Match Report
Evesham United v Willand Rovers
In what was a tough test away for Willand on paper, Saturday’s game at Evesham was the step in the right direction Rovers had been looking for on a warm October afternoon in Worcestershire after a rough patch for Rovers with David Steele’s men looking and finding a way to bounce back from the recent away form.
The first big chance for the hosts as a push leaves Ross Edwards on the floor and the Evesham player in a one-on-one with Jamie Richards. The shot was taken, but George Burton got down well and pushed it out for a corner.
Penalty and a second yellow as Jacob Wellington gets dragged down by Sam Bailey as Owen Howe steps up and slots it in. Nearly 2-0 for Willand as a mistake from the keeper put Jake Miller through on goal as he tried to slot the ball into the corner, but a save from the keeper put it out for a corner.
Up next, a Promising free kick from the hosts as they try to score directly from the set piece, but it is caught by a diving George Burton. Ross Edwards makes a rouge run from centre back over to the left wing to play a one-two with Jacob Wellington. As Ross receives the ball from Jacob, he looks for a man in the middle, but no one gets to it, and the ball goes out for a throw-in.
Halftime in Worcestershire and a sigh of relief for the lads as they go into the break comfortably as the hosts went down to ten men inside 15 minutes and Owen tucked away his second penalty of the week, with most of the ball in Willand’s possession.
In the second half, Jacob Wellington found his way with some good footwork to take the ball past 2 Evesham men as he crossed the ball into the box and onto the head of Owen Howe, but he didn’t quite connect right, and it went just wide.
Rovers would double their lead with Owen Howe making it 2-0 and a brace for himself as he took the ball to his feet and took his time to smash it into the bottom corner to settle the second-half nerves. It could’ve been 3 in quick succession as Jacob Wellington latched onto a River Allen clipped-through ball as he tried to pull it across for a man in the middle, but no one was there and the chance was caught by their keeper.
Rovers would eventually get their third with Wellington made a brilliant tackle to win the ball off of their full-back to curl the shot into the corner of the net with a brilliant finish to really seal the game on already a solid performance for Steele’s XI.
But the All-Whites weren’t done yet with going into added time with a cherry on top with Phil Mendonca finding a gap and taking the ball around the keeper as he scores his first goal for the club as a loanee from Taunton Town.
Full-time at The Spiers & Hartwell Stadium and a huge win for Willand as we snatched our first away league win of the season and secured all 3 points at Evesham in a convincing 4-0 win.
Rovers will now travel to Shaftesbury where a spooky 90 minutes awaits a frightening three points at the end. It’ll be trick or treat for Dave and the lads in the next battle.
