Tividale FC

Report

Walsall Senior Cup

Quarter Final
Tuesday 18th January 2022
Tividale 0-3 Rushall Olympic

After not having a competitive fixture for 22 days Tividale faced possibly one of the best sides that have appeared at The Beeches in the Dave King era. Rushall sit 4th in the Southern League Premier Central with games in hand over many around them. and on what they produced tonight you can expect Liam McDonalds men to be challenging for promotion.

Although the break has not been ideal due to 2 postponed games and 2 free weekends. The couple of friendlies we have had gave the long term injured Dan Smith, Hayden Reeves and Cameron Milne some valuable game time.

With Peter Hawk missing the returning Louis Connor was back in goal at The Beeches. The other changes were Reeves in for Brad Welding, Louis McPike replaced Ethan Muckley and James Wood in for the now departed Ethan Greer. The great news was that while Reeves started at left back, Smith and Milne were on the bench.

The game started with Rushall having most of the possession but Tividale kept their discipline while under some immense pressure. The first chance came on 5 minutes when Kory Roberts headed wide a Richard Batchelor corner. Then within the space of two minutes there was chances at both ends. First Tividale’s chance when Dan Bryson also headed wide. Then Rushall’s Alex Moore did the same.

With 16 minutes on the clock Rushall struck. A through ball from Jonathon Letford found ex Tividale striker Demetri Brown on his Rushall debut, who although looked to be offside, there was no doubt about the quality of the finish as he lifted the ball over the on-rushing Connor and into the back of the net. As the visitors pressed Jay Clement had an effort saved by Connor. Then Tom Hurdman put in a great block to again deny Clement. Letford then saw his shot saved by Connor in the 31st minute

Rushall’s second came in the 35th minute and it was just disappointing that it came from Tividale not clearing their lines at a set piece. After a poor clearance, the ball came out to Mitch Clark and his cross was met by Roberts who planted his header past Connor. Clement hit a spectacular volley but just couldn’t keep it down on 38 minutes. Tividale then survived a scare when Jourdain Masidi turned the ball home after 40 minutes, but to ironic cheers from the Tividale fans, the goal was disallowed for offside. With a minute left of the half Clement had another effort that went narrowly wide.

Half Time: Tividale 0-2 Rushall Olympic

Straight from the off, you could see that if Tividale were going to go down, then they were going down with a fight and with no regrets. But it was Masidi with the first chance on 51 minutes, although his shot lacked the power to worry Connor. Brown then threatened after a great run but he fired across the face of the goal. Rushall substitute Lucas Tibbs then tried an audacious effort from about 30 yards out but it went over.

Tividale’s best chance of the game came in the 73rd minute. Tividale sub Ethan Muckley had beaten the Rushall press and found himself one on one with Rushall keeper Thomas Palmer. As Palmer came out to meet him Muckley tried to find fellow sub Dan Smith who would have been looking at an open goal. But in the end a mixture of a under hit pass and awful bounce meant Smith could not get his shot away cleanly and Palmer was able to clear the danger. Four minutes later and Tividale had another good chance. A Hurdman free kick found Matt Hunt at the back post, his header fell to Muckley but he could only stab the ball wide.

Rushall’s Tyler Little then ran onto a great ball from Matt Clarke with 10 minutes to go but he also shot wide. Tividale had another good chance with 6 minutes left when a Darragh Bustin shot was parried by Palmer and the keeper grabbed hold of the rebound. A minute later and Bustin’s through ball was met by Smith, but he shot wide. With Tividale pressing for a goal they were always liable to get hit on the counter and as the game moved into injury time Ben Usher-Shipway found Daniel Glover unmarked in the Tividale area and he coolly slotted the ball past Connor to make it 3-0.

Full Time: Tividale 0- 3 Rushall Olympic

Once again, we left nothing to chance, defended from the front and never gave the visitors any time on the ball. But in the end their quality shone through.

Tividale: – 1. Louis Connor, 2. Tom Hurdman, 3. Hayden Reeves (14. Joseph Burroughs 60), 4. Luke Carter, 5. Dan Bryson 6. Matt Hunt, 7. Lewis McPike (15. Dan Smith 65), 8. Curtis Cocking, 9. Darragh Bustin, 10. James Wood (12. Ethan Muckley 67) 11. Elliott Hartley

Unused Subs: – 16. Cameron Milne, 17. Jake Bram.