Royals Match Report 2004-05

Revenge Never Tasted Sweeter...

Church Stretton 2-1 Craven Arms (Lewis 2) (League Cup 13/03/05)

A still fresh and lightly overcast day, with only a faint breeze, saw the Magpies face the same team that overshadowed them the week before. What a difference a week makes! The Magpies were a transformed team. They played with great passion, dominated parts of the game and should have won with a wider margin than they actually did.

Two changes were made to the starting line up, with Robinson replacing Smith in the centre of midfield and Groom replacing Carless-Turland in the left midfield slot.

It was a good fighting start for the Magpies with the front line getting stuck in straight away. But all the shots on goal went rather wide. Gradually Craven Arms got more into the game and one dangerous forward move was frustrated when Holtz rushed out of goal and blocked a shot with his legs. The game then developed into quite a ding-Dong battle. Both sides made furious attacks on the opposition goals. But Craven Arms had only the odd tame shot actually on goal, though a number of strong shots went wide, one superb shot just sailed over the Magpies crossbar. Most of the time the Magpies defence was well on top of their job. Riley and Brayne fought with determination for the ball and almost always ended up by getting it away. Robinson was his terrier like best. 

On the other side there were plenty of good passing movements between in particular Groom, Hearle and Lewis. Many of Hearle's crosses into the centre were quite menacing. But the good approach work was not followed by good finishing. Somehow the final shots were often hurried and always wide. Still the Magpies were by far the more dangerous. Finally they did score. A rather tame shot by Lewis on goal (or was it a pass intended for Groom?) found the Craven Arms goal keeper in a flutter, unable to gather it. Through his legs the ball trickled tamely into goal to make it 1:0. A deserved goal nonetheless for all the hard work put in by the forwards. 

If the first Lewis goal was very much a soft one, the second one which followed only a few minutes later was out of the top drawer. A long strong goal kick failed to be cleared by the Craven Arms defence. It was gathered by Lewis who dribbled it forward and from still quite far out on the right side let loose a thunderbolt of a shot into the bottom left corner of the Craven Arms goal to make it 2:0. The first half ended shortly afterwards. 

Manager Smith was full of praise for his team, specially for always getting the ball away so quickly. Everybody was playing well. He especially complimented Hearle for his fantastic crosses. The only problem was in front of goal where controlling the ball and looking up to see what options were available could lead to better results. He also warned that Craven Arms would come out in the second half seeking to get back into the game, possibly changing tactics, doing things differently. 

The second half turned out to be a fierce battle with both sides giving as good as they got. A dangerous attacking move by Groom and Lewis was just foiled by the Craven Arms goal keeper coming out to get the ball. Excellent shots into the goal area once by Riley, once by Hearle, found no strikers on hand to take advantage. A long series of passes from Groom to Hearle to Lewis back to Hearle back to Lewis ended with Lewis shooting high over the goal. An injury to Groom led to Case taking his place two thirds into the second half. 

At the other end Craven Arms tried very hard to get back into the game and had a number of chances too. One header went just wide. Another beautiful header from a corner kick just sailed over the cross bar. From another corner kick a Magpie player nearly headed the ball into his own net. But overall the Magpies defence played exceedingly well, frustrating most of the Craven Arms attacks. Not quite all though. One Craven Arms attack coming from the right drew out Holtz. The Craven Arms player then crossed the ball for an easy tap in by a fellow striker. 

With the score at 2:1 both teams were fired up to play even harder, Craven Arms hoping to score an equaliser, the Magpies hoping to score another goal to make their win safe. A series of fierce attacks by Craven Arms finally yielded nothing as the Magpies defence held. At the other end Lewis nearly scored a hat trick when he intercepted a weak goal kick, dribbled forward but ended shooting wide. When the final whistle came there was great joy for the Magpies, mingled with some relief that victory was at last safe. 

Praised was heaped on the team, not only by Managers Smith and Brayne, but also by the Craven Arms coach and the referee. The referee said that the Craven Arms team failed to perform because the Magpies ran them off the pitch and that the Magpies were half a yard quicker on the ball than their opponents. Everybody ran their socks off. It was the Magpies best performance of the season and earns them a Semi-Final tie in April,

Team: Cameron Holtz, Simon Riley, Michael Brayne, Joe Hearle, Dominic Robinson, Ed Groom, Tom Lewis.  Subs used: Jack Case. Subs not used: Rory Smith, Harvey Carless-Turland.