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It was a disappointing day at Boldmere St Michaels, a team that had dropped into the relegation zone after a poor run of form
City had their own issues as Taylor Parr and Ed Tassell were both declared unfit leaving us short at the back. Robbie managed to bring in Under 18s from Stevenage and Cambridge United but with no time to introduce them to the squad it was a baptism of fire for both.
The truth of the matter was that it turned out to be the flattest performance of the season from a team of really talented players who are not getting the of the green right now which is affecting confindence, and it showed on Saturday. To Boldmere's credit they hustled and covered every blade of grass and it worked for them.
6 mins into the game and the artillery came out in the form of an enormous long throw, a mix-up at the back and Owen Parry was on hand to lob Joe Welch, it wasn't a great start but City did rally and had chances to equalise, Dan Cotton was in acres of space but the cross-field pass was slightly behind him and as he struggled to put the brakes on and cut back inside, the Boldmere defence were able to get back in and block his shot.
Stef Broccoli then came close with a jinking run inside the box and a left foot shot that was saved well by Callum Smith in the Boldmere goal.
The killer goals for City came in the 34th and 45th minute, the first a penalty kick despatched by Parry and the second an error when the ball was given away on the edge of the box and it was Parry again who fired in for a first half hattrick.
This effectively killed the game and the second half was played out with City trying to get back in the game but the Mikes were too dangerous on the counter. Joe Welch was undoubtedly the man of the match for City and kept some semblance of respectability to the score with some excellent saves.
Ben Usher-Shipway sealed the match for the Mikes in 63rd minute, finally getting the better of Welchy with a powerful drive across goal and into the far corner.
A disaster of a match, but sometimes these things happen, the team were desperately disappointed after the game but will be working hard this week to put things right. A difficult match in prospect against a newly promoted Lye Town who are currently going well in the league. Some good news on the horizon is the possible return to Joe Hood next week, the influential midfielder was on the bench against Boldmere and will hopefully be recovered in time to play next.
Speaking to Robbie after the match he said " Losing Taylor Parr this week was a massive blow for us and with Ed Tassell also picking up an injury we were left short, but that said today was not a good performance from us and we'll be working hard on the training ground to rectify it. I feel for the fans who traveled to support in numbers because that was not the standard that we set ourselves and they deserved better. We've got a talented squad of players and when they click we can beat anyone, we'll be looking to prove that in our next match against Lye Town"