Royals Match Report 2004-05

Poor Finishing Denies Victory For Magpies

Church Stretton 0-2 Knighton (League 03/10/04)

With Knighton currently being top of the league and with all their players one year older than the Magpies, a difficult match was anticipated. Would the Magpies be outclassed? No, within the first few minutes of the game it became apparent that the Magpies were the more polished side with excellent passing movements and aggressive intent. The first five minutes of the game saw one attack after the other on the Knighton goal and the visitors were forced to concede a string of corners. Smith had no less than three shots on goal in these early minutes, though none found the back of the net. Throughout the first half the Magpies were on the move with intelligent passing, hard running and a long series of shots on goal. Particularly noteworthy were two superb shots, one by Carless-Turland, the other by Hearle, both narrowly wide. But many others were well wide or meekly into the arms of the goal keeper. Gradually Knighton got more into the game with some good passing movements of their own. From a corner Knighton shot dangerously across the face of the goal. One very long shot went just wide, as did another from closer in. Knighton thus demonstrated that they did have fire power and they were not top of the league by chance. The Magpies defence had to be continually on the alert and deny the Knighton strikers space. An unfortunate defensive slip up then allowed a Knighton striker a clear run with the ball ending with a superb shot which sailed high into the Magpies' net with the keeper looking on helplessly. The 0-1 deficit was rather against the run of play and was shortly followed by half-time. 

The second half saw some good attacking football from both sides with the Magpies again having the edge, except in finishing. More good running and good passing regularly took them into the Knighton penalty area but somehow the final shot was always wide, diverted by a defender or straight at the keeper. Lewis, Hearle and Carless-Turland all had chances. And when Case replaced Smith, to give the Magpies another string to their bow, he too had scoring opportunities which failed to come off. At the other end the Knighton strikers produced a number of dangerous moves all parried except for one. A long ball forward found the Knighton forward who had been lurking close to the Magpies goal for most of the match. When challenged by the Magpie keeper he fluffed his shot but the ball still trickled goal wards and over the line to make it 0-2. Lady Luck was on Knighton's side this Sunday, having resolutely turned her back on the Magpies. But it was an exciting game to watch with some excellent football played by the Magpies against strong opposition. It almost seemed better to lose when playing so well than to win when playing poorly.

Team: Cameron Holtz, Simon Riley, Michael Brayne, Joe Hearle, Rory Smith, Harvey Carless-Turland, Tom Lewis.  Subs: Jack Case, Dominic Robinson.