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Wulfrun Invicta 1 ; Birmingham Citadel 8 (Law 3, Hopkins 2, S Black, Sharman, Gudza)

This victory was as comfortable as it sounds, but there were some underlying factors that helped Citadel in their cause. Firstly Wulfrun Invicta only had 10 players from the start. This was reduced to 9 when their lone striker was injured during the second half. Also Wulfrun openly admitted that their goalie was a stand in. Having said that you can only beat what is put in front of you, and Citadel should and hopefully would have beaten a full strength Wulfrun side comfortably. However Wulfrun did take an early lead when a long ball bounced awkwardly for Mark Sharman and the Wulfrun stiker raced through and calmly lobbed the ball over Stuart in goal. Citadel however were playing good football but letting themselves down with their final ball. When Citadel did finally get the final ball right it resulted in a Simon Black goal. Craig Mack slid a delightful ball through the defence, and Si raced onto it and calmly slotted it home. From then on all the chances were Citadels. Dave Maybury had a header cleared off the line. Ian Law then saw a header brilliantly tipped onto the bar by the keeper, and Shane and Ramoth's follow up's were bravely stopped by defender's throwing their bodies in the way. The second goal came when a Simon black corner was returned to him. His second attempt at a cross found Mark Sharman at the back post, who's miss-control fooled the defence and allowed him to prod the ball home from 6 yards out. HT 1-2

The second half was all Citadel again, except this time they were more clinical with their finishing. Unfortunately I can't remember the order of the goals very well so if they're in the wrong order blame Marc! Firstly Ian broke through and his effort was well saved by the keeper but Ramoth ran in to tap in to an empty net. Secondly Shane opened his account for the season when a square ball from Steve Buchan was met with a sweet finish into the top corner. Ian finally got the goal his hard work deserved when a cross from Shane was met at the back post with a neat header. Shane then got his second when the ball was played through the defence, and yet again he rifled the ball top corner. Changes were made with Paul Dickinson and Gareth Murphy replacing Shane and Simon up front. Ian got his second of the match when a corner from Steve Buchan was met with a bullet header into the top corner (I had told Ian he was going to score one of these today by the way). Ian's hat-trick was completed when he broke through a now very tired Wulfrun defence and slammed the ball past the goalkeeper. Citadel could have scored more with Steve Buchan producing a good save from the keeper. Simon had a goal dissallowed for offside (rightly so). And Paul Dickinson should clearly have won a penalty when he turned the defender in the box and was blatently tripped. However the ref even though he put the whistle in his mouth to blow for it decided that he wouldn't give it in the end. In the end a well deserved win for Citadel, and a good effort by Wulfrun considering their circumstances. FT 1-8

Team:
Stuart Stanley
Chris Black
Jack Wilkinson
David Maybury
Mark Sharman
Craig Mack
Ian Law
Marc Richardson
Simon Black
Shane Hopkins
Ramoth Gudza