W.F.A. SATURDAY CUP, 3RD ROUND
Redditch Borough Sports & Social Club, Cherry Tree Walk, Batchley,
Redditch, B97 6PB. 04/12/2021 2:00 PM KICK-OFF
I have decided to go back to my original plan for last Saturday's excursion and attend the Worcestershire F.A. Saturday Cup clash at Redditch Borough of the Midland Football League, Div 2. As like many games in the area last week, this one was cancelled due to the snowy weather conditions and I was pleasantly surprised it was re-arranged for this Saturday.
This is a ground I haven't been to before and the club were a bit of a mystery to me, so I did a bit of research on Wikipedia and watched some of the Borough match highlights on You Tube too, with some good recent performances. A club definitely worth investigating.
I made the trip by rail to Redditch with no problems (but the return journey was certainly not straightforward with the covid induced rail staff shortages and subsequent cancellations).
I have some lunch at a cafe just outside the Kingfisher Shopping Centre and after a quick bit of window shopping I head off up the nearby Bromsgrove Road and arrive at the club entrance 20 minutes later.
I have time to go in to the club house and it's quite a place, with 4 different spaces for the public to enjoy and I go in to the bar area immediately in front of the entrance. There are 2 big screens showing the Coventry v WBA game and I order a shot of whisky to keep out the cold when I go back out again.
Suitably refreshed I go over to the main pitch and notice that the Droitwich team are in a gold and black kit, not their usual red and black and Borough are in their home kit of all blue.
It's a nice sunny but cold afternoon when the game starts and there is a cold wind too. Droitwich, who currently lie second in the West Midland 1st Division, are the more threatening side in the early exchanges and after they attack down the left in the 5th minute, Redditch have to clear the ball off their line. A minute later and a Spa shot from the right goes just over the bar.
In a Borough attack, their No.19 goes down in the visitors penalty area but the referee immediately waves play on, much to the displeasure of this player. Indeed he seems so displeased with this that he continually pushes Droitwich players who happen to be in front of him, when they have the ball, maybe trying make a point of some kind? Later in the half the ref has a word with him and he's fine after this.
their No.7 get's crowded out by the Borough defence when attempting a shot from close in on the right of the goal but the ball bobbles out for another Spa player, No.10 James Lemon I think to poke it in to the net.
3 minutes later and Droitwich double their lead when the ball is crossed from the left and is headed in at the far post.
It's by no means a one sided contest and the Borough do mount attacks of their own but without troubling Oliver too much in the visitor's goal.
Due to the recent rain the pitch has cut up a bit and looks to be a heavy energy sapping surface.
So half-time arrives with Droitwich still in the driving seat and Redditch have their work cut out to get back in to this match. Borough have got this far by having a bye in the 1st Round and then winning against AFC Bromsgove 6-1 in the last round. Droitwich also had a bye in the 1st Round and then were awarded a walk-over against their 2nd Round opponents, Tenbury United, for whatever reason.
I venture back to the club house and join the big queue for the refreshments and the ladies working there are having to work very hard to keep up with the orders but they do so with good humour. I eventually get my cup of coffee and I am able to buy a club badge too for the cheap price of £2, which makes the wait very worth while.
By the time I get back to the pitch, 5 minutes has already been played but with no further score. When I am walking past the goal at the far end I see some Droitwich Spa supporters who I used to travel with a few times in the club's minibus to some away games 5 years ago.
We have a chat during the second half and catch up on some news. It's good to see that their club is still well supported at away games as I also saw a number of other Droitwich supporters in the club house and especially too as their 'home' games are at Stourport while their ground improvements are going ahead.
The game itself this half is a more even contest and the Droitwich defence are having to work harder now. On the hour mark, Borough do reduce the deficit when Paul Bonar scores after an attack on the left of the Droitwich goal.
The Droitwich defence do well in dealing with the Borough attacks and still manage to trouble the home defence.
Max Court the Borough keeper does make a noteworthy save from James Lemon later on as can be seen below.
The game ends without any more goals and Droitwich go through to the quarter-finals next year.
Redditch Borough battled well until the end and I think they can improve on their league position of 9th before the end of the season. It's a good set up at this club and I see that there is a big emphasis to get the young players involved from an early age. Indeed that's how it all started when the present Head Coach and Secretary, Julian Workman, set up an under 10 boys team in the past and it mushroomed from there. His wife Kim is heavily involved too as she is the Chairman.
Yes, a good trip in the end, a new ground and team watched, plus I have met up again with some of the Droitwich Spa faithful.
Match Attendance: Approximately 60
Entrance fee: Free
Match Programme: None available
Entertainment Value: 7/10
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