Royals Match Report 2006-07

Royals battle to earn point
Royals 2-2 Presteigne (league, 15-10-06)
(Bourne, OG)

An overcast but dry Sunday morning at Russell's Meadow saw the Royals facing Presteigne North, a talented team which the Royals in the previous season found difficult to beat. Contests between these two teams have always produced thrilling games. So it was again this time. The first few minutes saw a ding-dong battle with some wayward passing as both team struggled to get some fluency in their game. The game was played at a furious pace. It was Presteigne which settled down first. A number of dangerous attacks were warded off by the Royals defence, with Robinson in particular having to do some sterling work as many attacks came down the right flank. But it increasingly looked as if the Royals were being outplayed. Presteigne nearly always appeared to be the first to the ball and quick to break forward. They played with great determination, had more possession and spent more and more time in the Royals half. A goal was clearly on its way.

After a number of near misses, the seemingly inevitable happened. Presteigne scored. A lovely passing movement by the Presteigne forwards caught the Royals defence flat footed and produced a well deserved goal. After 20 minutes another well-crafted Presteigne goal followed. Two minutes later Allan replaced Riley in defence. The Royals defence found it difficult to cope with the speed of the Presteigne attackers coupled with some astute passing. At the other end the Royals lacked penetration. A Presteigne defender was nearly always on hand to frustrate a Royals attack. The first half thus ended with Presteigne enjoying a two goal lead. They were well on top, having outplayed the Royals in all departments. The Royals stared their first defeat of the season in the face. It was hard to see them come back. 

Yet they did. The second half, sensationally, proved to be the mirror image of the first half. This time it was the Royals who were on the attack most of the time. They were the ones with passes well strung together. They were the quickest to the ball, playing with the greater passion. For long stretches Presteigne were pinned into their own half. Wave after wave of Royals attacks put Presteigne on the back foot. Presteigne's incursions into the Royals half became infrequent. Though they did have a number of scoring opportunities, they were no longer the menacing team of the first half. That role was taken over by the Royals. Why this total transformation? 

Bourne, who replaced Groom at the start of the second half, was the catalyst of the Royals' transformation. Bourne combined particularly well with Carless-Turland on the left wing, the two of them becoming a real thorn in the defence of Presteigne. More often than not the Royals attacked down that side. The Royals first goal came from there and, fittingly, it was scored by Bourne with Carless-Turland the provider. A wonderful strike which sailed above the goal keepers head and into the top right hand corner of the net. A second goal followed shortly afterwards. A fierce attack by the Royals forwards panicked the Presteigne defence. A shot by Lewis hit a defender's knee and ricocheted into the net. The Royals were back on even terms. Agnew replaced Smith half way through the second half. 

The Royals could have scored more than the two goals. A superb free kick by Green from 25 yeards hit the cross bar early in the second half. A header by Carless-Turland hit the upright. It was greatly to the credit of the Royals that they fought back to brilliantly in the second half. Everything that was wrong in the first half was put right in the second. The contrast with the first half could not be greater. With all their attacking the Royals could, with a bit of luck, even have scored a winner. However Presteigne too had a few chances in the second half and could have scored. In the end the 2-2 was a very fair result. Presteigne dominated the first half, the Royals the second. 

The Royals thus remain unbeaten and showed that they had the passion and resource to come back from a 2 goal deficit.

Team: Craig Keugler, Simon Riley, Michael Brayne, Dominic Robinson, Sam Green, Joe Hearle, Luke Miles, Rory Smith, Harvey Carless-Turland, Tom Lewis, Ed Groom
Subs: Will Bourne; Cameron Holtz, Jacob Allen, Jack Agnew,