Click
here for Home | Click here for Match Report Index
|Click here for Newsletter IndexThe above match was played on a lovely but cold Spring afternoon at Whaddon Road, the home of Cheltenham Town Football Club, I must say, that the Ground was in superb condition. As a preamble to the Match report it must be said that the Welsh Police were forced to field a less than first choice team,
Due to the fact that 10 of the Welsh Police squad were in Australia competing in the World Police & Fire Games. However they fulfilled the fixture, and although the players that represented the Welsh Police gave their all, they were no match for an English Police Team who played at the Top of their game, and were relentless in their efforts to emphasise their dominance.
The first of the Home teams goals came after only 3 minutes when a ball wasn’t cleared in the middle of the field, just outside the penalty area, the ball went through to 2 English forwards who appeared to everyone except the officials to be offside, however English No. 9 Mark Bellingham turned and hit his shot from 18yds against the right hand upright and into the net England 1 Wales 0.
England and Mark Bellingham in particular were to run riot throughout the rest of the first half, with their right wing Craig Brown being the provider for 4 more Bellingham strikes. His second was struck through the visiting keeper legs, his third after 24 minutes was a 15 yard volley into the right corner, the fourth, he chased after a long through ball, the Welsh keeper called for it, but didn’t get there and Bellingham stroked the ball past him into the empty net. The fifth and final goal of the first period was again a cross from the right, 2 defenders failed to cut it out and Bellingham gleefully lashed the ball home to make the Halftime score English Police 5 Welsh Police 0. Wales however did manage to create a few goal scoring opportunities during the first half, but Rhys Griffiths shot after 10 minutes went wide of the post,, whist Scott Arthur’s 2 efforts suffered a similar fate.
Bellingham was substituted at half time, and the second half was slightly more of a contest, with the visitors creating much more in the way of chances, but English keeper Richard Wilmott made 2 or three exceptional saves, 2 at full stretch at the base of his right hand post, the first from a Scott Arthur, the second from Rhys Thomas. Unfortunately by that time England had gone 2 further goals ahead scored by Richard Addams after 2 minutes of the second period, and after 58 minutes by Ross Atkinson. Rhys Thomas was again unlucky for the visitors, when after an hour of play his header from a Scott Arthur free kick narrowly missed the home goal. Welsh No. 10 Rhys Griffiths also came close with a 25 yard shot, before Richard Congreeve and the English No. 17 completed the scoring.
It should be said that during the last 15 minutes of the match, long dead as a contest, the visitors did start to play some attractive football, what the lacked in skill and fitness, compensated for by effort and the pride of representing their country.
Mal Thomas (Secretary Welsh Police F.A.
Click
here for Home | Click here for Match Report Index
|Click here for Newsletter Index