Sat. 12th Jan. Hellenic League Premier. Malevern Town 2 Westbury United 0
Westbury’s long unbeaten run unfortunately came to an end away at Malvern Town. In difficult windy conditions, the home side put in a disciplined and resolute performance to see out a 2-0 win.
Looking to make it 18 unbeaten in all competitions, Westbury only made two changes from the side that thumped Chipping Sodbury 6-1 a week before, with Will Thomson coming in for Ashton Shanley, and Mark Bowden coming in for the absent Ed Baldy.
The early action saw a couple of chances fall to either side. First, skipper Dan Price was called to clear an effort off the line, and then at the other end Callum Demkiv headed over at the back post. Malvern looked as though they were more comfortable on their home artificial surface, and took the lead on 16 minutes when their striker broke through and unselfishly squared to his teammate to tap home.
A few half chances followed for both sides, with Westbury continuing to look threatening at their throw-in and corner set pieces. However the second goal of the match again went the home side’s way. Following a corner to Malvern that was cleared off the line, a goalmouth scramble followed with finally their striker bundling home.
At half-time and with the mountain to climb, Westbury were forced to make a substitute. Ron Frost was taken off after still feeling the effects of a nasty tackle the week before against Sodbury, and replaced with the playmaker Ashton Shanley.
Westbury were brighter in the second half with more possession, but struggled to break down the block that the home side had created to protect their two goal lead. Sammy Jordan and Harvey Flippance both forced good saves from Malvern’s goalkeeper. At the other end Mark made a couple of quality saves, and was almost beaten by a 30 yard strike that clipped the top of the crossbar on its way over.
Player-manager Ricky Hulbert came on and immediately put himself about in his usual fashion, winning multiple corners in the process. With one corner resulting in Pricey, Tommo, and Harvey all going close to getting a goal back. The ever-reliable Stevie Hulbert made two last-ditch tackles to keep the score at 2-0, but Westbury couldn’t quite put the combination play together to make any more clear chances, with the game filtering out to a home victory.
In positive news, Ryan Bole made his long-awaited return from injury, and will be a valuable part of the side if he can stay fit for the run-in.
Next up is a home match vs Chipping Sodbury on Tuesday night (15th Feb), where the White Horsemen look to get back to winning ways and catch up with the other sides who overtook them in the table.
