Royals Match Report 2003-04

Not a vintage performance but 3 more points in the bag.

Church Stretton 5-1 Clun
(Carless-Turland 2, Smith, Brayne, Jervis) (League - 22-02-04)

It was not their best performance, but Magpies still did enough to gain another important 3 points in their league campaign. With there being no Reserve team fixture, Simon Riley and Joe Hearle were rested and Kieran Adams and Hugo Jervis were drafted in for first team experience.

Extremely windy conditions, made things difficult for both teams, although Magpies had the benefit of having the wind behind them in the first half. All the teams in the league have improved significantly over the course of the season, and Clun are no exception. Despite having lost every game this season, they made Magpies battle hard. Both teams had equal amounts of possession during the first period.

On 8 minutes, probably the best move of the match saw Magpies take the lead. A fine run out of his own penalty area by Michael Brayne on the left side saw him find Harvey Carless-Turland on the left wing, with pin-point accuracy. Harvey then used his pace to take the ball round the Clun right back and sent a high cross over into the penalty box towards Rory Smith, who found the back of the net from 5 yards with a left footed volley.

This setback inspired Clun and they fought hard from the re-start, twice going close, with Ed Groom saving well in the Magpies goal.

On 13 minutes Magpies made it 2-0 when Harvey Carless-Turland received the ball midway in the Clun half and after some clever footwork to beat 2 Clun defenders shot home past the keeper, who could only watch the ball go past him.

On 16 minutes Magpies were awarded a penalty for hand ball. Some of the spectators thought this was a harsh decision as the Clun player was unable to do anything about it, but the Dutch referee was adamant! Harvey Carless-Turland stepped up and made no mistake with the kick to make it 3-0.

Half time saw the score stay at 3-0 and for the second half Kieran Adams replaced Harvey Carless-Turland up front, as Harvey had to replace Ed Groom in goal who had a foot injury.

With the Magpies now going against the wind, they knew it would be a tougher second half. For the first part of the second half, the half-time changes seemed to make the team lose their way a bit, and several times Clun broke away from within their own half, to put pressure on the Magpies defence. However Michael Brayne and Dominic Robinson were equal to them and Clun were unable to finish the job.

8 minutes in the second period Kieran Adams went close after a strong attacking run saw him shoot just past the post. After 10 minutes Hugo Jervis replaced Dominic Robinson in defence and after only having been on the pitch for 4 minutes, he broke from his own half and outpaced the retreating Clun defenders towards the Clun goal. He fired home a powerful shot which the Clun keeper had no chance with, to make it
4-0.

On 16 minutes some good passing play down the right-hand side by Clun, saw their centre forward cut in from the right and confidently strike his shot past Harvey Carless-Turland in the Magpies' goal to make it 4-1.

With 2 minutes of normal time remaining Michael Brayne made one of his surging runs down the right side of the pitch and from a narrow angle hit one of his "rockets" which found its way into the top corner of the net. A superb finish to make the score 5-1.

Team: Ed Groom, Michael Brayne, Dominic Robinson, Rory Smith ,
Harvey Carless-Turland. Subs: Kieran Adams, Hugo Jervis.