WORCESTERSHIRE CO F.A. SATURDAY CUP FINAL
County Sports Ground, Claines Lane, Worcester, WR3 7RN
29th April 2023 2:00 pm Kick-Off
For my football trip today, I am going back to my roots, namely my birthplace, the city of Worcester to see the Worcestershire County F.A. Saturday Cup Final. This features Worcester City Reserves against the Evesham United Development team.
It promises to be a close contest as both sides are faring well in their league competitions this season. City are in second place in the Midland Football League, Reserve Division while United are occupying the 4th spot in the Hellenic Football League, Division 2 West.
When I set out on the train from my local station in Acocks Green, the weather does not look that promising, being mainly cloudy but it's supposed to brighten up a bit later. Sure enough by the time the train arrives at Foregate Street station in Worcester, it's turned out to be mainly sunny.
I nip around the corner and look in at the Art Gallery, where they have an exhibition of 'British Impressionism', which turns out to be pretty good. Then I walk down to a Cafe near the River Severn, where I have a snack and a coffee. I just have time to wander down by the river, looking across to the Cathedral, for about 15 minutes before I make my way to the Bus Station to get to the ground for the 2 pm start.
When I get in the queue for the bus, I bump into a guy called Simon who Iv'e met before, who is a Droitwich Spa supporter and he tells me that their club have 2 coaches taking fans on Monday to see their Play-Off Semi-Final against Hinckley. That should be a good match as both sides are scoring lots of goals this season.
Soon I am walking off the bus and turning into Claines Lane to get into the County FA ground that they share with Worcester City.
It's the first time I have visited the main pitch since leaving Worcester 6 years ago, when Worcester Raiders were the tenants. I get to the ticket booth and am surprised to see local football legend, Mark Owen, working there today. He helps out at the County FA and is in training to be a referee. He played as a striker for Worcester City and other local clubs before managing the City Under-21 side and then Droitwich Spa among others.
Also I don't have to pay today as Nichola Trigg of the Worcestershire FA has said that as I am taking some photos for them, I can get in for free!
I have time to go to the club house situated at the northern end of the ground and it's at a higher level and so you have to climb up some steps to get there. This is also where the offices for the Worcestershire FA are located, on the next level I presume? I buy a cup of tea and then take in the good view you have of the pitch from this vantage point. I then make my way back to pitch level and take up a position on the western side facing the 2 stands on the opposite side. The team dug-outs are located further down, near the centre of the pitch from where I'm standing. There is a slope running the down the pitch, from north to south.
It's a nice enough set up for this level but Worcester City have aspirations on progressing to a higher level in the future. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any prospect of a better ground at the moment for 'The City', especially with a distinctly unhelpful City Council thwarting their plans.
The teams duly come out on to the pitch at 2 pm and it's Evesham United in their red & white striped shirts, black shorts & socks who will be kicking up the slope to start with. Worcester City are decked out in their usual blue & white striped shirts, blue shorts & socks.
The play is pretty even to start with but then disaster strikes for Worcester when the Evesham No.11, Matt Kear, pumps in a high ball into the City penalty area but there is only their keeper, Ben Clay, anywhere near the ball. It looks like a routine catch but he manages to lose control of the ball and it goes into the net. The United players are elated but the keeper looks very disappointed with himself of course.
Not a great start for 'The City' but there is plenty of time to rectify matters.
Soon after this I decide to move further down the pitch to photograph any Worcester City attacks. On my way down I bump into 'Roz' who is the wife of a cousin of mine called Chris Dale. She tells me that he is also taking photos and points to where he is standing by the side of the goal. I tell her, that is where I'm heading to and soon I'm talking to Chris. The last time we met was at his Mother's funeral last May and it's good to see him in happier circumstances. He is decked out in a yellow photographer's vest and he also has his camera mounted on a monopod. Definitely more professional looking than myself.
He used to work as the groundsman at Worcester City for 3 seasons when they were still at their old ground in St. Georges Lane and later on he worked at the County FA as the Disciplinary Officer for several years. I know he takes photos sometimes at these kind of games so it shouldn't be too much of a surprise to see him in action today.
In the 20th minute during one City attack there is a nasty looking collision between their No.11 and the Evesham No.2. After a few minutes of treatment they are able to carry on.
Defences are mainly on top in this game so far and both teams are looking a bit nervous to me as the game is not flowing that well.
Evesham United go close to scoring when their No.10 hits a shot that goes just wide of the left hand post in the 37th minute and then 7 minutes later, Worcester's No.10 , goes close with a header.
So it's still Evesham United who have the lead when half-time arrives and I don't think that there will be many goals scored in this game.
Near the start of the game I had talked a bit with the father of the City No.5, Dan Noke and he admitted he was feeling very nervous about the match. To counter this he has been walking around the pitch a lot and sometimes he has been shouting encouragement to some of the Worcester players, especially the keeper Ben Clay.
Chris has moved up the pitch for the second half and has decided to change to a smaller lens so that he will be able to capture photos of the players located closer to the side of ground.
As in the first half, the game is not that much of a spectacle but there is occasionally some goal mouth action to keep the spectators interested.
After 69 minutes the Evesham keeper makes a great save to keep out a goal bound effort and then 11 minutes later the City No.9, Matt Pinder, is just beaten to the ball by the keeper when chasing after a good pass into the penalty area.
It's not looking good for Worcester with time running out but then in the 85th minute they are awarded a penalty and Evesham's Daniel Lee gets sent off, presumably for bringing down a player, as I was at the other end of the pitch. Matt Pinder sends the keeper the wrong way with his spot kick while placing the ball into the right hand corner of the net.
City also go close to scoring the winner right near the end of the game when Dan Noke curls in an effort from the left that hits the woodwork and out. That would have been a great match winning goal and it would have pleased his suffering father too!
To their credit, Evesham United nearly score the winner themselves when they too hit the woodwork. A frenetic end to the match in the last few minutes but now it's time for the nail biting conclusion of the penalty shoot-out.
Ben Clay makes a great save from the first spot kick when he dives to his right.
Indeed, he saves 2 of the next 3 penalties he faces while City score 3 out of 4 to win the match. Ben Clay has more than fully redeemed himself after his error in the first half.
I see Dan Noke's father when the Worcester City team are presented with their trophy and he looks a happy man now.
I'm glad I came to this match today as although it wasn't a great match to watch, it made up for it with all the drama near the end and seeing Worcester City lift the trophy, to make up for all the disappointments of the relegation threatened first team this season.
Entrance Fee: £5 ( Free for photographers)
Match Programme: none available
Match Attendance: Approx 100-150
Match Entertainment: 7/10
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