Royals Match Report 2005-06

Royals hit home 6 in without hitting top form.

 Ludlow West 0-6 Royals (League, 15-01-06)
(Lewis 3, Groom 2, Smith)

The Royals started this game with a different formation and without Carless-Turland who had pulled a muscle and was not fully match fit. He had to be relegated to the bench. Perhaps because of the unusual formation, the early part of the game saw some scrappy and disjointed play by the Royals. They were struggling to string their passes properly together. Part of the reason was that the pitch was hard with little grass on it. The bounce of the ball was high and the ball tended to run away quickly. Still, the opposition was weak and it did not take long for the Royals to score their first goal. A shot from Hearle hit a Ludlow defender and was deflected into goal. Though even without the deflection it would probably have been a goal as the shot was powerful and well directed. The second goal followed shortly afterwards. Groom was the provider, passing the ball to Lewis who spun round and hammered the ball past the keeper, giving him no chance.

The Royals now fully dominated the game and the passing did improve. The third goal came when Brayne, from well within his own half, hoofed the ball deep into the opposition's half. It fell to Lewis who controlled the ball well, dribbled past a defender and unleashed another strong shot on goal, again giving the keeper no chance to save it. 

More than half of the first half had already passed before keeper Holtz had his first touch of the ball, such was the dominance of the Royals playing against a young and inexperienced team. Ludlow West in particular found it near impossible to get out of their own half from their goal kicks. Various players besides the goal keeper took goal kicks. But the ball seldom went far and mostly either landed at the feet of a Royal player or was intercepted by a Royal player. A fourth goal was scored before half time. One of Hearle's excellent corner kicks reached Groom in front of goal and he hammered it in from close range. 

At half time Manager Smith encouraged his team to keep it simple. Because of the high bounce of the ball he advised his players to keep the ball on the ground and to make quick short passes. So far the goals had not really come from good football. He encouraged the Royals to get back to basics and to get the passing game going. 

The second half started with a constant series of attacks by the Royals on the Ludlow West goal. Though some good goal keeping prevented another goal. Gradually Ludlow West got more of the ball and made some forays into the Royals' half. Their first proper goal scoring opportunity came after 10 minutes. Though a Ludlow West striker produced a good hard shot from within the Royals' penalty area, it was wide of the left upright. It proved to be their only real goal scoring opportunity of the match. 

The Royals continued to dominate the game and two more goals were scored. The fifth was perhaps the best as it came after some good passing. The ball finally came to Lewis in a good scoring position. The Ludlow West goal keeper rushed out and Lewis simply stabbed the ball past him and into the back of the net for a well deserved hat-trick. The final goal came after one of Ludlow West's attacks on the Royals' goal. Holtz fielded the ball and gave a long kick forward where Hearle picked it up on the right. He crossed the ball, catching the Ludlow West defenders out of position. Smith was on hand and had an excellent opportunity to add his name to the score sheet. He took his chance and buried the ball into the back of the net. 

In the final minutes Carless-Turland was brought on and Hearle was rested. No further goals were scored. It was a comfortable win for the Royals. At the back Riley and Brayne were in full command, mostly warding off the few attacks by Ludlow West with ease. Another clean sheet for the Royals! In front the Royals were not at their best, but still produced a credible performance which secured their place at the top of the league table.

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