Despite midweek fears of a player shortage, West Brom scraped together a side and traveled to Market Drayton for what was to be an emphasising victory.

With six of the regulars absent, the travelling stags recruited Will Howl from the badgers, recalled Wez Price from injury and Wayne Thompson returned for his third and possibly final appearance of the season. 

The visiting side started the game strongly, with good attacking intent but it was the home team who scored first, against the run of play. A short corner routine managed to sneak past Jules Frost on his right hand side. West Brom didn’t allow this to disrupt their tempo. They continued to exploit the wings and soon found the equaliser through Wez Price. The ball was crossed in from the left, Josh Dowen flicked the ball on to Wez who drilled the ball in low and hard, to the keepers right. 

West Brom continued to threaten Market Drayton’s goal, scoring twice more only to have both goals disallowed. One of which, Josh Dowen hit the backboard, literally a second after the whistle was blown. The visitors continued to pile on the pressure and eventually took the lead when Mark Jones latched onto a loose ball in the D, to secure the lead going into the break.

After a chance to recompose themselves, West Brom came out in the second half with all guns blazing. Wez Price found the net with a trademark individual effort. Twisting and turning past two defenders on the top of the D, and smashing it into the bottom left corner.

The visitors added their fourth from a short corner routine. Price took the shot, which was palmed out high by the keeper. Tom Davies picked the ball out of the air and hit it back into the D. Jones was once again in the right place at the right time, to double his tally and provide an encore of his emphatic celebration. 

Market Drayton hit back once again, with a short corner of their own. A misunderstanding amongst the defence, allowed the home side to fire the ball underneath Jules Frost for the second time today. 

West Brom ended any indication of a Market Drayton comeback with a late flurry of goals. Wez Price opened the floodgates, completing his hat-trick with a direct strike from another short corner. 

Callum Taylor added his name to the score sheet, with the best move of the game. Josh Dowen took a self passed free hit, catching the defender off guard. He passed the ball inside to Davies, who found himself free on the top of the D. A first time pass found Shabbar Butt, who instinctively played the ball across the face of goal with a sweet reverse stick pass. Callum was then on hand at the back post, to sweep the ball into the net and take the visitors’ tally to six.

Tom Davies put in a shift today in midfield,   Playing in a more attacking role and capped his performance off with a goal. The visitors mixed things up with an alternative short corner routine, playing the ball to Davies who struck the ball low and hard to beat the keeper. 

The final goal of the game came after some link up play between Dowen and Davies, to get the ball into the opposition D. A jab tackle knocked the ball free only for Callum to slap the ball home from the penalty spot. 

A positive performance all round today against a younger inexperienced side. Will Howl had a promising debut, making some key tackles late on in the game. Mark Jones claiming a starting spot on the left wing, after scoring twice and Wayne Thompson providing that solid holding role, in the middle of the pitch. 

However man of the match had to be Wez Price for an impressive hat-trick on his return from injury, after 5 weeks on the sidelines