Ramsbury FC win first game of the season with a late Rob Pocock penalty to earn 3 points!
Team
Ash
Mikey G Chris (C) James Ads
Skips Leigh Noah
Zac Rob Seany Red Boots
Subs: Oscar (GK), Dan, Ben G, Ben P, Byron
Manager Sean admitted that the match today wasn’t pretty and at times Ramsbury FC play was ragged and disjointed and looked like the team had booked an all inclusive holiday to Tenerife, had hit the bars hard for a week and had only got the red eye flight back an hour before the game, turned up and decided to play as if they were still on the beach…..ok….he didn’t say it…..but he was thinking it as he lay flailing on the ground in utter frustration as, at times, the play that bad…..but…. a win is a win….and in the end he was delighted with the first half display and of course getting the 3 points in the end.
The first half was all Ramsbury as they threatened with every attack using a 4-3-3 formation that put Lower Stratton on the back foot and which they had no response to. Noah Greenway tormented on the left with Zac doing the same on the right and Rob and Seany red boots finding loads of space. But Noah in his first league game for Ramsbury FC and showing strength and rapid speed picked up the ball in midfield and waltzed around a few players before smashing the ball into the top corner to make it 1-0. A stunning goal and a deserved score line.
Key to the Ramsbury dominance was the defence with James and Chris (C) in the middle and Mikey G on the right and Ads on the left; and who were absolutely solid and did not miss a header or a pass and looked top notch with excellent communication that kept the opposition subdued.
Lower Stratton were physically strong and battled hard and went close as they came back into the game and their keeper made some great saves to keep outs Seany, Rob and Noah and on another day Ramsbury would have been 3 or 4 goals up. The second goal did come after another top class cross from Noah caught the opposition defence napping and the ball fell to Rob who took one touch and then slotted the ball neatly into the bottom right corner to make it 2-0.
The game got a bit frantic for the last 10 minutes in the first half with neither team getting a grip on the game and Ramsbury losing shape and composure with two many loose passes and not keeping possession. The half ended 2-0 and Ramsbury firmly in control.
The second half was a completely different game with Ramsbury FC not doing what they talked about at half time and continuing to rush things and lose possession and not keeping shape and the wide players failing to back track and defend with needed. Stratton had a succession of corners and their big defenders went close twice and the failure to close down players resulted in a speculative shot from outside the area catching Ash off guard and being deflected into the net to make it 2-1. The opposition had their tails up and took the game to Ramsbury and went close again. Ramsbury stayed too deep and were relying on counter attacking. This nearly paid off after a monster tackle by Leigh in the middle won the ball back to Skips who guided it to Zac and who took a neat side step past the defender for a certain goal….only to see his shot miss the wrong side of the post by an inch! Should have been 3-1 and a bad miss.
Sean made changes that saw James who took a nasty knock to the ankle replaced by Ben G and Oscar replace Ash in goal and Ben P replace Seany. The fresh legs were needed as the hard pitch and humidity took its toll and Oscar made a vital save in the first 2 minutes of coming on as Ramsbury continued to look ragged and disjointed. Minutes later a huge punt forward by Stratton took a huge bounce on the rock hard pitch and was missed by Chris and the unfortunate bounce fell nicely for the Stratton centre half who clipped it past Oscar to make it 2-2….Sean fell to the ground in utter disbelief….the decent sized crowd fell silent and what should have been a decent win was now looking like a scrappy draw at best and more likely a crap loss a Ramsbury were put under continued pressure.
To give the boys their due they didn’t give up and Byron came on for Leigh, who was reluctant to depart as he is always up for battling and trying to snatch a winner, and Byron got stuck in from the start and linked well with Ben P and Rob up front in an attempt to get the winner. It was still frantic by both sides and another good counter attack saw both Zac and Rob have decent attempts before Rob was upended in the last few minutes to give Ramsbury a penalty. Stratton protested furiously as it did look like a tough decision on them with Rob fouled just outside the box but in a proper Tom Daly Olympic gold medal winning dive flinging himself salmon-like into the box to get the pen….the ref saw it as a penalty and Rob duly stepped up and slotted it neatly into the goal to make it 3-2 and see Ramsbury win the match.
In sum, a cracking win with a superb first half and a shocker of a second half that was saved by a fairly dubious penalty, but one that Ramsbury gratefully received. Rob an excellent goal and the pen and Noah the other one and an assist and although both players were great value it was Noah who got the man of the match award – so well done Noah! Also, it was great to see four 17 year olds in the side and who have progressed from youth football and who bring superb energy and youth to the side and a willingness to play. Brilliant! And good effort by Dan to come to the match but not get on and good to see him at the pub afterwards – nice one!
Shirt of shame would be hard to award this week as the first game of the season saw Ramsbury win. But Zac’s miss, Chris’s missed header and Ash not saving when he would be odds on to….were all contenders…..but the ref gets it for his penalty call…..although it was to Ramsbury and to all the boys t was a pen all day long!!!!
A good first outing and the next game is in two weeks at home at 2.30pm v North Swindon 1st
Ramsbury (Sat) First Team | Swindon & District Football League (thefa.com)
Cheers
Jon
