BLANDFORD UTD RES 1

CHICKERELL UTD 5

FIVE goals from striker Josh Why secured a one-sided victory as Chickerell ran out comfortable victors against Blandford United Reserves.

The Chickens opted for a change of system as they played with three in defence, and the shake-up certainly appeared to spark the team into life.

Why was in scintillating form, latching on to numerous well-placed passes from the midfield to slot home one-on-one.

The pick of the bunch came with a simply sublime chip from 20 yards which showed the supreme quality that the Chickens’ front man was feeling, with manager Steve Coward calling him “unplayable in that kind of mood.

He said: “It was nice to see him get on the scoresheet and get his rewards. He’s been good all year for us but it hasn’t always gone in the net for him, but he got five and could have easily got one or two more.

“Even their manager said that Josh is unplayable when he’s in this form. When he’s putting the ball in the back of the net you can’t do anything about it because he’s so quick-footed.

“If he was a bigger lad I think he would have gone on to play at a much higher standard. He’s a nice lad. He’s a local lad who just wants to do his best for the club.”

Coward also singled out 16-year-old Charlie Doyle for praise.

The youngster contributed three assists for Why and the manager has hailed his impact since stepping up from the reserves.

He said: “Charlie Doyle has really impressed me. He’s only a young lad but his vision and his ability is really good, and I hope what he is achieving will inspires a few other youngsters to come up through and do what he’s doing.”

Today sees the Chickens take on Boscombe Polonia in Coward’s final game in charge, and the manager says he is hoping to go out on a high.

He said: “If results go our way on Saturday we could end up fourth, which is a fantastic achievement considering where we were 10 years ago.

“I’ll be sad to go. It’s been my venue to go to for many years so it’ll be a weird change but hopefully we can go an enjoy ourselves.

“We’re hoping to have the third team playing before us so hopefully we can get some good numbers there.”

Chickens: Bickerstaff, Rogers, Welch, Tennant, James, Harvey, Doyle, Etherington, Hansford, Ryan Why. Subs: Bagwell, Murphy