West Midlands League Premier Division
Match Date – Sat August 13th 2016
Team : Matt Burslem, James Cresswell, Ollie Davies, Ryan Fox, Adam Pope, Sam Wilson, Paul Griffiths, Malaki Norford, Matt Thomas, Alex Kay, Subs:- Dan Bolton, Alex Lee, Danny Heard
Stone Old Alleynians registered their first win of the season, at the expense of Hereford based Pegasus Juniors, with a 90th minute Malaki Norford goal.
In a match that was fairly even, the Old Boys pulled of a deserved victory, which could have been more emphatic, had the crossbar not got in the way and Ian Harvard, in the visitors goal, not pulled off a couple of magnificent saves.
The first 15 mins was end to end, with neither team troubling the opposing goalkeeper. Stone then came closest, with Alex Kay flashing a drive just over the crossbar. Paul Griffiths brought out a stunning save from Harvard, who managed to tip the ball over angle of bar and post for a corner, with the half finishing goalless.
The game continued in the same pattern in the second period, when after 20 min, the inspired Harvard produced a similar save to the first half, but this time from Matt Thomas.
Pegasus then broke clear of the Alleynians defence, only for their forward to push to ball just too far, enabling the agile Matt Burslem to pounce. The visitors had a goal disallowed for offside and flashed a dipping drive just over the bar, as they started to get on top. The Old Alleynians soon got to grips again however and Alex Kay had a header cleared of the line. A cross was only partially cleared by Pegasus defence, the ball being returned to Kay, whose blocked shot spun to Thomas for him to acrobatically strike the crossbar.
With the match petering out to a goalless stalemate, Norford controlled the ball, with his back to goal, before swivelling and placing the ball just inside the post, from the edge of the penalty area, to give the hosts a last gasp victory.
Another plus for the Old Boys was the excellent performance of 16 year old Adam Pope, at centre back, making his full first team debut.
Final Result : STONE OLD ALLEYNIANS 1 PEGASUS JUNIORS 0
