Sat. 29th Jan. Hellenic League Premier Westbury United 4-1 Malvern Town
Westbury strengthened their position in the race for the top placings with this victory at a windy Meadow Lane.
They are now in eighth place but are only six points behind second place Bradford with three matches in hand plus they have to play most of the teams above them in the remaining matches!
Malvern arrived equal on points with United and in a scrappy start to the match both sides struggled to deal with the wind. Westbury, who lost Ben Griffiths to injury, had a glorious chance to take the lead but Harvey Flippance was denied by Kieron Blackburn after Callum Demkiv had played him in.
The visitors caused plenty of problems for the home defence and, after Ed Baldy had backtracked to save from Matt Turner, they took the lead in the 23rd minute when James Timmins rose highest in a crowded penalty area to head into the net.
Town defended well against several Ashton Shanley corners and could have doubled their lead when Joe Bates and Ben Hayes went close.
Ronnie Frost’s midfield performances and long throw ins are a vital component of the current superb run of form and two such set pieces led to Westbury equalising through Dan Price’s header on 32 then taking the lead when Flippance was sharp from close range a few minutes later.
Malvern were the better side towards half time and probably deserved to go in at 2-2, but a 25 yard shot flew wide, Lewis Platt had two headers blocked in the 6 yard box then Baldy saved well from David Reynolds.
Contrastingly to what went before the break, United were dominant afterwards and it was no surprise when they stretched their lead on 57; a fine cross-field move involving Steve Hulbert and Demkiv led to Joe Stradling having a header cleared away, however the resulting throw in saw Frost achieve a hattrick of assists as Sam Jordan latched onto it and netted for the third consecutive league match.
A quiet spell of play, with Westbury holding their lead comfortably, ended with Town pushing forward in search of a way back into the game and Baldy excelled to save a long range attempt then soon after he got down low to deny Kyonn Evans.
The clinching goal came on 86 when Stradling got in and rounded Blackburn before finishing with ease.
Still Malvern kept going and forced a mistake where a defensive header eluded Baldy before rebounding off the post straight into his arms.
This was another good, strong all round performance by United and bodes well for the next few months!
Star man ; Ronnie Frost
Team; Ed Baldy, Jake Hutchings, Steve Hulbert, Ronnie Frost, Dan Price, Ashton Shanley, Ben Griffiths, Joe Stradling, Harvey Flippance, Callum Demkiv, Sam Jordan. Subs; Jack Biddescombe, Will Thomson, Dan Kovacs (used) Jake Timbrell, Kurt James (unused)
