Hockey strugglers lose out in battle of basement pair

5:00pm Monday 1st December 2008

Bloxwich 4, Pershore 2

SATURDAY’S basement battle saw two under performing teams meet in a last-ditch attempt to re-ignite their seasons.

Pershore looked to have risen to the challenge and dominated the first half with a blend of experience and youth.

Matt Griffin and Joe Taylor were superb in feeding quick ball down the right and Russell Scudamore’s typically uncompromising tackling swept up when needed.

All that was needed was someone to put the ball into the net and Liam Ridings almost fitted that bill and his positional awareness saw him agonisingly close to tapping in after Toby Whiting had danced along the byline.

Ridings also intercepted a poor clearance to find himself one on one with the keeper but he failed to keep his shot on target.

Bloxwich had their opportunities and the ever agile Rob Curley was unlucky not to stop their strongest attack and Pershore went into the break trailing 1-0.

Ten minutes into the second half and the game was effectively over. Whiting’s lack of confidence saw him pass rather than shoot for an almost certain goal.

Had parity been restored then Pershore would have fancied their chances of victory yet, within minutes, a weak short corner strike somehow evaded both Curley and Mike Handley on the Pershore line.

Visiting heads dropped briefly and Bloxwich slotted in two more goals in swift succession.

Suddenly Pershore sprang to life and submerged their hosts with a barrage of intelligent play.

Whiting threw caution to the wind with his next opportunity and thundered home a running strike.

Dave Hindle then popped up to stab home a second but it was all too little too late.

There was better news for the second team who defeated Kynoch 5-0 thanks to goals from Graham Handley (2), Ali Sanderson (2) and Lachlan McKenzie.

It was a great performance with keeper Lee Wickersham having a quiet day but knowing it won’t be the same against high flyers Stafford this weekend.

The scheduled ladies match at Bromsgrove was cancelled with Pershore claiming a 3-0 win.

They remain in a strong position ahead of Saturday’s visit to league leaders Kings Heath.