Royals Match Report 2005-06

Tigers scare Royals and nearly cause upset.
Onny Tigers 1-2 Royals (League, 05-03-06)
(Lewis, Groom)

Back at the Burway Sports Ground, the Royals faced a team who they had 2 months earlier beaten 7-0. Another victory could have been anticipated and another victory it was, but a laboured one. 

Onny Tigers played one striker well forward. But the other players remained deep most of the time. In the early stages of the game there were some good passing movements by the Tigers. They clearly were a much improved team from earlier in the season. Often when they had possession deep in their own half they kicked the ball as far forward as they could towards their striker. One early dangerous looking one-on-one by the Tiger's striker against goal keeper Holtz ended with Holtz just getting to the ball first and booting it away. Another one soon after also came to nothing as the Tiger's kicked the ball too far forward and it went out for a goal kick. But it showed that the Tigers were capable of attacking and scoring. One Royal defender was thus allocated to shadowing the Tiger's attacker. 

The Royals were physically the stronger side, but their usual fluent passing game deserted them on this occasion. There was hesitation on the ball, inaccurate passing, waiting for the ball to come rather than moving towards meeting the ball, slow to tackle and not battling for the ball. At times the Royals were struggling. Half way through the first half it appeared quite an even game, the Tigers playing above themselves, the Royals below themselves. 

The Royals nearly opened their account when a shot by Brayne hit the underside of the cross bar of the Onny goal and appeared to bounce inside the goal. But the referee judged that the ball had not crossed the line. 

The Royals were the more skilful and experienced and this allowed them to move ahead. On 14 minutes Groom found Lewis down the centre with a pass, Lewis then hammered the ball into the back of the net to make it 1-0 to the Royals. The Tigers almost equalised soon afterwards. Awarded a free kick well outside the Royals' box, an Onny player produced an excellent shot which only just curled past the left top corner of the Royals' goal. Another free kick from much closer in was struck against the Royals' wall. A good chance missed by the Tigers. 

The Royals moved further ahead minutes later when Groom, unmarked in front of goal, headed home from an excellent corner by Hearle. In spite of being two goals down, Onny Tigers defended well. The Royals could nevertheless have gone further ahead.

Minutes later Onny were awarded yet another free kick some six yards outside the Royals' box. Groom was adjudged to have taken the Onny striker out, when actually he played the ball first. Onny produced a magnificent free kick to make it 2-1 (though there was some doubt about whether the free kick was justified). 

Half time came with the Royals' lead of one goal a fair reflection of the game. Undoubtedly the better team technically and physically, the Royals were playing well below their best. The Onny Tigers, on the other hand, played with great determination and even passion. 

For the second half Robinson replaced Groom in an attempt to stabilise the midfield. Encouraged to battle hard for the ball, to pass the ball around and to score two or three more goals, the Royals returned to the field of battle. Some good moves did materialise, but on the whole the standard of play by the Royals did not improve. Passing remained for the most ragged. This was partly because the Royals faced a determined defence with most of the Onny Tigers usually pulled back behind the ball, making for a very crowded area around the goal. Yet there were a number of highlights. One of Hearle's many excellent corners produced a good header by Lewis which only just sailed above the cross bar. A good passing movement between Hearle and Lewis ended with a Lewis shot which just whistled past the left upright of the Onny goal. Hearle himself late in the game thundered a ball into the back of the net but it was disallowed because of an infringement. Smith was a success in his new position, replacing the suspended Carless-Turland on the left wing. 

Onny Tigers themselves had one memorable passing move which ended with a strong shot going just wide of the right upright. It could so easily have ended in a draw. Thus the second half produced no goals at all. Onny defended well but rarely threatened the Royals' goal. They worked hard and were quick to the ball. The Royals, on the other hand, were well below their best. But they did create many scoring opportunities, two of which went in, a third one appeared to have gone in but was not awarded and there were two or three near misses.

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