Royals Match Report 2006-07

Royals net nine to see off Tenbury
Royals 9-0 Tenbury (League, 17-09-06)
(Lewis 3, Bourne 2, Miles, Smith, Keugler, OG)

Sunday morning at Russell's Meadow started overcast with a gentle drizzle as the match got underway. Royals were without Allan (sickness) and Weynberg (unavailable) and the suspended Groom and Carless-Turland. Royals captain, Smith, won the toss and elected to play uphill for the first half. The first few minutes already saw the Royals dominating possession, but the passing was somewhat inaccurate and the first serious shot on goal took some time in coming. The players tended to bunch together and the midfield became very crowded. Smith was the first to attempt a shot on goal, however, it was straight at the goal keeper who succeeded in pushing it out for a corner. As the game progressed the Royals began to pass the ball around with greater fluency, but found it difficult to beat Tenbury's off-side trap. Bourne soon showed his class on the left wing, dribbling past defenders with ease and crossing into the centre. So far his crosses failed to reach a Royals' player, but a goal was clearly on its way. 

First to succeed was Miles. Bourne passed the ball to him from the left and Miles released a strong shot from just within the penalty area, which was well beyond the reach of Tenbury's keeper and made it 1-0 to the Royals. A good attempt by Green followed shortly afterwards, but this time the keeper managed to keep the ball out of the net. Tenbury did succeed to break into the Royals half a number of times but no actual shot on goal was forthcoming. The Royals defence readily dealt with the incursions well before they posed any real threat. Indeed Holtz (in goal) was only called upon to field the ball a few times during the first half. As the first half wore on the Royals increasingly got into their stride and the Tenbury defence came under considerable pressure. Half time came after a number of near misses but without another goal being scored. 

For the second half Weynberg replaced Riley in defence. Now playing downhill, the Royals took full command of the game and one goal followed another. Tenbury were literally overrun. Keeper Holtz did not touch the ball a single time as Tenbury were pinned into their own half. Their goal clearances failed to give them any breathing space as the ball was quite often intercepted by a Royals player. Not being given the ball, the Tenbury forwards were not able to show what they were capable of. The second Royals goal was a brilliant effort. Hearle raced with the ball down the right touch line, passing a few Tenbury defenders on the way, crossed to beyond the Tenbury goal where Bourne was waiting. He slotted the ball into the net with ease. 

The floodgates then opened. The third goal was scored by Lewis. A poor goal kick by the Tenbury keeper went straight to Lewis who stormed forward and steered the ball into the back of the net with aplomb. The strain was beginning to tell on the Tenbury defenders. An inaccurate pass back towards the goal keeper rolled into the net to make it 4-0. Agnew was then taken off and Keugler joined the defence. Lewis then scored again with a strong header into the top right corner of the Tenbury goal. Miles was the provider with a beautifully floated in cross. 

Passing became more accurate as the Royals settled into their positions and began to locate each other better. Smith was next on the score sheet to make it 6-0. A shot by Green was parried by the Tenbury keeper but the ball rolled free and Smith was onto it in a flash. However soon afterwards he was injured in a collision with an opponent and was replaced by Riley with Keugler pairing with Lewis upfront. A lot of shots on goal were forthcoming, but were often wide. Various Royals were also caught offside. Lewis then scored his third goal with another powerful shot to make it 7-0. Keugler showed great eagerness in his new position as a striker, storming forward on every occasion. Three times he was caught offside. But when Hearle provided a beautiful long cross into the centre he timed his run perfectly and scored with a left foot shot placed passed the keeper to make it 8-0. Two more goals followed. The first was scored by Bourne from a very narrow angle on the left side, after Keugler had slipped the ball into his path. The second may have been an intended cross by Hearle which instead sailed high into the back of the net. 

An excellent performance by the Royals, albeit against a very weak team. The Royals started to settle down to playing on a bigger pitch with eleven players and confidence has been gained.  

Team: Holtz, Riley, Brayne, Agnew, Smith (c), Green, Miles, Robinson, Tom, Hearle, "Bourne"; Subs: Weynberg, Keugler.