Stone Old Alleynians earned their first win of the season in a hard-fought game against high-flying Gornal Athletic at Wellbeing Park in Yarnfield on Saturday 29th August.
After the draw in the previous game against Black Country Rangers, manager Matt Smith was looking to keep mainly the same side. However, due to holidays and other commitments, changes to the team were inevitable and quite a few first-choice players were missing from the line-up.
From the start it was Gornal who put the pressure on. The Old Boys keeper, Atilla Zirekoglu, was called into action early on to spectacularly push a Gornal shot over the bar, just as it looked like it was going to dip in. This was the start of an assured performance by the Alleynians keeper and his confident approach eventually began to spread throughout the team.
As the hosts adjusted to the pace and power needed to match Gornal, they began to see more of the ball in attack. Matt Bradbury used his strength to hold the ball up and he was able to bring other attackers into the game. Callum Moloney was really busy in midfield and his break-up play was the starting point for many Alleynians attacks. A sweeping move up the right released Paul Griffiths, who had space and time to put in a measured pass across the Gornal box straight into the path of Billy Thorley. He finished in his customary cool style to lead the celebrations as Stone Old Alleynians took a one-goal lead into the half-time break.
The second half started in much the same way as the first. Gornal were doing all the pressing but gradually the Old Boys started to get hold of the ball and use it to good effect. When the Old Boys came under pressure, Luke Askey and Sam Smith held the defensive line together against the Gornal strikers to such good effect that their star man was eventually substituted. Full-backs Bigham and Taylor exhibited coolness under pressure and with Bigham always ready to use his pace to join the attack, Alleynians always looked threatening when breaking into attack.
About half-way through the second half, Billy Thorley got away down the left and he returned the compliment to Paul Griffiths by putting him through on goal. The skipper duly obliged with a very competent finish to leave the Gornal defence in tatters and facing a two-goal deficit.
Gornal threw everything into attack, with their centre back going up front. Eventually their pressure paid off and they scored with about 10 minutes to go. The Old Boys defended as though their lives depended on the result for the rest of the game and managed to hold out for a famous, first ever victory in the West Midlands Premier Division.
[box type=”info” align=”aligncenter” ]Team: Zirekoglu, Bigham, Askey L, Smith, Taylor, Griffiths, Maloney, Heard, Thorley, Bradbury, Tomkinson. Subs: Askey G, Latham (both used)[/box]
