Malvern Town 5-5 Sporting Khalsa (FA Vase Third Round) HDanywhere Community Stadium
After two more months of isolation from the beautiful game, the weekend before Christmas finally threw up the chance for me to head back out in pursuit of action and as the score line suggests, my most recent encounter made up for the lack of goals we've all had to put up with whilst Lockdown 2.0 was in full swing. For me personally, it has still been a busy time with work as I scheduled in a load of Christmas events for the people of Coventry, and then of course had the delight of having to cancel them all again. In the spirit of trying to stay positive, this year will see me have the Christmas period off from work for the first time since I was 17 and although I won't be able to do much with my time off, I am thoroughly looking forward to working on some football related projects and a little bit of chilling out too. Before that though, it was time to pick up my laptop, fill my bag with beer and jump on the almost three hour train journey from Stafford to Great Malvern's HDanywhere Community Stadium which is home to Hellenic League Division One West leaders, Malvern Town.
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| A long train ride calls for beer and podcast editing |
Leaving the house at 12 noon for a 3pm kick-off isn't ideal, but after a stone chipped my car windscreen the night before whilst driving home from work the just over an hour drive turned into an almost three hour train ride, which in fairness was only that long because I had a fifty minute wait in Birmingham New Street. Still, at £13.20 for a return, the journey was very good value because it allowed me plenty of time to sit back and enjoy the ride through the beautiful Worcestershire countryside. The only downside was the flock of young adults boarding the train who were very openly and seemingly proudly telling the rest of us that they were taking advantage of the current situation by leaving Tier Three Birmingham to go into Tier Two Worcester in search of a substantial meal and the beverages that are associated with it. Amongst the shouting and audible farts being let out from one table of lads, I just popped my earphones in and began to edit an interview from a podcast I'm working on which will be about football clubs who have fallen over the years. I'm sure many of the readers of this Blog will be keen to listen to it when it's released- and the first season of the Podcast will premier with Aldershot F.C. as the debut episode.
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| For now though, it was time to get back to the good stuff... live footy! |
I arrived at Great Malvern station with ten minutes until kick off and about a mile of walking to do. For anyone who's good with maths they'll be able to work out that those numbers didn't leave me with much chance of arriving in time for the game, especially when you factor in that I had no idea where I was going. Eventually I walked into the car park of the ground, about ten minutes late, and just as I entered through the turnstile of this sell out encounter I heard a small amount of cheering which indicated that Khalsa had taken the lead. I rushed in to see if I could overhear any discussions about the goal and it seemed from what people were saying it was an own goal, or at least a deflection, following the visitor's attack. Malvern 0-1 Khalsa.
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| Little did I know that this would be the first of twenty-one goals for the day |
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| Clubhouse and patio area, featuring big club emblem |
The last time I can remember visiting a ground with such stunning scenery in the background was at Causeway Lane in Matlock back in 2016 and although that August Bank Holiday match was a scoreless bore draw, thankfully here in Malvern it would be quite a different story as in the 17th minute the hosts had a chance to equalise. A free-kick was floated in to the box and rising highest was lofty centre-back Jay Sauntson who headed the ball in off the post to ensure Khalsa were pegged back fairly quickly after taking the early advantage. Malvern 1-1 Khalsa.
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| I don't know how the Malvern number 7 can focus with that backdrop |
Anyone who follows my Blog will know that I've been supporting Sporting Khalsa this season after the tragic collapse of my own club, Macclesfield Town, and up until my last away day with the Willenhall based side I had seen them win seven out of seven, but as with all good things my run supporting the blue and yellow army came to an end two months ago as I had to watch with disappointment at a 0-2 defeat against Long Eaton United at Grange Park. I remained hopeful that they'd be back to winning ways though on this outing and had made my usual pre-match prediction for a 2-1 win. Hopes of my score line prediction being correct were quickly dismissed as just five minutes after equalising the hosts broke down the left with Harry Clark running into the box and tucking home the ball with a shot oozing with finesse. At the time I harshly criticised Khalsa keeper Sam Arnold for not attempting to save the strike as he thought it was going wide, but in hindsight I think you have to just bow down to the opposition attacker and put it down as a quality finish. Malvern 2-1 Khalsa. With less than twenty minutes played and three goals already registered, I had to laugh as I saw Khalsa's Club Secretary walking around with his clipboard knowing that he would end up having a lot of things to write about by the end of this one!
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| Especially at the rate this lot were going |
Despite the fact that Malvern were facing off against a side who are currently one division higher in the pyramid, the Hillsiders would never consider themselves as true underdogs as the Worcestershire outfit are flying-high in their league- at time of writing they were twelve points ahead of second-place Thornbury Town, a side I saw just over a year ago also in the FA Vase, and despite having played three games more than most of the chasing pack, just like Khalsa they will be pleased to be ahead of the game and already have many valuable points on the board. Last season was Malvern's first in the Hellenic West having transferred from the West Midlands (Regional) and up until the virus cancellation they sat top of the pile, so you knew they were always going to give their Midland Football League Premier Division visitors a tough tie and just before half-time they grabbed a crucial third goal as Harry Clark scored his second to give his side a significant lead at the break. Malvern 3-1 Khalsa. The away side almost snatched a goal back just before the ref's whistle but ultimately the message at the interval from the Khalsa dugout would be that they need to start playing football if they want to get back into the game. The lads were struggling to string more than two passes together in one sequence of play and personally I think that with their passionately animated manager missing from the touchline, they really had their work cut out. As the old saying goes, "there's no bigger blow, than missing Ian Rowe".
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| No refreshments available, so I'm glad I brought packed lunch |
The players came out from the changing rooms looking like they'd had a good talking to, whilst the hosts emerged to rapturous applause knowing that they had one foot in the next round of the Vase, although there was still work to be done. And that work started pretty quickly as just four minutes after the restart Joe Bates took advantage of an unusually sloppy Sporting defence as he marched forward, received the ball and then fired home with barely even a glimmer of a challenge coming in from the opposition defence. Malvern 4-1 Khalsa. At this stage I said to some of the other visiting club members that the away side had given up and for the next fifteen minutes amazingly there was to be no more goals as the hosts seemed content with their lead and in large parts were in control of the game. The big turning point in the action for me came in a crazy five minutes in which we'd see a goal-line clearance, a goal and a penalty- with this monstrous sequence starting off as Khalsa's defence desperately denied a fifth Malvern goal by a defensive effort that not only kept the side in the game but also gave them a little morale boost which would eventually lead to them going up the other end and scoring a goal of their own, which was headed in by Sporting's captain and St Kitts & Nevis international Tes Robinson. Malvern 4-2 Khalsa. Moments later the Hillsiders had the chance to restore their four goal advantage as they won a penalty practically from kick-off, but unfortunately for the hosts Matt Turner's spot-kick was saved by Sam Arnold in what would be a good practice for what was to come later on.
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| Get those foodlights on, there's much more action to come yet |
It seems unfathomable that six goals into a match my report is yet to feature Jake Gosling but that would soon change as we approached the final twenty minutes of action. The Gibraltar international midfield maestro tends to only need one chance and although he'd had a below par game thus far he had the gusto to keep his chin up and when he eventually made a clever run to beat the high-line of Malvern's defence the number 10 ran forward, calmly waltzed around the on-rushing goalie and then tucked the ball home. Malvern 4-3 Khalsa. And as if that wasn't enough of a buzz for the visiting contingency, they'd be cheering again moments later as the ball was bundled into the the net to set up a nail-biting end to proceedings. Malvern 4-4 Khalsa. With darkness falling heavily over the game and with it some mild rain, there was to be another big moment in the game as the linesman made a decision which from my angle was arguably a wrong one. Gosling floated in a corner from right next to where I was stood and as I watched a Khalsa header meet the ball firmly, it looked to me (and everyone else but the lino stood nearby) that the strike crossed the line, but according to the man who matters it was "a great clearance" from Malvern's defender to keep things level. And that would be how things remained until three minutes remaining, when in massively dramatic fashion the hosts retook the lead thanks to Clark completing his hat-trick. It was scrappy, it was sloppy, it was a tap-in from a kindly placed deflection from a free-kick, and it seemed to be the final say on what had already been a spectacular game of football Malvern 5-4 Khalsa.
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| But the visitors weren't beaten just yet |
As the home side desperately tried to get the ball out of their half, Khalsa kept plugging away relentlessly and deep into stoppage time they won a set piece that would lead to a limbs inducing moment. The cross came in on the back post, was then nodded towards the six-yard line and then headed goalwards. Malvern men threw their tired bodies at the ball to try and keep it out, but eventually it crossed the line and after making a tight decision earlier against the visitors, this time the linesman raised his flag to signal a goal for Khalsa and the game would go to penalties. Malvern 5-5 Khalsa. With the players taking five minutes to try and regain a bit of mental energy, it was now time to face the shootout and after Gosling fired home the first kick, Malvern missed theirs to give Khalsa a 1-0 advantage, just like they'd had at the start of normal time. That seemed like decades ago by now!
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| "Don't lose it now" was the message from the huddle |
Following the miss from Malvern, the next six penalties were all converted stupendously to mean that club captain Tes Robinson stepped up with the score at 4-3 to the visitors. The defender, who in all fairness would probably have preferred a chance from a header than from the penalty spot, hit a decent strike but it was met well by Keiron Blackburn and after Joe Bates converted we were headed for sudden death. Both sides scored their first, but with the score at 5-5 by now, Josh McKenzie missed by just a few millimetres and this would give the visitors a massive chance to win the tie. Adam Sauntson, presumably the brother of Malvern's first goal scorer, was to be the hero and his penalty strike, the twenty-first goal of the game, finally decided what has to be one of the best games I've ever seen in my life.
Knowing that I had a long train ride to get home, I stuck around to cheer the players off the pitch before heading off to the station. Had the clubhouse bar been able to open though, I would definitely have stuck around for a couple of pints to celebrate because this game deserved a celebration. Even as a Khalsa supporter on the day, I could not complain about the result nor the action after a match which, in my opinion, deserved to be the Final at Wembley. I really look forward to seeing how far Malvern Town can go in the Vase and I hope they have the success that they deserve in the future.
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