This was a game that
will not last long in the memory bank.
It was a scrappy affair between Malvern, who are
already doomed to bottom spot and relegation,
and Rothwell Town who have performed like a Jekyll
and Hyde side all season. And this was one of
their worst performances.
The Bones really needed a win to ease their own
relegation worries without being dependent on
other results.
But you would not have guessed this from some
of the Rothwell players who did not perform for
their manager or their club.
And Rothwell manager Rob Dunion was quite rightly
very angry at the end of the game.
The game actually started brightly and in the
first minute the hosts broke down the left. But
this ended with Andy Crowther shooting high over.
On seven minutes, a Robbie Maddox piledriver
was tipped onto the bar and over for a corner
by Marc Wright.
But from this point on, the game went downhill.
Both sides had chances, in particular Scott Devlin
and Shane Gill for Malvern while Kevin Byrne,
David Glass and Maddox all went close for Rothwell.
Everyone hoped for and improvement after the
break and there was from the visitors.
At last, they put some pressure on the home side
– but still failed to find a way through.
The last 10 minutes belonged to Rothwell. Substitute
Kyle Locklin had a shot saved by Wright and, with
two minutes to go, Ali Wiltshire put a good chance
inches wide.
In the final minute, Rothwell had a good shout
for a penalty when
Locklin was pushed over but referee Paul Upton
saw no wrongdoing.
The last action of the game saw Maddox head over.
Luckily for Rothwell, other results went favourably
and they remain clear of the relegation places.
But whether they can stay out of them all depends
on today's game at Cecil Street against Aylesbury
– and, yet again, other results.
Malvern: Wright, Stanford, Clayton,
Critcher, Cannon, Snook, Crowther (sub Parsons,
14 mins), Devlin (sub Allington, 78 mins), Williams,
Gill (sub Jones 55 mins), Malins.
Rothwell: Malong, Hackett, Glass,
Marlow (sub Maude, 66 mins), Flannigan, White,
F Koriya, Boyle-Chong (sub Wiltshire, 66 mins),
Goodall (sub Locklin, 82 mins), Byrne, Maddox.
Subs not used: McIlwain, Dorrill.
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