Ordulph Arms FC 4 Western Mortgage Services 2 ORDULPH Arms won a hard-fought victory in their first official game in an entertaining encounter. The home side dominated the opening 20 minutes. David Downham twice went close for Ordulph from distance, forcing the visiting keeper into two good saves. Darren Smalley looked to have given the home side the lead, only to see his free kick come back off the crossbar. Ordulph had a succession of corners and a Craig Groombridge inswinger was flicked on at the near post by James Philpotts, only for the ball to come back off the post. Services then had a period of pressure, however Ordulph?s keeper Shaun Maloney produced some excellent saves. The away side then got their noses in front as a mistake by Philpotts gifted the visitors the lead. At half-time manager Mark Piper made some tactical changes. Ordulph pushed and got their reward when Craig Groombridge?s long range effort was too powerful for the keeper and equalised. Ordulph then had the momentum and a superb run by Darren Smalley saw him break into the box and a superb piece of skill forced a handball by a Services? defender to earn a penalty. Ben Stephens stepped up to drill the ball home. It looked as though the home side would extend their lead, however they became sloppy in front of goal, then a fantastic hit from the visitors flew into the top corner to level the scores again. Both sides had chances to go in front but the game changed when Services had a player sent off for lashing out at Nick John. Gliddon seemed to take the game by the scruff of the neck. Groombridge then delivered a wicked cross that eluded everyone and flew into the net to put the blues ahead. The extra man made a difference and Stephens set up Groombridge to complete his hat-trick.
