Worden Park welcomed the Villa with a damp & drizzly morning. The pitch was heavy with mud and had a wicked slope, as the boys warmed up the wind got colder. Villa won the toss and chose to play uphill for the 1st half .Leyland came off a good win last week as had the Villa …..game on!
The pundits were way off this week, although John again seemed closest, some even tried “spread” predictions.

1st Half
As expected the Albion launched every long ball they could in an effort to get their front players running, and it was working. They put Tom G, Alex, Jamie A & Sam under pressure. But stout defending with good support from the midfield duo of Jamie A & Tom M meant that whilst it was uncomfortable it wasn’t threatening, with the single exception of the Albion hitting the post on 10mins Ryan M had little to do as the shots that were taken were, in many cases, off target .Villa pushed on and now, having a little confidence in their game, they started hold the game around the middle of the park. Danny & Smithy being brought into the game more and more. It was Charlie who broke the deadlock with a stunning independent run and a brilliantly taken goal on 19mins.0-1.
Charlie & Greg now had more to do and the face paced sweeper for Albion saved them on many occasions by just having a yard on Villa’s attack and when he didn’t the offside rule seemed to.
Villa played the game more on the top pitch for the last 15mins and as a result of not sitting too deep Tom M & Jamie G could support Greg & Charlie and allow Smithy & Danny time to make the runs, which they did, and it was Smithy who played Charlie through, he scored. 0-2. 30mins.
Villa won a couple of corners and as a result of clearance Sam took the ball and ran cross field only to be brought down 23yds out. Jamie G took it and planted the best free kick of the season smack bang in the basket. 0-3. 33mins. The whistle eventually came as Villa regained possession in their own 18yd area.

Half Time 0-3
George & Dave praised the boys, pointed out some discrepancies, encouraged them all & the good play, kept the team the same and sent them back out ….downhill.

2nd Half
The game continued where it had left off, strong challenges, great running & plenty of effort from both sides. Villa didn’t try to exploit the long ball, but stuck to their the passing game that has served them so well in the last few games. Plenty of near misses signalled, hopefully, more goals and it was 15mins before Charlie took his hat trick and Villa’s 4th. 0-4.
Danny & Smithy came off and Will & Kyle went on pushing Jamie A onto the left wing, even changing position didn’t put Jamie A off his stride, he was fantastic today meeting & securing everything within his radius and it was a very deserved strike from him that took Villa to a 5 nil lead on 22mins. 0-5.
Albion struck back on 25mins to raise their spirits slightly. 1-5.
Danny came on to replace Tom G.
Villa pressured the Albion even further pushing deep into the bottom pitch and a series of corners followed all well defended by the Albion.
Greg came off for a breather on 30mins and Steven came on. The ref played 2mins injury time ….it was deep into this when Steven passed back to Tom M who continued his goal scoring form and planted one in to give Villa a well fought and very well deserved win on 37mins.1-6

Full Time 1-6.
Villa you were wonderful against a team that should be higher up the league than they are.
You are a pleasure to support. Well done.

PS. There are those wonderful moments every 30 years when you realise why football is such a fantastic game and why you suffer the heartache, the cold, the wind ….even the prawn sandwiches in the box.