Welton Rovers 6 Wells City 0

This was Welton’s first game at West Clewes since October 9th and what a masterclass performance in attacking football and finishing it turned out to be.

Going forward Welton were unplayable at times, but to be fair to the visitors, their heads didn’t drop and they played their part in a terrific game of football in front of a bumper crowd of nearly 200 spectators.

The game got underway on a dull, dank autumn afternoon and a long pass from the back sent Toby Cole on a charge down the left and into the area only to see his effort cleared by the Wells defence. Good play by Jake Slocombe saw his shot blocked and the ball fell to Cole, but his shot was halted by Wells keeper, Josh Nichols’ knees, as Welton pressed for the early goal.

In the 8th minute Welton were awarded a free kick out on the right, Ben Wych’s kick landed in the mix and the ball was cleared only as far as Will Gould on the edge of the area. He unleashed a cracking shot that whistled into the back of the Wells net.

A corner on the left from Wych was met by Joe Garland in space, but he headed wide of the target. The visitors responded and a corner from Adam Wright landed on the roof of the Welton net, then, minutes later, a shot on the turn from Wright was well saved by Welton keeper, Alfie Kelsey. Welton made it two on the quarter of an hour mark when another free kick on the left from Ben Wych landed in the area, the ball fell to Alec Wych who thumped his shot goalwards only to see Nichol palm away the effort. Cole was the first to react and scored from close range. A long range effort from Tom Hill went close for the visitors and good play from fullback, Kai Murrell, saw his final shot fly over the Welton bar.

Welton made it three just after the half hour mark when a quick clearance from Kelsey caught the Wells defence on the back foot; the ball fell to Slocombe, who found Gould in space with a delicate chip and he calmly drilled his shot into the Wells net to score his second. Wells keeper, Nicol, then produced an outstanding save to deny Slocombe. However, on the stroke of half-time, further excellent play down the left from Cole saw him set up Gould who finished off in style to score Welton’s fourth and secure his own first half hat trick.

The second half was only minutes old when Gould went over on his ankle and couldn’t continue and was replaced by Courtney Charles. This setback didn’t effect Welton and ten minutes later Welton got number five. Excellent play between Chris Pile and Slocombe set up Cole in front of goal and he made no mistake to score his second of the game. Despite the score line Wells continued to play their part and a header from Harvey Hadrill went close and a long range dipping effort from Hill was just off target. Welton keeper Kelsey then produced an outstanding fingertip save at full stretch to tip the ball onto the bar and out to deny Charlie Crooks’ rasping shot. Welton didn’t rest on their laurels and were looking for more goals and were rewarded in the 74th minute when good attacking play from Welton saw the ball threaded through the visitors’ defence and fall to Charles, who drilled his shot low down past Nicol into the Wells net to score number six. Joe Ellis was then booked for a tackle from behind. A sixty-yard long pass out of defence fell to Box and his scooped shot was blocked by Nicol’s trailing arms to deny Welton a seventh goal as the game went into added time.

This was another superb all round team performance from Welton who remain unbeaten and are the driving force in Toolstation Division One.

The Green Army are more than impressed with this current Welton team.

This Saturday, 27th November, Welton are home again, this time Tytherington Rocks are the visitors to West Clewes kick-off 3pm. Bob Allard