Royals Match Report 2005-06

Royals Battle their way to well Deserved Victory.

 Royals 3-0 Ludlow North  (League, 22-01-06)
(Lewis 3)

Ludlow North traveled to Church Stretton for this third fixture of the campaign, a team which the Royals had previously beaten twice prior to Christmas, in two fiercely contested cup games.

This game was far removed from many of the previous matches where the Royals' superiority had been clearly established virtually from the first whistle. Ludlow gave as good as good as they got and it took a while for Royals to settle down and find some rhythm.

After just 6 minutes, Royals took the lead when Lewis strongly dispossessed a Ludlow midfielder just inside the Ludlow half. He ran  towards goal and hit an unstoppable shot from around 20 yards out. The shot hit the underside of the crossbar and bounced down over the goal line to make the score 1-0.

As the first half progressed Royals had a number of chances to add to the score. On 14 minutes Hearle dribbled the ball forward and moved into a shooting position but his powerful shot was well saved by the goalkeeper.

On 18 minutes Smith hit a sweet shot that was heading for the top corner of the goal. With the goalkeeper beaten a Ludlow defender pulled off a diving save to turn the ball round the post. A penalty was awarded which Lewis blasted low, but the keeper somehow managed to hang on to the ball after it rebounded off the post, to pull off another excellent save.

On 22 minutes a cross by Hearle from the left had both Lewis and Carless-Turland unsuccessfully lunging for it before it was cleared for a corner. Carless-Turland headed just wide when he got a head to the resulting corner from Hearle. 

Ludlow North produced some dangerous attacks but each time they moved forward Riley and Robinson defended exceedingly well, each time frustrating the Ludlow North strikers. The one time a Ludlow attacker found himself in a good shooting position and put in a good shot, keeper Holtz palmed the ball away. This was in fact the first serious save he had to make, a reflection of the good defensive work by the Royals back line, supported by the mid-fielders.

As half time approached it became clear that the Royals were playing the better football and were on top. They could in fact have had two or three more goals while Ludlow North had only one real scoring opportunity.

In the second half Ludlow North came more into the game, needing to send players forward to try to rescue something from the game. Ten minutes into the second half Groom replaced Carless-Turland due to a recurrence of his thigh strain. 

12 minutes into the second half the ball came out to Riley close to the half way line. He took a couple of steps forward and hit a superb shot that was dipping into the goal. Only an equally superb save from the Ludlow keeper, tapping the ball over the bar, prevented a certain goal.

After 14 minutes Royals made it 2-0 when a shot by Hearle from the right, beat the keeper and looked like going in. Lewis was there to make sure and he belted the ball into the net from close range.

Still Ludlow North did not give up and during the following period were at their most dangerous. On two occasions Holtz was required to make saves from excellent shots by Ludlow strikers. With 10 minutes remaining Hearle was replaced by Brayne to strengthen the defence and to protect the lead. 

With just 4 minutes remaining Lewis bagged his hat trick. Holtz threw the ball out to Smith who beat his man to ran forward just inside the Ludlow half. With 2 defenders approaching he played a wonderful through ball for Lewis, who with just the advancing keeper to beat, delicately chipped the ball over his head and into the goal. 

In the second half the Royals played superbly even though Ludlow North made it very difficult for them. The Royals played with great passion and thoroughly deserved the win against their tenacious rivals. At the back the Royals defence chalked up another clean sheet, an added bonus. There were big smiles in the Royals camp. Justly so.

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