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The first XI faced a visit to the railway triangle for what is traditionally one of the toughest games of the season. The fact that Handsworth GSOB were lying in second place in the table added even more kudos to the fixture.
Wulfs received a tremendous pre match boost when they learned that Neil Parkes had recovered sufficiently from his fractured jaw to don a subs shirt and do an excellent job as bucket boy.
With a gale force wind blowing down the pitch but expected to ease up by half time, it was imperative that captain James Skedgel won the toss. He failed, so forty-five minutes of eleven man defending lay in store.
In fact Wulfs completed their first half task so well that Handsworth were restricted to a few corners and the occasional free kick, all of which were ably dealt with by goalkeeper Tim Tipton. One the rare occasion they threatened a shot, Skedgel was on hand with his trademark game saving tackle.
On the other hand Wulfs were the team who created the better of the first half chances. Ste Rich found the back of the net after Ant Morrison had miscued a close range free header in to his path but he was adjudged to be offside.
With the wind still howling and at their backs in the second half, Wulfs were expecting to dominate the territorial battle in the second half but Handsworth had other ideas. Far from backs to the wall defending, Handsworth dominated the fist ten minutes of the half but failed to create any clear cut chances.
Wulfs gradually regained a bit of composure and created a few half chances of their own. James Skedgel saw his effort cleared off the line, David Thompson sent a free header across the face of goal and Ant Morrison and Ste Rich both had efforts saved.
Just when it looked like the game was going to peter out into a 0 - 0 draw, Wulfs grabbed a last minute winner. Tim Tipton sent forward a long free kick, Paul Tudor missed the ball and Simon Hardle ran in behind him to chip left footed over a helpless keeper.
It was very harsh on a battling Handsworth side but if you want to win the league, you have to pick up a few ugly 1 - 0 wins along the way. This certainly fell into that category.
Final score: Handsworth GSOB 0 Old Wulfrunians 1.
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