21st May 2006 - Royals sweep up in presentation awards

Royals' players had difficulty in holding all their trophies and awards today in the presentations at Ludlow Stadium. The awards were presented by Manchester United player Sean Evans. The full honours list for 2005-2006 was as follows:

League Champions
South Shropshire Journal Cup Winners
Tenbury Cup Winners
South Division Champions

In addition to this 5 of the squad were presented with medals for representing the league against Telford and Shrewsbury.

21st May 2006 - ROYALS PULL OFF TREBLE AFTER TENBURY CUP FINAL WIN

Royals 3-0 Onny Tigers
Lewis 2
Carless-Turland

Royals season came to an end today on a waterlogged pitch at Ludlow Stadium, where they defeated Onny Tigers by 3 goals to 0. Despite the atrocious conditions both teams played some entertaining football and Onny Tigers showed why they will be a major force in the U10s league next season.

The game had to be moved to a spare pitch due to the surface of pitch 2 being under water, but the replacement was only just better.

Royals went in at half time 1-0 to the good after a Tom Lewis headed goal, and shortly after the break an he made it 2-0 from close range. Just 1 minute later Carless-Turland struck to give an almost unassailable lead of 3-0.

Groom replaced Lewis in the strikers position 7 minutes into the second half, while Robinson replaced Brayne who was complaining of injury, 3 minutes later.

A full match report will appear here.

16th May 2006 - ROYALS SOUTH SHROPSHIRE JOURNAL CUP GLORY

Presteigne 2-3 Royals (AET, score after 50 mins 1-1)
Preece 2            Lewis 2, Hearle

Royals pulled off a remarkable victory last night in the South Shropshire Journal Cup Final and brought home another trophy to Church Stretton. Against a classy Presteigne side which included 4 interleague players, Royals were made to fight all the way and twice came from behind to snatch victory.

Presteigne took the lead after 15 minutes after Preece hit a superb shot from 20 yards. A defensive mix up saw the ball fly straight into the back of the net without any attempt to stop the ball. Presteigne had by far the better of the first half and fully deserved their 1-0 half time lead.

Smith replaced Groom in the centre of midfield at half time and 10 minutes into the second half his creativity paid off when Royals equalised through Lewis. As the second half continued Royals got stronger and Presteigne seemed to tire. However Royals could not force the winner, and only some outstanding goalkeeping from Keugler in the Presteigne goal prevented them from scoring again.

Just one minute into extra time Preece struck again, this time from close range to give Presteigne the advantage, albeit against the run of play. Royals then had to dig even deeper and it took just 2 minutes for Hearle to fire home the equaliser after a delightful move between Carless-Turland, Smith and Hearle.

With just 5 minutes remaining and with the game looking like it was going to penalties, Lewis scored the winner to snatch the victory away from Presteigne.

A full match report will appear here.

Cup presentation video clip here.

15th May 2006 - Cup Final Preview

Royals could take one step nearer to their treble dreams tomorrow night when they meet Presteigne in the first of their two cup finals, the South Shropshire Journal Cup. This was the cup that took place after Christmas and was open to Division 1 teams only. In their last meeting, the semi final of the Tenbury Cup, Royals won the game 2-0. However the games between the two teams are always tense affairs.

Royals have two injury doubts - Carless-Turland (thigh strain) and Groom (back). Both will have late fitness tests.

The final takes place at the Coors Stadium kicking off at 7:00pm.

15th May 2006 - Royal's players excel in Inter-League competition

South Shropshire narrowly lost in the U10s Inter-League competition final after being forced to play a playoff against nearest rivals Telford. Despite having beaten them earlier in the competition, they lost 2-0.

The unorthodox method of awarding points meant that a playoff was necessary, when had the points been awarded 3 for a win and 1 for a draw, Royals would have won the trophy outright.

Hearle, Riley, Lewis,  Smith and Carless-Turland were all selected for the squad and were important contributors to the matches. Carless-Turland's input was limited due to injury.

The full squad was as follows:

Craig Keugler (Presteigne) - Goalkeeper
Will Fowden (Knighton) - Goalkeeper

Simon Riley (Royals) - Defender
Rob Jordan (Coreley) - Defender
Luke Miles (Craven Arms) - Defender
Sam Green (Onny Plus) - Defender

Joe Hearle (CS Royals) - Midfield
Rory Smith (CS Royals) - Midfield
Harvey Carless-Turland (CS Royals) - Midfield
Tom Lewis (Presteigne) - Midfield
Matthew Venables (Presteigne) - Midfield

Aled Preece (Presteigne) - Striker
Tom Lewis (Presteigne) - Striker
Ben Addigan (Craven Arms) - Striker

A squad photos can be seen here

A video of the medals presentation can be seen here and here

9th May 2006 - Cup Final dates announced

South Shropshire have announced the dates on which Royals will play their two finals as follows:

16th May 2006 - South Shropshire Journal Cup - v Presteigne - KO 7.00pm
21st May 2006 - Tenbury Cup - v Onny Tigers - KO 11:30am

Both games are to be played at the Coors Stadium

Click here for the full final's day itinerary.

6th May 2006 - Ludlow North 1-1 Royals

Royals looked jaded today as the just managed to earn a point from 3rd place Ludlow North. In a game made difficult by the rock hard pitch Royals struggled to contain their opponents. They did however take the lead through a Carless-Turland header, but Ludlow struck back in the 2nd half with a well struck free kick.

A full report will appear here.

5th May 2006 - Ludlow North Match Preview

Ludlow North will be doing their best to spoil the Royals' party on Saturday when the newly crowned champions travel to the Coors Stadium, for the final league game of the season.

Royals have never lost to their hosts in three years, and have already beaten them 3 times this season, but there has always been a lot of rivalry between the two clubs.

Two injury worries have hit the Royals - Carless-Turland with a groin strain and Groom with a back strain. Both will have late fitness tests.

The match takes place on Saturday 6th May at 11:00am.

2nd May 2006 - SUPER ROYALS CROWNED CHAMPIONS!

Church Stretton Royals put on an impressive display against a determined Knighton team tonight and won 3-0, to become the first ever team from Church Stretton to win the highest prize at any age group.

Goals from Smith, Carless-Turland and Hearle sealed the victory.

Royals had to wait for 7 anxious minutes, until the other game played tonight had finished, where upon the result was phoned through - Presteigne beat Ludlow North 2-1 meaning the Royals were in an unassailable position.

A full match report will appear here.

1st May 2006 - Knighton Match Preview

Royals travel to Knighton tomorrow night knowing that if other results go their way, they could be crowned champions. Presteigne host Ludlow north in the other important game, also tomorrow night. The permutations are as follows:-

If Royals win:
Ludlow win - Royals need at least a draw in the final game
Ludlow draw - Royals are champions
Ludlow lose - Royals are champions

If Royals draw:
Ludlow win - Royals need at least a draw in the final game
Ludlow draw - Royals need at least a draw in the final game
Ludlow lose - Royals are champions

If Royals lose:
Ludlow win - Royals need to win the final game
Ludlow draw - Royals need at least a draw in the final game
Ludlow lose - Royals need at least a draw in the final game