Quilt puts Cradley to bed

Cradley Town 1-4 Willenhall Town

By Martyn Simpson

Fresh from his stint as a goalkeeper on Thursday, John Quilt returned to a more familiar attacking role and scored a hat trick as Willenhall swept aside perennial Midland Alliance strugglers Cradley Town.

The game gave the Reds plenty of concerns however, as a weak defensive display would have let a more potent side back into the game. Willenhall started the game brightly enough, and went ahead inside 14 minutes as Mark Swann played a clever chipped defence splitting pass. Quilt read it well, and kept his composure to lob over the advancing keeper to open the scoring.

Jamie Petty almost doubled the lead shortly after, but his sweetly struck left footed shot crashed off the underside of the bar, but Willenhall didn’t have to wait for long to add to the scoring. A corner from the right hand side was flicked on, and Phil Rowe was on hand to plant a firm header into the back of the net.

Nine minutes before t he break and it was three, as a Cradley defender got himself into a tangle and was dispossessed by Paul Danks. The ball broke to Quilt, who was left with a simple finish.

As the fans enjoyed the cricket in the clubhouse at half time, when the players emerged for the second period it seemed likely that a cricket score would be on the cards at the Beeches, but it never materialised as the home side fought back. They reduced the deficit on 62 minutes, as Barry Richards smashed a free kick home, and Cradley began to start pulling the strings. However, a defensive error gifted Quilt an opportunity as the Cradley ‘keeper came rushing out but missed the ball. Quilt accepted the gift and was left with another simple finish to complete his treble.

“That was a good workout,” said Larry Chambers after the game, “and though we’re not going to read anything into the score line, it was nice to see John Quilt amongst the goals.”

Cradley’s Midland Alliance rivals Tipton Town await on Monday, for Willenhall’s final warm up game before the Southern League Division One West opener against Dunstable Town on Saturday.

Line up: Morris; Teraund, Heaney, Ellard; Derry (Myers 53), Holland, Swann (Sheppard 61), Rowe (Derry 75), Petty; Danks (Voice 51), Quilt (Perrow 71)

Don’t forget to follow Willenhall Town’s progress on 107.7 The Wolf.