Royals Match Report 2005-06

Magnificent Royals dominate top of the table clash.

Craven Arms 1-7 Royals (League, 15-10-05)
(Carless-Turland 3, Hearle, Smith, Groom, OG)

The local derby against Craven Arms has over the years brought mixed results for the Church Stretton team. On some occasions they were comprehensively beaten, on others they excelled, gaining the upper hand over their neighbours with a superb performance. What would it be this time? A tough match was expected which would test the Royals' capabilities more so than any of their previous encounters this season. With both teams level on points at the top of the table this match was a "six pointer". 

For the first half the Royals were playing slightly uphill. But there was no breeze. It was cool rather than cold, once more perfect weather for football. Craven Arms started with a striker positioning himself quite close to the Royals' goal, signalling an aggressive intent. Robinson was assigned the job of shadowing him, a job he was to fulfil to perfection. The first five minutes or so of the game Craven Arms did indeed attack the Royals goal, playing good attacking, passing football. It looked as if the Royals were in for a tough game. It took some time before the Royals responded in kind. Their first attack ended with Hearle shooting somewhat tamely into the arms of the Craven Arms keeper. But, somewhat against the early run of play, surprising themselves and the spectators alike, the Royals scored from what was only their second attack to make it 1-0. The ball was crossed in from the right by Hearle. Carless-Turland lost his marker and headed the ball home into the top right hand corner. 

Virtually from that moment on the Royals began to impose themselves and play better and better. More and more attacks were mounted on the Craven Arms goal and the home side was increasingly forced onto the back foot. They indeed looked rather taken aback by the Royals skills, not knowing quite how to respond. Hearle in particular down the right hand side was a thorn in the flesh of the opposition. More often than not he broke clear of the defence, advancing towards the corner flag and supplying the central strikers with crosses. Half way through the first half it looked like an exciting game with some excellent football being played by both sides, the early period belonging to Craven Arms, followed by a good spell by the Royals. 

During the remainder of the first half, however, the Royals increasingly began to dominate proceedings, never really allowing Craven Arms back into the game. The midfield was particularly impressive, with the Royals quick on the ball, fighting hard for possession and usually winning the ball. Craven Arms was forced into some desperate defending. For instance a strong shot by Carless-Turland was well saved by the Craven Arms keeper, diving to his left and palming the ball wide for a corner. Not that Craven Arms didn't have their moments. A couple of times they broke forward with speed providing the Royals defence with several anxious moments. But the defence held. Robinson was outstanding and Holtz seemed confident in goal making some routine saves. But the Royals kept pressing forward and produced a long series of outstanding passes. It was a joy to see so many passes arriving at their intended destinations. Also there was superb back-up. Whenever a Royal player was cornered he was usually given the option of passing back to a team mate backing him up. The now relentless attacking by the Royals did meet with some stout defending by Craven Arms and the first half ended with the Royals enjoying only a slender one point lead which did not fully reflect the superb football they were playing.

Manager Smith at half time was full of praise for his team. Every one was playing superbly. He encouraged his team to stay focused and not to lose concentration. Playing the way the Royals were, the goals were sure to come. As long they continued to play tight at the back and continued to play so well in midfield victory was well within reach. He encouraged his team to be patient, certain that the opposition would make mistakes and that more goals would be scored by the Royals. 

The Royals started the second half on a high note with a number of attacks on the Craven Arms goal. It was almost inevitable that the Royals would score. Hearle started proceedings with a beautiful shot from quite far out followed in short order by an equally impressive shot by Carless-Turland. Suddenly it was 3-0 for the Royals and the anxiety among the Royals supporters on the touch line was assuaged. The Royals now had a comfortable cushion of three goals and victory was beckoning. Soon after the cushion became plusher still with another superb goal by Carless-Turland to make it 4-0. At this point Hearle and Lewis were rested, to be replaced by Groom and Brayne. 

Not that the game was completely one sided. Craven Arms on a number of occasions broke forward with great speed requiring determined defending by the Royals back line. One attack was as a result of a rare mistake by the Royals defence. This unfortunately resulted in the conceding of a goal after a Craven Arms striker superbly lobbing the ball over the head of the advancing Holtz to make it 4-1. But it proved an isolated success.

The Royals were soon back on the attack with some superb passing movements. Craven Arms were now fading fast and subjected to more punishment. The prolific Carless-Turland produced another powerful shot which may have gone into goal anyway but was deflected by a defender leaving the Craven Arms keeper stranded. Technically it has to be counted as an own goal. This was followed by a superb shot from quite far out by the ever alert Riley which the keeper just managed to push wide. 

An excellent shot by Groom followed soon after which was well clear of the keeper to make it 6-1. Another excellent passing movement had the Craven Arms defenders in a twist and allowed Smith to score the seventh, a just reward for his sterling work in midfield. This ended an absolutely brilliant display by the Royals, their best ever in the view of Manager Smith, a view shared by all the Royals supporters. The Royals had great belief in themselves and with this form could beat anyone. They were outstanding at the back, in midfield as well as in attack as witnessed by the seven goals scored. Everyone not only played brilliantly individually, but also brilliantly as a team. The ball was passed around quickly with all the players working hard for one another. Manager Smith was very, very proud of his team's performance and is ample reward for all the hard work he has put into training and teaching footballing skills as well as bringing his team to full fitness, allowing them to outrun the opposition right up to the final whistle. 

The Royals are now top of their league, clear by three points from their nearest rivals. Moreover they now enjoy a big goal difference in their favour.

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