW, a move which greatly paid off for Steve Savage’s men, when in the 63^rd minute of play the top goal scorer found himself back to his old habits.

Miles John executed a stubborn piece of play as he refused to let the ball leave the field, narrowly keeping the ball the right side of the line with the ball falling once more to Ellis Bellamy’s feet, a stand-out player in the encounter.

Bellamy then fizzed a low cross into the path of Gerrard, who composed himself before slotting the ball past an outstretched Chichester defence and into the bottom right corner, doubling the host’s advantage.

The game began to slip away from Chichester, who found themselves even further behind in the 77^th minute after another strong piece of counter attacking football from USW. Louis Gerrard picked up a long clearance on the right side of the box, before switching the ball to an eagerly waiting Sam Jones on the opposite side of the field.

The USW man looked at his options, before driving hard and giving his defender the slip, and clinically smashing an effort into the right side of the net, much to the despair of the Chichester stopper, and putting the game out of sight.

Manager Steve Savage will no doubt be thrilled to see his side come away with three points and an impressive performance, keeping the pressure on the top two sides in the table, Cardiff Met and Swansea University.