Brocton 1 Walsall Wood 5

Tuesday November 23rd

Walsall Senior Cup Round 1

Brocton 1 Walsall Wood 5

As anticipated, manager Alex Curtis made changes to his starting line-up with Kieran Nelson, Jack Thomas, Brad Rolston, Dean Williams, and Cam Jackson all given starts. Step 5 Walsall Wood also include a mixture of youth and experience within their match day squad.

Whatever plans Brocton had were in disarray within the opening seven minutes. Walsall Wood took the lead just seventeen seconds into the game. The pacy Jai Verma was sent clear down the left hand side. He skipped past Malaki Norford and his low cross reached Hayden Purves beyond the far post and his low drive went underneath Tony Allsopp. The home side hadn’t gathered themselves before the Wood made it two inside the fourth minute. A ball was played into the area and the unmarked Declan Sommel volleyed home. Within a minute, it got worse for the Badgers as Ryan Boothe converted another cross from Verma. Goal number four arrived for the Wood in the seventh minute. Verma again reached the byline, cut back onto his right foot and saw his cross deflected past Allsop into the net. In the 10th minute, Boothe hit a free-kick against the Brocton wall. Brocton’s first half-chance came courtesy of Rolston whose close range volley was blocked by the defence. Boothe should have made it five to the visitors after quarter of an hour when he side footed a right-wing cross past the post. Brocton reduced the deficit in the 20th minute. A long ball from Allsopp reached Rolston and his first time volley beat Lloyd Ransome. Brocton went lose to a second goal in the 32nd minute when Nelson headed Connor Haddaway’s cross against the bar. Just before the half-time whistle, Rolston should have done better when he was off target following an excellent flick on from Williams.

Half-Time: Brocton 1 Walsall Wood 4

The first chance of the second half fell to Walsall Wood with Dan Evans doing well to block an effort from Purves. Sam Unitt forced a decent save from Allsop who had to block the effort with his feet. Verma continued to impress down the left and he showed he could take a mean free-kick when effort was just over the bar. Walsall Wood increased their lead in the 62nd minute when Verma fed the ball inside to Purves who made no mistake with his finish. Credit to the Badgers who continued to strive to get back into the game. They should have closed the gap in the 71st minute. Jake Thomas threaded the ball through to fellow substitute Cameron Osborne, but his shot failed to trouble Ransome. Walsall Wood’s final chance of the game fell to Purves, who beat Evans but cleared the bar with his shot. Final word should have gone to Brocton. Osborne found himself in acres of space with only Ransome to beat but he curled his shot wide of the target. Walsall Wood easily saw out time to book a place in Round 2 and a trip to Lichfield City.

Full-Time: Brocton 1 Walsall Wood 5 Attendance:87

Brocton: Tony Allsopp, Malaki Norford, Dan Evans, Kieran Nelson, Tom Vaughan, Jack Thomas (Jake Thomas 45), Brad Rolston (Cameron Osbourne 55), Ben Haddaway, Dean Williams, Connor Haddaway, Cam Jackson (Ryan Douglas 77). Subs (Not Used): Reg Smith, Harry Griffiths

Walsall Wood: Lloyd Ransome, Lim Riley Stewart, Ant Lakin (Kamol Campbell 64), Mitch Tolley, Ben Harvey, Lewis Hayden, Jai Verma, Declan Sommel (James Webster 70), Sam Unitt, Ryan Boothe (Dan Birch 70), Hayden Purves. Subs (Not Used): Jordan Fitzpatrick, Callum Head