Royals Match Report 2004-05

Mighty Magpies nearly cause huge upset.

Church Stretton North 3-4 Church Stretton South (Lewis 2 (1 pen), Brayne)
(League 05/12/04)

The local derby against the highly ranked and free scoring Church Stretton South raised fears that the Magpies would be overpowered. Manager Smith said before the match that if the Magpies kept Church Stretton South's score below eight goals he would be pleased. Well, football can be an unpredictable game. And the fantastic fight put up by the Magpies was uplifting to behold. Not only did they restrict Church Stretton South's score to four, but they scored three themselves and could conceivably have won the game with a little more luck. Had they done so it would not have been by chance, but the result of hard work and some inspirational play. 

The stage was set right from the start. After just 4 minutes Lewis took possession of the ball near the halfway line. He dribbled down the right hand side, leaving a couple of defenders in his wake and, still far out on the right, let loose a stupendous shot which sailed over the Church Stretton South goal keeper's head and into the top left corner of the net. The expressions on the faces of the Magpies supporters on the sidelines were a mixture of disbelief and marvelment. Just to show that this was not a fluke Lewis almost scored again a few minutes later. Another determined dribble down the centre forced the Church Stretton South goal keeper to rush to the very edge of his area where he only just managed to foil Lewis. The Magpies had rocked their opponents. 

It was of course not one-sided. Far from it. A series of attacks were launched by Church Stretton South on the Magpies' goal. They at times passed the ball beautifully and often came close to scoring. Groom made a number of saves, including one outstanding one. Their equaliser, which came after 12 minutes, was somewhat fortuitous. From a corner a shot across goal hit Groom's knee and, unluckily, bounced into the Magpies' goal. Further strong attacks by Church Stretton South were met by some tireless defensive work by Brayne and Riley. The Magpies launched some good counter attacks. From one of them a strong shot from quite far out by Hearle went narrowly wide. 

After more pressure from Church Stretton South they finally succeeded in taking the lead. A fierce shot on goal was palmed back by Groom, but the ball unhappily went straight to a Church Stretton striker who booted the ball into the net from quite close range to make the score 1-2. The battle continued relentlessly. Another strong dribble by Lewis down the middle was again halted by the Church Stretton South goal keeper rushing out. At the other end good work by Riley robbed Church Stretton South of some opportunities to shoot at goal. Carless-Turland was sent on for Case towards the end of the first half. 

On 20 minutes a Church Stretton South player was caught handling the ball inside his penalty area. The awarded penalty was taken by Lewis. The Church Stretton goal keeper did get his hands to the ball, but it was struck too powerfully for him to hang on to it. The Magpies equalised! More furious attacks followed, including a fierce shot on goal by Brayne which was just saved by the goal keeper. Shortly before half time a Magpie player handled the ball inside the penalty area. The penalty was struck straight at Groom who saved it with ease. Half time came with the Magpies on a high. They could win this match and cause a major upset. Manager Smith exhorted his team to keep it tight. 

They did, starting the second half by going straight on the attack. An excellent corner taken by Hearle just sailed over the heads of the Magpie strikers. At the other end the Magpies had a stroke of luck when a weak back pass to Groom was intercepted by a Church Stretton South striker who, with an open goal, fluffed his shot. It rolled tamely past the right upright. Just a few minutes later Church Stretton South took the lead with the most flukiest of goals. A superb cross found their Lowther unmarked in front of goal. He mis-timed his header and it rolled down his back and into the Magpies goal and restored his team's lead to 2-3. Just 2 minutes later Church Stretton South extended their lead to 2-4. A loose ball slipped past several Magpies defenders, all failing to clear it out of harm's way. It ended up with a Church Stretton South striker who slotted in the easiest of goals. 

A spell of desperate defending by Church Stretton South followed as the Magpies tried valiantly to respond. Good passing and hard running put them in a number of dangerous positions, but Church Stretton South defended well. They also continued their attacks on the Magpies goal, but were met with some determined defensive work and good goal keeping. At one point Brayne was spotted with tears in his eyes, so intense were his efforts and fierce his determination. With 10 minutes to go Smith made way for Robinson and Case was brought back on for Carless-Turland. 

Another hand ball by a Church Stretton South player, this time outside the penalty area, presented an opportunity to Hearle. His powerful kick rebounded off a defender and the ball landed at the feet of Brayne. He let loose a canon ball of a shot which was virtually unstoppable to make it 3-4. A most deserved goal for the Magpies for their hard work and good play.

An exceptionally thrilling match ended soon after. It was the Magpies best performance of the season and it was against a team with players a year or even two years older and known for its ability to overrun weaker opponents.. Everybody played well, everybody contributed. Manger Smith was delighted, as were all the Magpie supporters. 

Well done lads!

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