Alex Toogood proved that his four goal debut against Magdalen a fortnight ago was no fluke, netting a first half hat trick before the quarter of an hour mark, against title challengers New last Wednesday. In what was expected to be a tight match, Worcester dominated play in the first third of the game to devastating effect as three well-taken Toogood goals in six minutes took the fresher’s tally to seven in two games. Taking advantage of a fumble from New’s substitute goalkeeper, Josh Bullock’s goal sealed a disastrous half for the visitors. New captain, New were revived in the second period: “Our half time decision to change to a sweeper at the back rather than the flat back four made the game much more evenly balanced.” This was certainly the case as New took advantage of the absence of Toogood and Plaxton (both due to first half injuries) to pull one back with a scrappy goal from substitute James Sutton five minutes from time. Despite restoring pride, however, New never looked like mounting a comeback as Worcester’s defence remained strong and the midfield pairing of Weston and Hobbiss continued to hassle and annoy New.Worcester’s midfield sliced the New defence apart in the first quarter to devastating effect. In the eighth minute Weston’s incisive through-ball split apart the two centre-backs putting Toogood through to open his account. Only a minute later, quick passing in midfield sent a direct ball to Toogood, who sent the keeper the wrong way and finished clinically. The 14th minute brought Toogood’s hat trick as the New College defence was found wanting for pace. However, the first half ended scrappily with two bookings, both for needless challenges. The absence of Toogood and Plaxton was notable in the second half as chances dried up for Worcester. New threatened more and began to challenge in midfield with Darren Wychall hitting the Worcester cross-bar from a cleanly struck volley on 71 minutes. New were rewarded for their persistence in the 85th minute when James Sutton scored after Worcester failed to clear their lines from a corner. this, however, Worcester were predominantly solid in defence during the second half as they had been in the first. Clearly the arrival of talented freshers this year, particularly Toogood, has helped strengthen Worcester’s squad. Did someone say the Blues needed a striker…?Dan Bagshaw, put his team’s poor first half performance down to a lack of concentration at the back: “It was just the first ten minutes where there was a total lack of concentration from our defence. We can’t afford to do that when the opposition have pace up front.”ARCHIVE: 3rd week MT 2005
