Royals Match Report 2003-04

Magpies so close to cup glory.

 Onny 3-2 Church Stretton
(Carless-Turland (Pen), Hearle) (League Cup Final - 16-05-04)

A blisteringly hot day brought out the biggest crowd of the season to see the Magpies U8 team play in their first ever cup final. The match was played at the Coors stadium against league winners Onny. Despite pushing Onny all the way Magpies sadly ended up losing by a single goal. However, they put on a display that will be remembered by all those who watched the game and they can be proud of their achievements after having much the harder route to the final, beating both Craven Arms and Coreley in the previous rounds.

The match kicked off at 10:00am, with not a cloud in the sky and the temperature already approaching 20 degrees centigrade. The official was Mr Kevin Gripton of Clun. Magpies stuck to the team that had defeated Coreley in the semi-final, with Michael Brayne and Dominic Robinson named as the two substitutes.

The first half was a fairly even affair and was end to end football, played at a frantic pace. Some nervous early moments came about when Onny striker Moffat broke free on two occasions. Riley had to be at his very best to deal with this and did so competently to the delight and relief of the Magpies supporters.

Magpies patiently dealt with this early onslaught and as the game progressed gained more and more confidence. They could and should have taken the lead on 10 minutes when Riley send away Hearle down the right wing but with Smith and Carless-Turland both unmarked in the middle, he shot into the side netting.

Onny's best chance of the first half came on 14 minutes when a long clearance by their keeper was misjudged by the Magpies defence and Onny's attacker was able to break away towards the Magpies goal. With only Groom to beat in the goal, he fortunately put his shot wide.

Five minutes later Smith came close when he couldn't quite direct his header after a corner from Hearle was floated across.

The teams went in for the break at 0-0, with Magpies finishing the stronger team and indeed having the better of the first half. No changes were made at half time and Magpies were told to stick to their normal passing game. It was vital that they prevented Onny top scorer Moffat from having too much time on the ball, and they carried this task out admirably.

4 minutes into the second half Hearle crossed the ball into the Onny penalty area and the Onny defender was judged to have handled the ball, preventing Carless-Turland from meeting the cross. Carless-Turland stepped up to take the penalty kick and although the keeper got a hand to it, it was struck too powerfully for him to stop it, making the score 1-0 to the Magpies.

The crowd were ecstatic and encouraged the team to press on with the job and to get straight back in from the re-start. Magpies lead lasted just 3 minutes when a through ball from midfield caught the defence out and in a one on one against Groom in the Magpies goal, Onny blasted themselves back into the game.

It was important for Magpies to keep their heads up, as with still 13 minutes left the game was still there for the taking. Despite being disrupted by the equaliser Magpies tried to get on with their job, but Onny now had newly found confidence. On 10 minutes they won the ball just inside the Magpies half and broke down the right wing. A low cross was whipped in and met sweetly by the forward who tucked it home from 3 yards to make the score 2-1.

From the re-start Magpies gritted their teeth and started to play again. When in trouble, go back to the basics, and that is what they did. Smith came very close after 12 minutes when his shot went agonisingly just past the far post after the keeper was stranded. Hearle also saw a shot well saved by the Onny keeper soon after.

On 14 minutes Onny dealt a further blow, when the Magpies defence failed to pick up a long clearance. They broke away from the half way line and a through ball found the Onny forward with only Groom to beat. He made no mistake in giving them a 3-1 lead.

One minute later Brayne replaced Smith, and Robinson replaced Harvey Carless-Turland to try and introduce fresh ideas. With just 2 minutes to go Hearle found the ball at his feet and took on 2 Onny defenders to score a trademark goal to make the score 2-3.

Onny defended in numbers for the remainder of the game and the final whistle .blew shortly afterwards, making the final score 3-2 to Onny.

Both sets of players came off to rapturous applause from the crowd, all agreeing that it was the most exciting and skilful game that either team had been involved in all season. Although on the losing side this time, there will be more success in the future and the lads can be very proud that they made up one half of such an enjoyable match.

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