Saturday 31st December 2011 – Evesham United 1 vs 0 REDS

Report by the

A LAST gasp penalty miss from Jake Jones ensured there was to be no festive cheer for the Reds as they were edged out in this tense derby tussle.

A spot kick from new Evesham midfielder Neil Mackenzie sealed the win in a game that could have gone either way.

There was drama even before the game when Tesfa Robinson picked up an injury in the warm-up prompting manager Graham Hyde to hand former Worcester City favourite Jemiah Richards his first start at the heart of defence.

And it was the defender who almost handed the visitors a third minute lead with a header only for Melvind Benning to clear off the line.

A Tommy Berwick handball was punished by Mackenzie’s seventh minute penalty and Marcus Palmer went close to adding a second but Redditch keeper Dean Coleman blocked his effort with his legs.

The Reds then took control of the half and missed two excellent chances to draw level. Berwick latched on to a Deabill flick only to see his shot blocked by the keeper on 14 minutes while Deabill missed a glorious chance ten minutes later when he miscued in front of goal after pouncing on a weak back header.

Evesham also missed chances, the pick of them falling to Palmer who rounded the keeper only to fire over from a narrow angle.

The Reds made a change at the start of the second period with Richards being replaced by Kyle Knot.

But they still created the better chances against their Worcestershire rivals.

On 77 minutes, Berwick’s free-kick was sliced on to his own bar by Craig Connor before the Redditch striker put another effort just wide of the target.

Then, with just two minutes left, Jones was tripped inside the area by defender Connor. The referee pointed to the spot but the young Walsall winger thumped his spot kick against the upright with keeper Dan Platt diving the opposite way.

Reds: Coleman 6, Stringfellow 6, Richards 5 (Knott 46, 6), Forde 6, Williams 6, Grimes 7, Jones 5, Halsall 7, Deabill 7, Berwick 7, OSBORNE 8. Subs (not used): Moses-Garvey, Clarke, Bedford