Royals Match Report 2005-06

Royals become U10 South Champions in style

 Tenbury South 1-16 Royals (League, 03-12-05)
(Carless-Turland 7, Hearle 5, Smith, Lewis, Groom, Riley) 

A wet and windy day did nothing to stop the Royals totting up a record score, with the Royals playing some of their best football  this season to date.  The discrepancy between the two teams became evident the minute the game got underway. Indeed it took just 18 seconds for the Royals to score their first goal. Hearle was the marksman. It was to be his first of a haul of seven goals. The goal resulted from a sweeping passing movement which left the opposition stranded. There were many more moves of the same ilk to follow. 

Sixteen may sound like a high score, but it could easily have been twenty or so. For the best Tenbury player by a long chalk was their goal keeper. He made some excellent saves. Not only that. Half way through the second half he changed jerseys and moved to centre forward. There he scored Tenbury's only goal. A long clearance by the Tenbury keeper found the Royals' defenders out of position and the Tenbury ex-goal keeper ran onto the ball, managed to get away from the out rushing Holtz and slotted the ball into the net.

The Royals played one of their most aggressive games to date. Though their task was facilitated by the weak opposition, their high score was a reflection of their mastering the passing game. The forwards were very mobile, moving into pace, passing to one another and backing one another up. The midfield were comanding and provided super service to the forward line. When there was no way forward with the ball, there usually was a player behind to whom the ball could be passed. From there the ball could be switched to a different part of the field from which to launch a renewed attack. There was no selfish seeking of goals. 

Twice such back passes even led to goals, one of them scored by Riley moving up from his defensive position and the other another long shot from Riley that was helped in by Carless-Turland.  Riley's goal was spectacular. From not far inside the Tenbury half Riley gave the ball a tremendous whack and it sailed into the top right corner of the net. Unstoppable. 

The first half thus ended with the Royals having scored seven goals. The team received fulsome praise from Manager Smith. 

The second half was much like the first. An injury to Groom brought Lewis into the game. There was a particularly delightful set of one-twos between Carless-Turland and Hearle which produced goal number eight. Goal number nine came when the Tenbury goal keeper's attempt to throw the ball to a team mate was intercepted by Hearle who then proceeded to bang it in while still quite far out. Goal number ten came after a long shot by Brayne landed at the feet of Lewis in front of goal. Blocked by a defender Lewis unselfishly passed the ball to Hearle who scored. Brayne almost scored himself soon after with a high shot on goal which the Tenbury keeper only just managed to palm away. 

Carless-Turland also had a field day. Goal number twelve came from a solo effort by him. He got hold of the ball not far inside the Tenbury half and simply dribbled his way through the defenders and shot the ball past the keeper. He also headed one home and had the last word with goal number sixteen, a beautifully lobbed shot over the head of the keeper. 

All in all a most pleasing performance by the Royals, also eliciting admiring comments from the supporters of Tenbury watching from the sidelines.

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