Welton made the short trip up the A37 to Hengrove and came away empty-handed as they were outplayed and overwhelmed.
With showery rain falling, the game started on a very greasy playing surface and Welton keeper, Owen Knight, was called into action straight away when he saved well under intense pressure from Hengrove. However, on ten minutes, the home side took the lead when a corner from the left by Luke Crewe saw Knight, under pressure, punch the ball into his own net. This certainly had an
affect on Welton, as Hengrove dominated proceedings and Welton were pinned in their own half. Knight more than redeemed himself when he produced three outstanding saves in the space of five minutes to deny Hengrove further goals. Just before half-time, Hengrove got a second when Josh Hemmings was found in space, unmarked, to the left of the Welton goal and he calmly thumped the ball into the Welton net. The Hengrove keeper, Carl Bush, had a very quiet half, as he didn’t have to make a single save.
The second half started in disastrous fashion, when keeper, Knight, raced out to pick up the ball, but slipped on the greasy surface, missed the ball and striker, Ben Crewe, scored from an acute angle. Welton’s first real effort saw a shot from Chris Pile fly straight into the arms of the Hengrove keeper.
Welton’s cause wasn’t helped when defender, Nick Beaverstock, was shown a straight red card by referee, Davies, following a midfield coming together. The ten men tried their best, but they were being overwhelmed by their hosts. Hengrove defender, Asa White, then headed home to finish off a fine Hengrove attack and minutes later,
substitute, Bobby Medjedoub, scored Hengrove’s fifth with a well-taken goal. As full-time approached, Rhys Hickery got his name on the scoresheet with a cracking goal that left Welton completely shell-shocked.
Bob Allard