Malvern go top with win over nine-man Wednesfield - The Malvern Observer

Malvern go top with win over nine-man Wednesfield

Malvern Editorial 4th Sep, 2014 Updated: 20th Oct, 2016   0

MALVERN Town claimed a 2-1 victory in an incident-packed game on Tuesday night which saw Wednesfield reduced to nine men and their manager sent to the stands.

Goals from Sam Rathbone and Harry Wickett saw Town come from behind to beat the Wolverhampton side and return to the top of the West Midlands Regional League table.

But it was their opponents who created the biggest talking point at the HDanywhere Community Stadium as James Lewis and Kieran Moran both saw red before the Wednesfield boss was also given his marching orders.

The visitors’ ill-discipline was their undoing as they got off to a superb start when Matt Wooldbridge’s glancing header flew into the net inside the opening two minutes.




The goal seemed to wake Malvern up as they almost levelled moments later, with Danny Thornton denying Rathbone. Town keeper Niall Hacking produced an even better stop on 18 minutes when he showed great reactions to save Ashley Bellingham’s strike from point blank range.

This proved to a crucial moment for the hosts as they scored the equaliser ten minutes later. Jack Hollylee turned his man and sent in a cross to Rathbone whose first shot was blocked on the line before he hammered home the rebound.


Wednesfield then suffered a further set back on the half hour mark. Just moments after receiving a yellow card for a heavy challenge, Lewis fouled another player, which gave the referee no option but to get his card out again.

Fortunately for the away side, their keeper, Thornton, was in fine form as he twice saved efforts from Bryan Craven before blocking James Lush’s short just before the break.

Despite Thorton’s display, Malvern continued to plug away and they got their rewarded on the 63rd minute. Matthew Turner eased his way past two defenders before squaring the ball to Wickett who applied the finish to take a 2-1 lead.

Things then went from bad to worse for the visitors when Moran took out Wickett with a sliding tackle, which led to their second red card. The decision incensed the Wednesfield boss whose outburst at the referee ended up with him seeing red.

With their opponents now down to nine men and without a manager on the touchline, Malvern suddenly had the three points all but within their grasp.

And they did not let it slip and almost stretched their lead when Dave Reynolds failed to direct his header past Thornton. Dan Herbert also came close late on as his effort following Rathbone’s run into the box hit the crossbar.

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