West Brom were hosts to Streetly, in the first fixture of 2019. The home side started off strongly creating several chances, early on. Wez Price, Jack Reeves and Yash Jiwa all left frustrated by the young, Streetly goalkeeper.

 

It wasn’t long before the opening goal and it was the visitors who were first on the scoresheet, against the run of play. Awarded with a penalty corner, Streetly capitalised on a well worked routine to beat both Frost and Dowen inside the left-hand post.

 

West Brom quickly dusted themselves off and continued to play with the same intensity. Mark Jones impressing with his forward runs from the full-back position, to support the attackers. The stags equalised in timely fashion, before the break. Kuldip Randhawa forcing the visiting keeper into a save, where it fell to Price who ‘fizzed’ in the rebound.

With the half time whistle imminent, West Brom went into the break level, despite having more shots on goal.  

 

Both sides came alive in the second half, having shaken off the rust and stepped up a gear. Streetly played with two strikers up high, who seemed more interested in fancy flicks to try and break down the West Brom defence. Having had 35 minutes to settle into the game, Duncan Fellows and Aidan Dowen were as solid as ever. The latter straying into unfamiliar territory with an uncharacteristic run, out from his own D and up the right flank.  

 

Chris Gatheridge capped off a fine midfield performance, with a goal which put the home side in the lead. Finding himself at the top of the opponents D, with his back to goal. Gatheridge struck the ball cleanly, on the turn, giving the Streetly keeper no time to react. 

 

West Brom continued to press forward, looking to add to their tally. However, committing men forward opened them up to the counter attack. The visitors finally broke through the West Brom defence and managed to square the ball across the D, for a simple tap in.  

 

In what was a competitive, end-to-end game, a draw looked to be on the cards. However, Wez Price was on hand to reclaim the lead. The West Brom forward allowed the ball to come across his body, controlled it well, and struck it cleanly to score his thirteenth goal of the season.

 

The stags then seemed happy to play down the clock. The defence continued to hold strong and midfielder Tom Davies dropped deep, to deal with anything that got past the experienced centre backs. 

 

3-2, A good result for the first outing after Christmas. Every player can be proud of their performance today, a true team effort. 

 

Man of the match: Mackenzie Porter.

A strong, confident performance from the youngster who played all game at full-back. Always looking to receive the ball and remaining calm under pressure.