Shortwood 2 Bewdley Town 0 – Hellenic League Division 1
Shortwood made it three wins on the spin to move up to sixth in the table, writes Harry Ash.
After a scrappy and unsettled opening ten minutes, the breakthrough came after 37 minutes. Fin Byrnes’ swirling free-kick met by the head of Alfie Bradshaw, beating Lloyd to the ball and finding the bottom corner.
Just as in the first half, Bewdley started the second strongly. Saho Umaru’s through ball found Lees once again, but, from a tight angle, Wright was able to repel the low shot with his legs.
Again Shortwood were able to react to the Bewdley threat, doubling their lead ten minutes after the restart. Byrnes released Jack Gardner down the right, whose cross caused chaos in the Bewdley area. Martin’s shot was blocked, but the ball fell to Dom Kent, who set up Byrnes to finish the move he started, curling left-footed into the far corner.
The remaining 40 minutes became increasingly disjointed, with injuries and flare-ups between both sets of players disrupting any sort of rhythm. There was an off pitch incident involving Martin and Alex Clarke which saw the latter booked after pushing Martin over. Gardner dived in on William Dearlove which provoked a mass gathering around referee and assistant, who eventually decided on a yellow card.
Shortwood: Wright, Williams (King E 77), King T, Byrnes, Tryner, Smith, Gardner (Jaggers 77), Kent, Bradshaw (Whelan 85), Martin (Gayner 77), Payne
Star Player: Alfie Bradshaw
