The 1st Team followed up their 3-0 away win against Chipperfiled on Saturday with a battling 5-1 victory over the same side at the County Ground.
Baldock flew out of the blocks and their pressure was rewarded after five minutes when Harry Holland coolly finished from six yards out after good work from Jack Gregson.
After 10 minutes Baldock’s dominance had made no further impact on the scoreline and like Saturday, Chipperfield grew into the game and started to get a foothold. Midway through the half the visitors began to enjoy some decent possession and by the end of the first period, they could have counted themselves unlucky to go in behind after taking control of the final fifteen minutes.
Rhys Davies came on for the injured Harry Holland at the interval and the change paid immediate dividends after his good work allowed Skelton to score from close range with a neat turn and finish.
The next five minutes were like watching the highlights of a match as Baldock created chance after chance. Gregson crossed for the impressive Josh Furness who somehow, saw his diving header go ‘upwards’, when anything ‘forwards’ would have meant a goal! Davies then went through only to shoot wide, while Gregson saw his powerful strike well saved by Piper in goal for the visitors.
Similar to the first half though, Chipperfield began to claw themselves back into the game and when an excellently worked free kick saw leading scorer Charlie Hurlock head home it was well and truly game on!
The next twenty minutes was a tight battling affair which saw both sides work extremely hard with not a lot being created. Two games in quick succession was taking its toll on Baldock as tackles were flying in and George Stillwell, the Baldock Physio was working as hard as anyone.
The non-stop action of James Smith, making his first start since his return from Uni was replaced with the busy playmaking style of Connor Pennery and once again, the change had an instant effect! A good break by Nicky Stilwell saw the full back feed the ball into Pennery, whose smart turn and pass was met perfectly by Davies who finished well with his right foot to give Baldock a two-goal cushion.
Chipperfield began to gamble and threw on a couple of subs to try and get back into the game but it was to no avail. Steve King made his final substitution of the night, bringing on the emerging Adam Furness and once again, it paid dividends within a minute. Pennery was once again involved as he played in Gregson who smashed into the top corner after rounding the keeper and then in the final minutes Skelton slipped in Davies who grabbed his second to put a gloss on the scoreline.
Make no mistake, this was a hard evening’s work against a very good Chipperfield side that worked and battled for 90 minutes and Baldock had to be at their best once again to beat them. Full credit to both teams who fiercely contested this game in a superb manner but Baldock proved to be too hot in front of goal.
1st Team: Farmer, Stilwell, Beadsworth, Lowden, Morgan, Rogers(A.Furness), Smith (Pennery), Gregson, Holland(Davies), Skelton, J.Furness
MoM: Rhys Davies sponsored by BD Electrical |
