Royals Match Report 2004-05

Magpies show plenty of passion and fight and are unlucky to lose.

Onny Plus 2-1 Church Stretton (Case) (League 31/10/04)

After a 2 week break Magpies returned to their fixtures to face Onny Plus, a second year under ten team. The game should have been played at Onny, but due to ground commitments it was played at Church Stretton.

Magpies made 2 changes from their last outing, in which they defeated Clun. Riley returned at right back, whilst in form Case kept his place on the left wing. The game kicked off on a typical autumnal morning; damp atmosphere and a very heavy pitch after a huge amount of rain in the previous week.

Magpies kicked up the slope in the first half, after winning the toss and soon found their rhythm - the two week layoff showing no signs of hampering their play. The passes soon began to flow and as early as 5 minutes Hearle came close when he whipped in a superb low cross from wide on the right which unfortunately was just out of reach of Carless-Turland.

Onny gave as good as they got and although their twin forwards created several good chances, Riley and Brayne were always there to stifle their attacks. With both Case and Hearle playing wide on their wings, the game was fast and furious, with plenty of crosses being whipped into the penalty area.

After 11 minutes Case was replaced by Smith, after the former received a nasty injury to the face. Smith took up his usual place in the centre of midfield, with Carless-Turland moving over to the left wing.

After 14 minutes a poor clearance from Magpies defence was sent straight to one of the Onny attackers. After a nifty bit of footwork he passed the ball to his team mate, who had an easy job to slot the ball past Holtz in the Magpies goal, to make the score 1-0 to Onny. This goal was rather against the run of play and the crowd played a vital part in keeping the Magpies' spirits up.

Magpies upped their determination after this goal against them and a barrage of pressure nearly paid off after 16 minutes when a through ball from Smith found Lewis, who held the ball up well, before laying it off to Hearle on the right. Hearle struck a fierce rising shot towards the Onny goal, which unfortunately went just over the bar.
On 18 minutes Brayne came close with a characteristic long range shot, which again did not quite dip enough to go under the bar.

Despite this good play from Magpies, things were to go downhill shortly afterwards, when a swift counter attack saw Onny break away from their own half. A mis-timed clearance by the Magpies defence enabled the Onny striker to run onto the ball and power the ball past Holtz for their second goal.

For the start of the second half, Case replaced Carless-Turland, and with Magpies now kicking downhill, they were hoping that they would be able to get back into the game. They were reminded to play their quick passing game and to keep possession as much as possible, in order to control the game.

This they did, and for large periods in the second half they dominated the game. Smith was outstanding in the centre of the field, challenging for every loose ball and laying off countless passes to the forward line. Hearle got better and better as the second half progressed, covering every blade of grass on the right hand side of the pitch.

On 14 minutes Groom replaced Brayne in defence and his energy helped Magpies to assert even more dominance. One minute later Magpies persistent pressure paid off, after Case was set on his way with a pass from Smith. After playing a neat pass to Lewis, Case received it back again and shot low and hard into the corner. The keeper was unable to hold onto it and the ball crept into the back of the net, to make the score 1-2.

With a little over 10 minutes to go there was everything to play for. Magpies began to throw more players forward to try to get the equaliser. Of course this left things tight at the back and on two occasions Hearle saved the day with decisive tackles in his own area. Holtz also made 2 stunning saves preventing certain goals.

Magpies played with more passion than probably ever before and this was shown when Smith gained possession in his own half and proceeded on a run, in which he took on and beat just about every Onny player, much to the delight of the home supporters.

Despite this outstanding team effort, Magpies were unable to pull back the one goal deficit they required by the time the final whistle went. However although they lost by the odd goal, they can be proud of their performance and the passion that they showed, against this Onny team, most of whom were a year older than themselves.

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