League Play-Off

Whitworth
Spectators: 35 (Terracing: 27, Seating: 8, VIP seats: 0) Whitworth City's Marcus Sutherland started the match with a crisp pass. The crowd had been anticipating this game for weeks and the excitement in the stadium was easily visible. Ed Downs might have been able to make a better finish in the 6th minute when he tried to place a hard shot over Perry Booth. Instead the ball went over the crossbar and out. Ed Downs ran back to his position shaking his head. Dean Hughes fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 12th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Perry Booth having to interfere. Philip Wendon received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 15th minute. Duncan Newbury tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. In the 21st minute Ed Downs shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Perry Booth saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. In the 23rd minute, Philip Wendon left the goalkeeper for dead before tapping the ball into the right side of the net. The Whitworth City fans were clearly happy with the effort and the scoreboard reflected the new score: 1-0. Philip Wendon recieved an excellent pass in front of the goal in the 28th minute. Unfortunately, he received the ball on his off foot and could only manage a weak shot that went over the goal. West Buckland AFC's Duncan Newbury proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 29th minute of the match, managed to save West Buckland AFC from getting a goal against them. After a rather tough play, West Buckland AFC's Colin Pickard got a free kick in the 37th minute. Toby Noble, 37 minutes into the match, dribbled the ball up the side of the field and decided to take a long shot at the goal. Unfortunately, the ball was poorly hit and landed closer to the corner than to the goal. 42 minutes into the game, Whitworth City's Philip Wendon nearly tore a hole in the net with a booming shot. Duncan Newbury made a valiant effort, but he could not reach the ball in time, 3-0. Peter Eldridge charged in rather forcefully in the 46th minute of the match, and managed to knock his opponent down. The referee showed Peter Eldridge the yellow card, and asked the players to shake hands before continuing play. A collision led to Whitworth City getting a freekick after 46 minutes play. Peter Eldridge hit a great ball. The home fans were very happy to see their team leading 3-0 at half-time.

The wind increased when Dean Hughes made the kick off in the second half. West Buckland AFC's Duncan Newbury played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Philip Wendon in the 54th minute of play. After having played for 56 minutes, Marcus Sutherland managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Whitworth City's supporters crossed their fingers, but Marcus Sutherland was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. After 56 played minutes West Buckland AFC got a freekick which was hit by Dean Hughes. Duncan Newbury made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Marcus Sutherland in the 59th minute of play. An unexpectedly hard shot by Philip Wendon in the 61st minute of play forced West Buckland AFC's goalkeeper Duncan Newbury to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Philip Wendon sent away a hard shot on goal in the 68th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. 71 minutes into the match, Whitworth City's goalkeeper Perry Booth had to clear away a ball on his right side after a cunning shot by Ed Downs. Duncan Newbury showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Marcus Sutherland in the 73rd minute of the match. Sean Todd charged in rather forcefully in the 76th minute of the match, and managed to knock his opponent down. The referee showed Sean Todd the yellow card, and asked the players to shake hands before continuing play. After 76 played minutes Whitworth City got a freekick which was hit by Sean Todd. After 83 minutes of play, Whitworth City's Philip Wendon made it 4-0 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Duncan Newbury was left in no man's land by his defense there! Whitworth City's Philip Wendon got a good chance for a goal in the 88th minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. Duncan Newbury didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from Marcus Sutherland went, in the 90th minute, to the upper right corner, 5-0 was the resulting score. Marcus Sutherland sent away a hard shot on goal in the 95th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. 97 minutes into the match, West Buckland AFC's goal looked a bit too open when Marcus Sutherland came free, but Duncan Newbury reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Whitworth City's supporters were delighted with their team's performance and swarmed onto the pitch at the end of the match to celebrate the victory with the players.