Royals Match Report 2003-04

Onny Too Tough for Battling Magpies.

Church Stretton 1-5 Onny
(Riley) (League - 05-10-03)

Title favourites Onny came to St Lawrence's school determined to maintain their 100% league record and despite the final score, Magpies can be proud of their spirited and hardworking performance. They battled until the end and put in one of their best performances of the season to date against a physical Onny side.

Onny got off to the best possible start with a goal after only 2 minutes, after the Magpies failed to clear a corner from the near post and their striker fired home from close range.
The team picked themselves up and started to put some passes together, keeping possession for longer periods. This gave them more confidence and a resulted in a Harvey Carless-Turland corner just failing to find the feet of Simon Riley allowing the defence to clear the ball.

After 10 minutes Onny were awarded a free kick from about 15 yards out after an infringement on their number 10. Their defender made no mistake and blasted an unstoppable shot through the crowded penalty area. 5 minutes later they added a third when some slack marking by the Magpies allowed the Onny No 10 to slot the ball past the diving Ed Groom.

Half time saw Rory Smith replace Joe Hearle to provide more support for Harvey Carless-Turland up front, and Simon Riley dropped back to help Michael Brayne at the back. The benefit of this was seen immediately when the combined work of the front two, saw them come close after 3 minutes with the keeper saving well.

On 8 minutes a clearance from the Onny defence found Simon Riley in some space on the right hand side and after lining the ball up with his first touch, he powered home from 15 yards, firing an unstoppable shot past their keeper to make the score 3-1.

This injected a new lease of life into the Magpies and they started fighting harder for the ball determined to score again.

Onny countered and the match became more physical with the Magpies giving as good as they got. A long build up saw Onny score a fourth 12 minutes into the second half, with their striker shooting home from 5 yards after a goalmouth scramble.

On 14 minutes Joe Hearle returned to replace the injured Michael Brayne and the change in shape at the back allowed Onny to capitalise. Despite some heroic goalkeeping by Ed Groom, continued pressure saw them eventually score the fifth goal after a poor clearance landed at the feet of the attacker.

After 16 minutes Jack Case replaced Joe Hearle in a last desperate attempt to gain something from fresh legs. However it was too late and Onny returned home with the points.

Team: Ed Groom, Michael Brayne, Joe Hearle, Simon Riley, Harvey Carless-Turland. Subs: Rory Smith, Jack Case