Royals Match Report 2005-06

First half prowess kills off Onny.

Onny Tigers 1-7 Royals (League, 18-09-05)
(Hearle 3, Lewis 2, Carless-Turland, OG)

A very pleasant Sunday morning found the Royals at Burway cricket ground in Ludlow to face Onny Tigers, last years winners of the U8s league. The morning was cool and overcast with no breeze at all. Perfect football weather. 

The Royals started off well, taking the game to Onny. Hearle had an early shot on goal which just went wide. Smith had a header on goal which also went wide. A goal would surely soon come. And it did. From an excellent corner taken by Hearle, Lewis headed powerfully into goal to give the Royals an early advantage. Onny responded with a good attack which ended with a shot on goal from a narrow angle which made it easy to save by Holtz. The second Royals goal followed shortly afterwards. A long goal kick by Holtz brought the Royals attackers swarming forward. After some passing between them it was Hearle who had the final touch with a powerful well targeted shot which beat the diminutive Onny keeper. 

The Onny players were mostly younger, smaller, less robust and slower. They did, though, show good footballing skills. But they found it difficult to break out of their own half. The Onny keeper had a weak ground shot and often preferred a short kick to one of his defenders. With the Royals dominating the midfield, Onny found it difficult to launch an attack. When they did they looked quite dangerous, dribbling forward with some speed and determination and passing well. But they were up against a sturdy Royals defence. Except that on three occasions, when the Royal defenders had moved up, the Onny strikers whizzed forward and had a clear run on goal. They could well have scored on each occasion. 

These lapses notwithstanding, the Royals were very much on top. The third goal came after yet another excellent corner kick by Hearle. The ball hit the legs of an Onny defender and bounced into the Onny goal to make it 3-0. A fourth goal followed, this one much like the first one. Yet another beautiful corner by Hearle found the head of Lewis who propelled the ball into the goal like a rocket. No keeper in the league could have saved it. The Royals passing game now flowered, the ball moving freely between Carless-Turland, Smith, Lewis and Hearle. Hearle produced goal number five. Carless-Turland in front of goal unselfishly passed the ball to Hearle who was in a better shooting position. Hearle's first shot rattled the upright and bounced back straight to him. He made no mistake with the rebound. The sixth goal came from Carless-Turland himself who headed in a beautifully flighted cross from Lewis, after a superb passing movement ended in Smith seeing his well struck volley being well saved by the Onny keeper. Onny responded with a lightning attack on the Royals goal. The defence had moved up and suddenly found themselves scurrying back. But an Onny striker was well ahead and with only Holtz to beat fluffed his shot. 

Manager Smith at half time praised his team for the great football they were playing. He was, however, concerned about the defence which at times was out of position and allowed Onny to break free on three occasions, each of which could have produced a goal. He encouraged the defence to tighten up and the forwards to practise their passing game and bang in another six goals. For the second half Robinson was replaced by Brayne at the back and Carless-Turland, who injured his foot, was replaced by Groom at centre forward. 

The goalfest of the first half was not repeated. The second half was in fact a draw. Onny scored one goal and the Royals only managed one themselves. In part this was because the new formation in front did not gel as well as the one of the first half. Passing became less accurate and at times ragged. But praise should go to Onny who, unfazed by their six goal deficit, had a good second half. An impressive passing movement, which caught the Royals defence on the hop, allowed an Onny striker a clear shot on goal. Unhappily for him he shot just wide. But when they broke through again, once more leaving the Royals defence trailing, the Onny striker bore down on the out coming Holtz and cleverly shot past him to make it 6-1. Riley was then replaced by Robinson. 

Onny had much more of the game now and showed some good passing movement. But the Royals too strung together some excellent movement. From one of these Hearle scored again to achieve a hat trick. He is back in top form and had an excellent game. In the late stage of the second half Onny was giving as much as they were taking and the two teams appeared more equally matched. They showed great promise, at times unsettling the Royals defence with long balls forward. Next year this will be a team to be reckoned with. The Royals defence did not have a good game. At times the nifty Onny strikers succeeded in breaking through and could have scored more often. 

In the post-match talk Manager Smith emphasised the need to work on defence so as to cut down the scope for the opposition to score. Also the Royals did not always help one another. At times a Royals player on the ball had no one to pass to as no team mate had made himself available. In spite of these shortcomings, taking the day as a whole, it was a brilliant display by the Royals and they well deserved their victory.

Team: Cameron Holtz, Simon Riley (c), Dominic Robinson, Rory Smith, Joe Hearle, Tom Lewis, Harvey Carless-Turland. Subs: Ed Groom, Michael Brayne