MALVERN Town U16s made the long journey to Alcester in the Mercian Festival Junior League and came away with a three-goal victory thanks to a superb defensive display.

ALCESTER ATHLETIC U16s 0, MALVERN TOWN U16s 3

The first-half started with Josh Brentnall in superb form, having both a shot and a free-kick saved in the opening minutes. On five minutes a good challenge by Matt Hutchinson led to Malvern's first goal when Josh Brentnall beat the Alcester keeper.

Malvern kept up the pressure with Ashley Brown producing a further good save from the keeper on eight minutes and a Joe Blain free-kick found Ryan Mansbridge, who just shot over the bar. Malvern kept peppering the Alcester goal with a number of shots from Chris Wynne, Josh Brentnall and Ryan Mansbridge, but it was Ryan Mansbridge whose looping shot left the Alcester keeper flat-footed to make the score 0-2. Alcester rallied late in the half, forcing a good save from Dan Harris in the Malvern goal and the half-time score remained 0-2.

Malvern Town started the second-half with shots over the bar from Joe Blain and Matt Hutchinson and a Chris Wynne free-kick just missed the goal by inches. On 29 minutes a determined run by James Lush wrapped the game up for Malvern to make the final score, after a superb footballing display by both attack and defence, 0-3 to Malvern.

Malvern Town U16s are sponsored by Gas Appliance Showrooms Ltd of Malvern.

WORCESTER RAIDERS 2,

NEWTOWN SPORTS COLT U15S 6

NEWTOWN Sports Colts U15s visited Worcester Raiders with the bare 11 and got off to the worst possible start.

Within the first 10 minutes, the Colts were 2-0 down to a energised Raiders team, but to their credit the Colts hauled themselves back to a 4-2 lead by half-time.

Newell, Edwards, White, Caffull and Jaye, started tentatively for the Colts, but slowly showed their quality to give Buckle and Allison plenty of opportunities. Allison grabbed a brace with Jaye and Edwards also adding to the score sheet to revitalise the Colts. Scullion and White should also have at least hit the target from two quality corners from Edwards', and both Allison and Newell saw shots blocked off the line.

In the second half, Allison got his hat-trick and Caffull, with the best strike of the afternoon, extended the Colts lead. Roskams, Elmes and Scullion were always in command at the back, before the Colts lost Elmes through injury. In a lacklustre final 15 minutes the Colts, down to 10 men, settled for the win, with Johnson on his birthday, untroubled any further.

- The previous Sunday Newtown Sports Colts U15s defeated Lyppard HDN 3-1. Caffull on target with a hat-trick.

MALVERN TOWN WANDERERS u14s 10,

WORCESTER RAIDERS U14S 0

WANDERERS U14s dominated this game from the start on a cold and foggy afternoon.

Malvern have developed a good team approach in training and match play. Asquith had some lovely runs; Loader busy in the midfield supported all the front players and eventually was rewarded with a goal himself late in the second half. Banks and Titmus also played well and each could have scored.

The first of many goals came from a great run by Asquith through the defence with a pass to Smith, who knocked it in. Within a couple of minutes Howie took an excellent pass from Loader and scored from the right into the corner of the net past the keeper's left hand. Raiders broke from a corner late in the first-half and for a moment looked dangerous bringing the defence of Harwood, Parker, Ball and Reynolds the keeper into action. Asquith had a couple of good runs with a shot on target well taken by the keeper. The first-half was completed with a goal from Scullion in front of the goal following a cross pass from Howie.

The second-half was no less exciting with Wanderers having four corners in as many minutes, well defended by a busy keeper. A further goal came from Howie following a throw in. Smith then scored a goal following a great run from Asquith, set up by Loader with a neat chip. Following a rare break by Raiders' Harwood made a long run from the back with a good shot. Minutes later Loader hit a cross to Howie on the right, who passed it to the centre where Smith headed home.

Howie grabbed his hat-trick before Webb scored a goal. He was quickly followed by Asquith scoring on the break. A goal headed in by Smith looked like the last; however Loader collected a pass from Asquith and scored the final goal a just reward for his efforts

NEWTOWN SPORTS JUNIORS U13s 5, HARVINGTON 5

THIS U13s top of the table clash lived up to expectations as this match ended with honours even and four goals in the last three minutes.

Harvington playing with the slope were playing balls behind the Juniors defence and causing problems, Freeman was smart to save early as Juniors struggled to get a foothold in the match. Against the run of play Juniors opened the scoring with their first attack. Parker picked out Roskams who saw his initial shot saved but reacted to net the rebound. Harvington hit back with a towering header from a corner and then took the lead when the winger made the most of space to clip over the keeper. Freeman denied them a third with a flying save from a free kick.

The second half saw the Juniors dominate early, a smartly taken free kick set Watling free and his cross was met perfectly by Turner to score. Juniors then saw the woodwork deny them on two occasions and were caught out by a counter attack that saw Harvington get beyond the defence for the forward to easily score. Back came the Juniors with some excellent football that unlocked the defence and Turner showed his natural scoring instincts to equalise.

Harvington looked to have snatched the points three minutes from time, with Kyte struggling with an injury the forward took advantage to clip the ball over the keeper and into the net. Juniors promptly went upfield and a long ball into the area allowed Rock to pounce and grab an equaliser. With time up on the clock Harvington battled for the ball in midfield and set up another attack, Juniors failed to clear on the edge of the box and a snap shot crept into the bottom corner. Juniors now threw everyone forward as the referee kept looking at his watch.

A long throw into the area saw bodies everywhere but it was Turner who coolly latched onto the bouncing ball and swept home the equaliser to the delight of the home contingent and secure the spoils.

NEWTOWN COLTS U9s 1,

WORCESTER WIZARDS U9s 0

THIS Mercian Festival League fixture was an entertaining game.

Colts started the strongest with Ben Finch, Alex Doyle and Ben Jackson always a threat to the Wizard's defence. It was man-of-the-match Ben Jackson who got the only goal of the game with a superb shot from the edge of the penalty area giving the goalkeeper no chance.

The second-half saw Wizards on top hitting the Colts' upright on three occasions and goalkeeper Elliot Crump pulling off a string of fine saves. Colts defended superbly in the end to hand on to their slender lead.

Newtown Colts are sponsored by A J Taylor.

MALVERN TOWN WANDERERS U9S 5,

KEMPSEY COLTS U9S 0

MALVERN Town Wanderers U9s continued their recent improvement with a 5-0 defeat of Welland Colts in this Mercian Festival League fixture.

Wanderers' Adam Page was on top form and grabbed four of his side's goals with the total being completed with an own goal.

Kempsey tried valiantly to score but were denied by some fine saves by goalkeeper Courtney Bray and the strong defence of Max Lobo, Aimee Colbourne, Nick Smith and James Wilkes.

The team would like to thank their retiring coach Derek Street and son Matthew for all their hard work.