POWICK progressed into the next round of the Marltey Cup, but made hard work of beating their lower league opponents.

GOODREST SPORTS 0, POWICK 6

With changes being made in order to rotate the squad, Powick began in a rather disjointed manner that was to encapsulate the first-half performance.

Despite this, Powick carved out several decent chances and Gary Henderson, Jamie Abba, Dean Drinkwater and Tim Lambeth all went close. Defensively Powick coped well and although the movement of the Goodrest forwards was promising, Powick managed to contain their hosts.

With ten minutes of the half remaining, a powerful run by Tim Lambeth saw him provide Powick with a lead they had been threatening.

Strong half-time words seem to have the desired effect and Powick began to play with greater control. On the flanks, Dale Humphries and Michael Pearson were having more of the ball and their ability to put the ball in dangerous areas was allowing Powick to dominate the game. The introduction of leading scorer Stu Harvey and the pace of Nick Prosser proved to be the catalysts for the goal rush. Two quick strikes from Tim Lambeth saw him bag a deserved hat-trick and good work by Michael Pearson led to two clinical finishes by Stu Harvey.

The persistence of Nick Prosser led to him claiming the final goal of the game.

Credit must be given to Goodrest, who never gave up and held their heads high.

Special thanks to Anne and Reg from the Cross Keys for their continued support.

POWICK 3, WORCESTER JUNIORS 1

WITH several players missing, table-topping Powick knew this would be a tough fixture against a Worcester Juniors side who had proved stubborn opposition when the two teams met in the Katherine Rayer Cup.

Kicking up the slope, Powick found themselves unable to retain the ball effectively and nearly went behind when poor marking from a free- kick gave the home side a real scare. With poor quality service to the front pair of Harvey and Lambeth, Powick found themselves forced to dig in and the back three of Collard, Knight and Lynch were put under great pressure.

Thankfully for Powick, they did manage to get themselves going and although it had been a disappointing half Powick did end it with some glimpses of composed possession.

The second-half began in even fashion though again it was the away side who were carving out the better chances. Just as Powick were getting themselves going again, Worcester broke and with far too much space, the visiting forward crashed the ball home from eight yards.

This woke Powick from their malaise and parity was quickly restored when excellent work from Lee Henderson saw super-sub Adam Soley score with quite literally his first touch.

With tails up, Powick quickly grabbed a second when Lee Henderson twisted to find space in the box before guiding the ball into the far corner. The vital third arrived with 20 minutes remaining when a short corner routine between Gary Henderson and Andy Collard saw the latter cross for Stu Harvey to head on to Adam Soley, who confidently netted.

The final period of the game saw the visitors press hard but fail to find a breakthrough.

A massive plus for Powick was the return of Pete Brannelly, who had been out of action for almost a year following knee surgery.

Powick would like to thank all at the Red Lion pub in Powick for their continued support.