Loddon Utd 2 – 1 Wells Town Sat 24th Jan 2026 2.00pm ko
Scorers: Tipps, Nick Bailey
Assists: El x2ish
Loddon: Jack Trowbridge; Jamie Whiteman, Bailey Hill, Jack Tipple,
Tom Green; Elliott Hannant (c), Jacob Short, Nick Bailey; Dexter Lee,
Marcus Dunthorne-McInerney, Alex Kounnas.
Subs: Ben Ashby, Harvey Johnson, Oliver Reader (unused)
Manager: Jake Sharpe Assts: Paul Reader, Andrew Zagdan
Lino: Jack Cook….thankyou

What a well earned three points this was. Hard yards and graft, especially over the last half hour after Shorty unluckily received his marching orders, was well appreciated by the supporters at the final whistle. Wells played much better than expected given their lowly position, so we had to dig in even with eleven men.
Kicking towards the Crossway Terrace End, we started with decent possession but no real end product. Tidy defending by Bailey and Tipps and their full backs kept the visitors at bay in the first minutes. Tipps hit a wonderful 60 yard pass to Kounnas on the left but it was just too long. Nick played a 1:2 with Kounnas and ended up in the left of Wells’ box. He played the ball back to Kounnas who’s shot was deflected to the keeper. Then on 7 minutes, Nick played a backpass to Tipps but both he and Bailey had switched off. A Wells forward nipped in between them and shot low but thankfully Jack dived to his right at full stretch to save. Wells knocked the ball into our box, Jack came but the Wells forward used his hand to get there first and was booked. Two good tackles by Jamie and then a long clearance to win a throw high up the field won appreciation from his managers. From the throw Marco was tripped just outside the area but unfortunately, El’s free kick scraped the wrong side of the right goalpost. Wells responded with a drive from 23 yards and again Jack saved at full stretch. Jamie cleared the resulting corner and Greeno cleared the following cross as Wells created the better early chances and seemed to pick up more second balls.
After 15 minutes, feeling unwell, Jamie had to come off and was replaced by Ben Ashby in a straight swap. Shorty saw yellow with a poorly timed challenge and Ben fired a hasty long range shot well off target. Another cross from Wells threatened but thankfully Shorty got back to pressure the striker and make him head high over the bar. Nick was awarded a free kick, El crossed the ball deep to the far post where Tipps tried an acrobatic overhead kick, unsuccessfully, before Marco volleyed over the loose ball. Shorty blocked a clearance, the ball spilled to Marco who played it out to Kounnas. He crossed, Dex knocked the ball back in but Marco missed out in the 6 yard box. Another good cross from Dexter evaded both Marco and Kounnas but we now seemed to be getting a better foothold in proceedings with half an hour gone. Greeno went on a mazy slalom run (I expect he goes skiing) but ended up in a cul de sac (no doubt the Robster would’ve dramatically gone down!). Jack showed good hands to hold a long free kick dipping under his crossbar. Bailey rose to meet a corner and force the visiting keeper to fingertip away. El’s next corner flew to the far post and this time nobody would stop Tipps as he rose, hung like a well matured steak (say nothing El), and watched his bullet header almost burst the net on 37 mins. 1 – 0
Greeno did really well to cover Ben and Bailey, then raced down the left, received from Tipps, crossed deep and the keeper just tipped the dipping ball over the bar. Shorty’s header from El’s corner was blocked and we were certainly now on top. Good skills and eventual movement from Dan Cox in retrieving the ball shows our strength in depth on the sidelines! Kounnas had an effort blocked before Shorty headed back into the box and Kounnas fired a shot just wide of the top corner. Shorty dropped to his knees to control a difficult stray pass, Marco had a wiggle and a shot saved and Tipps could only find the side netting from another corner as we finished the half well, and in control. HT
Harvey replaced Dex for the second half. We put ourselves in trouble with some poor passing deep in our own half but got away with it when Ben cleared. It was a sloppy disjointed first few minutes as Wells pushed to find an opening. Jack patrolled his area well covering the odd ball over the top. But on 50 minutes Tipps was finally beaten and Jack couldn’t keep the final shot out. 1 – 1
Maybe this was the kick up the backside we needed but it still took a while to settle.
A Wells cross was just over the bar, and a Shorty clearance was blocked, the ball fell kindly and their shot straight to Jack. El showed his experience and slowed down play. He spread right, but Harvey’s decent low cross only found a defender who cleared. But El did it again, taking a throw with a bit of banter in front of the away dugout. Nick picked up the ball from ‘Baby’ El, carried it across the field from right to left and hit a left foot wonder strike from 20 yards which completely surprised the visiting keeper and found the net off the inside of the keepers right hand post. Pure quality from Nick creating a goal out of nothing on 56 minutes. 2 - 1
Greeno showed some good touches working with Nick but we couldn’t break through. Shorty cleared a Wells free kick and Bailey was brave in a challenge. But then a red card. Shorty was sandwiched and held by two Wells players. He flailed an arm to release himself but caught one of the Wells boys in the face (well, that’s what the boy was holding) and was sent off for a second yellow.The remaining 28 minutes would be tough. The boys had to work so hard; Bailey cleared long, Marco latched on but was closed and was having to chase as a lone ranger up front. In defence, Jack came out for a through ball but was not going to reach and it was Greeno who got there first, and stretched with a quality tackle to concede a corner…which somehow turned into our free kick(?) Harv and Ben pressed well when we progressed into their half, and Nick was immense in midfield. Another brave header by Tipps risked a foot in the face but Tipps never pulls out. Appeals for a backpass were waved away when Jack picked up a ball which bounced off Tipps. Harv played a delicate flick to Marco who beat one defender but his tired legs couldn’t carry him past the second. Dexter replaced him for the final 6 mins plus added time. Greeno won another tackle and fed Dex down the left. He carried the ball to the byeline, cut in beating a defender but squared when maybe he should have pulled the trigger, but a good bit of play nevertheless. Kounnas came to help, but lost possession too easily allowing Wells to break and force Jack into a top save by pushing the ball over the bar. The last few minutes were hectic with mistakes on both sides and real heart from us. El twice covered coolly in our box, Jack made a couple more good saves and Harv headed clear a deep free kick epitomising the ‘all hands on deck’ defending. Dex even had a half chance when Wells got in a muddle and still got back to stop the breakaway. Wells missed the target with a last second chance and we survived to celebrate 3 more points.
A giant character at the back…the Starkings & Watson’s MoM has to go to Tipps with a free pint at the Jub Social.

Many thanks as always to Match Sponsor…‘Ado Battisson and Barry Edwards’ and to the match ball sponsor… Midas Displays

Home again on Saturday v Dersingham, see you there…2pm ko…….. JC