Pershore Ladies 1 Redditch Ladies 1
Worcestershire League Division One
PERSHORE Ladies earned a hard fought point against the then leaders Redditch on Saturday.
The visitors arrived top of the pile but having lost their previous two games and the hosts were keen to take advantage of this stuttering form.
An unbelievably strong and determined start from Pershore saw them go 1-0 up in the first three minutes when a fine cross by Gemma Pinney found Emma Gardner in the attacking circle to smash the ball home.
The intensity did not stop there as Pershore bossed the first half and solid and fast-paced passing between midfield players Kate Adams, Nicki Sheppard and Gardner saw several opportunities that came but went without conversion.
In the second half Redditch showed a greater desire and forced the home side into spells of defending, although Emily Capaldi, Zoe Nicholson, Sam Witheford and Heidi Deacon proved up to the task until a slight mishap allowed Jo Williams to equalise for Redditch.
Pershore eventually found their second wind and for the last ten minutes pushed to find that winning goal but player of the match Adams fired wide and a cross in from Deacon saw the ball agonisingly roll along the goalline with nobody on hand to tap in.
Pershore can take plenty of heart from this performance into Saturday’s game at home to Bromsgrove.
IT WAS a weekend to savour for Pershore’s men’s first team who won both games in West Midlands Division One and scored ten goals in the process as they defeated both Evesham and Droitwich 5-3.
First up on Saturday were local rivals Evesham who surged into a 2-0 lead, only for hosts Pershore to hit back thanks to goals from a superb reverse shot by Ed Deacon and a well rebounded strike by Anthony Handley.
In the second half Pershore took command through two goals from Russ McGettigan and, although Evesham pulled a goal back, Steve Ridsdale’s strike sealed victory for the hosts in what was a cracking team performance.
Twenty-four hours later Pershore visited Droitwich for a rearranged game and again they fell two goals behind before mounting a comeback.
The fightback began with a short corner routine well finished by Gareth Rushton and they continued to impress in the second half when skipper Russ Scudamore equalised.
Another short corner routine saw Rushton bag his second of the game and moments later Scudamore scored another from a short corner.
Droitwich pressed hard but their efforts were repelled by keeper Jack Leach and defenders Mike Doust and Luke Dalley and, after some pressing play in Droitwich’s circle, a wayward ball came across Scudamore who belted home his third goal of the game.
Fourth placed Pershore are now just three points behind leaders Old Wulfrunians ahead of Saturday’s visit to third placed Oswestry.