WESTBURY were outstanding, scoring five past a good Oldland Abbotonian team on a very heavy pitch.
Oldland Abbotonians left the pitch inspection until as late as possible to make sure the game could be played, but even though the frost had thawed, the pitch was still borderline. The referee assessed that it was safe to play, but everyone could tell that it was going to be a muddy afternoon.
Westbury showed early on why they have conceded the least goals in the league this season, Oldland had a good period of possession but anything that came near the penalty area was quickly dealt with by the Westbury back four.
Westbury’s first chance fell to Jamie Jordan after a Grant Gunning throw was returned to Gunning. He delivered a cross which was defended, but only as far as Jordan Pinder on the edge of the box. Pinder passed to Jamie Jordan, but he fired his shot over the bar. A few minutes later, the Hulbert brothers combined, and it resulted in a strike on target by Steve, which was saved and then cleared out for a throw.
The opening goal came after only 7 minutes, Westbury Captain Dan Price stepped out of defence to win the ball with a good clearance from the middle of his own half, and the cleared ball was controlled by Mark Robinson on the edge of the penalty area. He passed it into Dan Kovacs who was lurking around the goal area. Kovacs applied a leisurely finish, which was too accurate for the goalkeeper to have any chance of stopping.
Oldland were playing some good football, especially considering the pitch, and were looking to get their wide men into the game as much as possible, but their first dangerous effort on goal came after a free kick in their own half was delivered towards the Westbury penalty area. There was some good play by the attackers and a low hard shot was smashed goalward, but Lewis Porter was more than equal to it, getting a strong hand down to his left to push the ball wide for a corner. The resulting corner was met with a glancing header which went over the bar.
The game went through a sloppy spell, where both teams were struggling to keep the ball in midfield due to the conditions and Oldland seemed to be the team who were adapting the best and getting a foothold in the game. But the Westbury defence stood firm and on the 27th minute a forward pass was collected by Ricky Hulbert, he held the ball well and managed to win a free kick wide on the left. Jamie Jordan delivered the free kick which was defended out to Steve Hulbert on the edge, Steve’s shot was poked home by Kovacs for his and Westbury’s second of the game.
Oldland looked to reply almost straight away but Porter was there to make another fine save. Westbury had another couple of chances, but it was Oldland who were next to strike. The ball was won by their defence and quickly played forward, the two attackers combined and Josh Williams finished to make it 1-2 on the stroke of half time.
It didn’t take long for Westbury to score again in the second half. With only 6 minutes played, Ricky Hulbert had come deep to collect a ball that had been cleared from an Oldland corner and he quickly switched it out to Robinson on the right wing. Robinson made his way forward and played it to Jordan Pinder. The keeper came charging to the edge of his area but Pinder managed to poke it past him to send the ball rolling towards the goal; it was slow enough to tease the Oldland right back to chase it into the net, but the ball seemed to accelerate slightly to keep out of his reach and make it 3-1 to Westbury.
Westbury’s game plan was clear, they were happy to sit and absorb the pressure and as soon as they won the ball, exploit the lack of pace in the heart of the Oldland defence. Their fourth goal was started with a 30-yard drive by Steve Hulbert and, with Robinson racing forwards to his right and Kovacs to his left, he opted to pass towards Kovacs but the defender intercepted to clear. The cleared ball fell straight to Jordan Pinder who was directed by Dan Jordan to play it to the left wing. He duly obliged and passed it first time to Ricky Hulbert, who was wide left in line with the edge of the 18 yard box. Ricky looked to cut inside but changed his mind when he saw Jamie Jordan arriving. He rolled it into Jordan’s path and struck through the ball with a little bit of slice with his right boot, so that the powerful shot curled away from the keeper into the far side netting.
Five minutes later Jamie Jordan returned the favour and played Ricky Hulbert in. Ricky received the ball in a similar situation to Pinder’s goal. He shaped his body as if he was going to try and slip it past the keeper, but then knocked it past him, making his shooting angle tighter. He aimed his right footed shot high towards the far post, so that the recovering defenders had no chance of stopping it. That made it 5-1 to Westbury and with 20 minutes left to play, Westbury managed to see the game out and take the well-deserved victory.
The Westbury Star Man was Dan Jordan.
