Worksop Town 10 v United Worksop 1 - PSF

Thursday 18th July 2019

Pre Season Friendly

at Sandy Lane

Worksop Town (2) 10

Andy Gascoigne 28 Pen, 38

Leon Mettam 46, 50, 56

Connor Brunt 73, 78, 86, 90

Matt Sykes 87

United Worksop (0) 1

Adrian Cuper 82
Point & hope photo gallery: Click HERE

There a a massive chasm of difference between the class of players and squad strengths of clubs in the Bet Victor (previously Evo-Stik) Northern Premier League South East Division and the Sheffield & Halamshire County Senior League Division 2... and it showed tonight.
Especially after half time when the Tigers ran riot and netted eight of their ten goals.
Indeed, the hosts didn't always have the full compliment of eleven players on the pitch at all times, as they strove to give themselves more of a test and even things up a bit, given the nature of this game... the staging of which, was a brilliant gesture on the part of Worksop Town, that was greatly appreciated by the football fraternity loving amongst the local Polish community, and those who have the best interests of the fledgling visiting club at heart.

I don't think that anybody anticipated anything other than a comfortable win for the Worksop Town, on their home-turf...  and it was probably always just a question of not if, but when, they'd start to rack a few goals up.
But the Manton based visitors made a promising start, with Adrian Szewczyk testing James Leverton with a long range free kick inside the opening ten minutes, moments before Adrian Vulc nudged the ball just past the right hand post from close range.
Following an almost leisurely start, the hosts began to grow into the game and dictate the tempo, and Steve McDonnell had a great chance to put Craig Denton's reigning NCEL champions in front, but he couldn't quite keep his header on target from Michael Trench's dipping pass from the left hand side of the area.

Connor Brunt was tripped inside the visitors area by Pitor Szczepanski, but Leon Mettam's strike from the subsequent penalty kick, was well saved by Daniel Liguz.
Given his agility and the array of acrobatic saves that Liguz made during the next ten minutes, he must be in the running to be Peter Parker's stunt double in the next Spiderman movie.
Trench got forward on the left once more and pulled the ball back into the mix, toward's Mettam, who's attempt on goal deflected into the air and dropped over Liguz, seemingly beyond his reach, but the United goalkeeper readjusted his footing and dived backwards before pushing the ball away with his outstretched right hand to prevent a certain goal.

Liguz was soon in action again, when he turned Brunt's low free kick against the upright at full stretch, but the Tigers took the lead from their next shot on goal, another spot kick, awarded when Trench's weaving run had been abruptly halted when Adrian Blachewicz clipped his heel, which was taken by Andy Gascoigne this time, and bulged the back of the net, in spite of the visitors agile custodian almost pulling off a second penalty save. 

McDonnell hit a crisp shot on the turn, but Liguz thwarted the home side once more, with his acrobatic reflexes saving the day yet again.

The Tigers were in the hunt for a third goal before the break, but they were kept at bay as Liguz denied Brunt with the next in his long line of saves... and right on the stroke of half time Michal Zukowski was on hand to hook the ball away from off of the goal-line after Gascoigne had beaten the overworked keeper with a well executed lob.
HT: Tigers 2 v United 0

During the half time break, a Worksop Town supporter of many years standing, poured praise on the first half performance of the opposition's goalkeeper and commented: "If it hadn't been for him we'd be looking at double figures tonight!".
Hmm, funny you should say that mi' old mate. Because United fielded a completely different eleven players after the interval, Daniel Liguz had done his bit for the night and though it wasn't confirmed until Connor Brunt netted his fourth goal of the night with the very last kick of the game, them there Tigers did indeed reach that target of double figures.
Disclaimer time: this is a blog overview, not an actual and factual match report, so if my narrative strays slightly off course from hereon in and my chronological recording of events becomes muddled, then, hey ho! I'm (almost) confident, that the gist of it all is, approximately correct, at the very least..

Nine (goals) into forty five (minutes) equates to an average of one every five minutes... I endeavoured to keep up, but I'm still shaking my pre season cobwebs off too
Just sixty seconds after the restart, Robert Kanderski parried a shot away from Matty Sykes And Mettam pounced on the loose ball to claim the first goal of his rapid-fire hat-trick from close range.
The Tigers next attack saw Mettam score from close range again, when he turned home McDonnell's delivery across the face of United's goal.
Mettam's third and final goal of the night (though he did come close again when he hit the bar later on), came just ten minutes after his first, when he received a sideways knock from Jack Brownell, before flicking the ball in the air with his first touch and burying it with his second, on the volley.

"Class is permanent Robert! Make sure you put that on your blog", said that nice old man that goes by the name of Matty, who has followed Worksop Town through some thin (and even thinner) times over the years.
Matty recently celebrated fifty years of married life and proudly showed me a sepia tinted photograph from his wedding day all of those years ago that he carries in his wallet. He remembers the occasion as if it was yesterday, which might explain why he's still telling the same, time old jokes that he used during his speech at the reception.
Shortly before Mettam had cemented the Tigers five goal lead, Kyle Jordan had almost added to United's torment, but Mateuz Skrzypczak made a last ditch clearance, to redirect his goal bound effort away from danger.

Kanderski did well to keep Brownell's knock from six yards out, but took an accidental knock in the goalmouth scramble that followed and he had to limp out of the game, meaning United were now on their third goalkeeper of the night. Somebody nearby suggested that it might be a good idea to field all three of them at the same time now as a damage limitation exercise.
Mettam, as mentioned above, headed against the bar and Brownell had a shot tipped around the upright, before Brunt combined well with Josh Hobson and bagged the Tigers sixth goal of the night with a thumping angled shot.
Brunt was also credited with Worksop's next goal, after Sykes had fed the ball to him on the right hand side of the area and his shot whipped up off of Pawel Kaminski, whose attempted block merely caused the ball to loop over his own keeper, where it dropped into the goal just below the crossbar.

For what it's worth, Brunt would have scored the Tigers seventh goal anyway and the initial shot was destined for the top corner of the net before Kaminski bravely but vaingloriously put himself in the way... just saying.
All of a sudden, the visitors were back in the game (well, sort of, but hey! It's my blog and and I'll exaggerate whatever the hell I feel like doing) when Oscar Szynal came out of a fifty-fity challenge with the ball at his feet and threaded a pass into the path of Adrian Cuper, who advanced into the Tigers area and planted the ball past Leverton.

Just moments later Marcin Zukowski almost doubled United's goals tally, when his shot crashed against the inside of the post and rebounded against Leverton's back, but Deegan Atherton came to the rescue and put his foot through the ball to launch it off of the line.

Brunt had two bites at the cherry as he completed his hat trick, with just four minutes remaining and within thirty seconds of the restart Matty Sykes shot across the face of United's goal and netted just inside the right hand post, after being put through by Brownell, who's 'assists' coefficients must've been off of the scale by now.
There was still time for a tenth Tigers goal, but only just, when Brunt controlled a high ball before rolling it past United's keeper, just seconds before the full time whistle sounded.
FT: Worksop Town 10 v United Worksop 1

Good luck to both of these Worksop teams, for the season ahead, in their respective leagues.