WWFC Come Through Grunwald Battle

Video of 3 of the 4 goals plus some action from our first 3 games is on the Youtube channel.

Today we faced Grunwald of the Morden & District League in the first round of the County Cup.

This was not a game for the purists. It was a hard fought battle from start to finish and I am really proud that we managed to grind out the win despite extra time being needed.

The visitors, who were very fiery and mouthy throughout, took the lead inside 5 minutes as they carved a way through our defence and their striker finished coolly.

Soon after an audacious effort from 35 yards hit the crossbar as we clung on a bit.

Just after the 15 minute mark we were level. Having won a corner after a neat move down our right, Joey Stevens swung across a great ball that evaded the keeper and Alex Zammit was on hand to bundle the ball home for his 1st WWFC goal.

Giancarlo Mortellaro had a good shot well saved and Joey fired just wide with his left foot, but chances were few and far between for the remainder of the half.

The battle continued in the 2nd half and Grunwald were dnied by the crossbar on two more occasions. Both were excellent efforts from range and Damian Lynch got the slightest of touches to the 2nd shot.

The returning Luca Mortellaro shot just over after being found by a fine Oli Cochrane pass.

With 25 minutes remaining we slipped behind again. A mis-hit shot fell to their striker and he fired past Damo.

We had Damo to thank a few minutes later as his reaction save kept us alive.

Despite a few half chances the equaliser seemed unlikely until on 84 minutes Robbie Wilson delivered an expert cross and James Simpson was on hand to head home a dramatic leveller.

A few minutes later their very angry midfielder got himself sent off and we went on to control the game during extra time.

Lorenzo Favata should have given us the lead a few minutes into extra time, but missed from close range, but we weren't to be denied as our next attack saw Shit Pic flick the ball through to Joey who buried the opportunity and put us ahead for the first time.

We killed the game off midway through the 2nd half of ET after superb work down the right by Zam got him in behind and Carlo latched onto his cross/shot and tucked home.

Grunwald got one back late on, but there was not enough time for them to create another chance. There was time though for a 2nd red card for the visitors.

This was a really tough test of a stretched squad. The visiting team were direct and very physical which is a combination we can struggle against at times. We weren't at our best, but we were up for the scrap. Those who played out of position did fine jobs and I was proud of the way we carried ourselves throughout the game while the opposition lost their heads.

We can and will play better football than we did today, but it wasn't a day for that. We did what we had to do and made history in winning our first ever game in this section of the County Cup.

Well done boys!

MoM - Oli - was more of a team effort today, but Oli played out of position carrying an injury and won a lot of challenges to break up play and produced some good passes when in possession. Notable mentions for the guys at the back again and well done to the goalscorers.

Please note I haven't done the substitutions in the stats. It was too complicated with roro subs enforced.

Thanks to those who filmed and to those who supported. That's the first win under our belts. Onwards and upwards from here.