Gentle breeze as the Wood welcome Studley, in front of a large appreciative and eager home crowd.

A brief moment in the second half for the referee and Studley captain to engage in private matters of mutual interest Then on with the game.

Some excellent close quarters soccer delighted the spectators all through this match

The seventh and last goal to the Wood, and one for the history books. A long range lob from well in the Wood half clears the Studley goalkeeper for an amazing goal. Pele world class quality. And I missed it.

First half and the Wood’s keeper has some work to do. No trouble.

Home supporters yet to arrive in their seats as the match is about to get under way.

The breakthrough first goal,to the Wood late in the first half, There, somewhere.

Nearly half time now, hot tea beckons as Studley respond well, leaping for this ball in an attacking move on the Wood’s goal. Cracking soccer.

Second half and Studley are being out-played at every moment, yet, to their credit they continued to give the game everything they had, and this was noticed and appreciated by all the spectators.

Winter and woolly hats for the choir of angels, sat sitting in the stand. Love local soccer.

Start of the second half and the sky falls in on Studley with this snap goal to the Wood, before spectators could place their glasses of lubrication on the new railings. Just a moment!

Players celebrate the first goal as thrilled home supporters reset their woolly hats . How would Studley respond?

A sporting contest played hard and well by both teams.

A fast and furious match at times with Studley working hard to attack, and the Wood’s defence holding well. Visibly greater effective determination by the Wood with every move made them stand out in this contest today.

First half and the Wood begin to fire on all cylinders

First half and Studley surprise the Wood with this attack on goal, which petered out, sadly for Studley

One of several delightful sparring sorting contests was this where these two opponents played their socks off. Smashing and a credit to them both.

One of the things I like at the Wood is being able to stand very close to the action and appreciate the skills shown by all the players.

A penalty, before-time gives the Wood a two-goal lead.

Then the Wood score another snap goal. Two goals in three minutes. Home supports throats are raw with shouting, their winter woolly hats are still askew from the previous goal, glasses of precious nectar remain to be sipped . Not even time to light up another Woodbine

The ref brings the game to an end. The players of both teams shake hands, then leave the pitch together to receive applause from all the spectators who stay to express their delight and appreciation. A super game to spectate.

First half and a well-oiled Wood squad are on the attack as Studley respond.

After goal number seven and the phrase must be “He will be well pleased with that goal.” Vocal, well-lubricated home supporters cheer in their own individual ways

Early in the first half and it is Studley who set the pace, initially. Interesting

Pictures and captions generously supplied by the young David Evans

Walsall Wood FC continued their steady and assertive rise yesterday afternoon (Saturday 13th January 2018) by beating visitors Study and Oak Park a whopping 7-0.

Bill Shaw was there, and left smiling:

Hiya Bob,

A superb win by the lads, but it could have been so, so different, Studley in front of goal were abysmal, not making the goalkeeper make a save from less than 10 yards is diabolical and they did that on three or four occasions. Wood to their credit took full advantage to open up a three point gap at the top over Leicester Road with Atherstone Town a further point behind with Ilkeston Town who’ve played a game more and visit next Saturday now seven points adrift.

It should be a cracker, because if nothing else they make a hell of a lot of noise.

Keep the faith.  For the Good of the Wood.

Walsall Wood 7 v 0 Studley

Wood already 2-0 ahead from a competitive first half came out all guns blazing after the break and just blew the Bees away to consolidate top spot. Worryingly for the other clubs at the top all done without strikers Paul Sullivan and Sam Agar.

Wood dominated possession from the off putting the Bees under almost constant pressure but a break out of defence saw Josh Westwood power in from wide right, his near post rising drive well held by debutant Wood keeper Ryan Price.

On 12 minutes Peter Till wide on the right released Tony Clarke into the right of the box, he found Lei Brown who laid the ball back into the path of Jordan Fitzpatrick to hit a first time effort just over.

Two minutes later a break through the centre of the Wood defence with Karl King and Luke Dugmore cleverly releasing Chris Cowley into the box only for him to fire weakly wide.

With 22 minutes gone Cowley took advantage of indecision in the Wood defence, raced to the left byeline, crossed low into the centre, Price parried Kings first time effort and skipper Mitch Tolley completed the clearance.

Great, professional match footage as created by the superlative Russell Smith at The-Wood.tv

It proved important as two minutes later Wood took the lead, a lovely through ball from Fitzpatrick put Tony Clarke into the left of the box, he calmly chipped the ball over the advancing keeper Ryan Young. It took just five minutes for Wood to double their lead, an intricate left wing move ending with Till releasing Clarke into the box, he  went down under a desperate challenge – penalty – Lei Brown 2-0.

Straight from the re-start the Bees won a free kick on the left of the D, Eddie Wynne-Wilson firing in a rising drive that was comfortably pushed over by Price. The last action of the half saw Westwood cross from wide right, King firing hopelessly wide.

Wood made it three a minute into the second half, Till crossed low from the left, keeper and defender left it for each other and Brown pounced to score from close range. On 49 minutes Ben Lund collected a ball wide right, cut inside and fired into the far corner to open his Wood account. A minute later a ball over the top of the Bees defence saw Young race out to fly kick clear from Clarke.  Wood were content to play the ball around in midfield for a few minutes until they ripped the Bees apart on 72 minutes, from a left wing throw Till played the ball inside to Clarke, he carried the ball across the face of the box and set up Fitzpatrick to roll a 20 yard low effort just inside the right hand post to make it 5-0.

To their credit the visitors kept trying to take the game to the Wood and on 74 minutes hard-working Westwood cut inside from the right of the box, swapped passes with Cowley, his low drive well held by Price at full stretch.

Two minutes later a clever right wing move ended with Lewis Hayden crossing to the far post, Brown pressuring a defender into putting the ball into his own net. With three minutes left Mitch Tolley played the ball into the left of the box keeper Young fly kicked clear from Clarke, the ball collect by Hayden just right of centre 40 yards out, he took one touch and put the ball into the top left hand corner giving the poor fast retreating keeper no chance as the score reached seven without reply.

A superb all round performance as Wood ended Bees title challenge with this demolition job.

It’s Ilkeston next at the Wood when they visit next Saturday, should be a cracker, don’t be late.

Bill Shaw.

The Teams:

Walsall Wood – Price, Hayden, Deakin, Walker, McFarlane, Tolley (captain), Till, Fitzpatrick, Clarke, Lund, Brown, Agar, Westwood, Rowley, Sullivan Ransome.

Studley – Young, English, Wicketts, Clarke, Dineen, Ludlow (captain), J. Westwood, Wynne-Wilson, King, Dugmore, Cowley, A. Westwood, McCalla, Garvey, Casey, Oldfield.

Thanks to Bill and David for the report – and good luck to the lads for the rest of the season. This really is quite gripping to watch!