JET BLADES 2-4 AEI RUGBY: lighthearted match report by THE MOWDOG...

AEI Keep Hopes Alive @ The Nou Camp…

Jet Blades 2-4 AEI Rugby

The Bell from Rugby breezed into Camp Hill Farm, which surely ought to be renamed Nou Camp Hill Farm to reflect the Blades’ passing game, but the guests were second best before the interval, during which one of the feature performers, Mitch Thomson, netted a decent opening goal for the hosts. Chances had been few, in all honesty, although Thomson did test AEI ‘keeper Lubos Sabul with another drive, as home innovators Danny Harris and Ben Twigger combined smartly with Thomson on occasions. After the break, the misfiring visitors, with eager forward Dale Linten often too isolated in attack, managed to equalise and in a few mad moments, both teams netted again, before the game was effectively decided when home goalie Tom Leeson was injured and unable to continue, leaving his team a man down, as all three substitutions had already been made early in the second period. Two more goals, then some wasted opportunities by Rugby, littered the remaining time and as a contest, the encounter fizzled out, in truth. Harris and Twigger kept trying for the hosts but with Thomson, returning after injury but already replaced, the Blades were never as sharp and were subsequently unable to get a point… Visiting skipper Sean Castleton generally looked as commanding as a Norman Keep and was never content simply to boot or head the ball away, but creditably looked to find a colleague from the back; Lee Vince netted twice, Linten grabbed the third goal and a bad goalkeeping error allowed The Bell’s left-back Darren Wood to claim a fourth goal too.

A typical early chase by Linten ended with a cross from the byeline, which dropped behind the goal-frame but it was Blades who settled the quicker, with Harris, Twigger and Thomson all eager to pass the ball and create something. An error in the AEI defence, following a neat headed pass by Castleton to left-back Wood, saw Thomson burst into the left side of the penalty-box and his low left-footer entered the net just inside the right upright, despite the fact that Sabul managed to get his left hand to the shot.

1-0 to Blades...

Vince was not really involved too much during the half but he did manage to beat Leeson to the ball, left-flank, although his low centre was scrambled clear by the Blades defenders. Although Castleton appeared to be taking charge of his defence, misunderstandings did happen and on one occasion he headed the ball out of his own ‘keeper’s hands from a Blades free-kick. The game erupted into nonsense then and the referee’s rather long-winded dealing with the incident really did affect the flow of the proceedings. A jumping-in foul by Linten was the cause, home skipper Nic Harrison suddenly reacted and pushed Linten over, the AEI forward falling backwards like a particularly bad actor in a wrestling ring. The referee, with his masses of Heavy Metal hair swaying in the wind, took an age to write down names, constantly bending forward, but there was an incredible amount of nodding by the official too, reminiscent of a guitarist thrashing his skull forward at a Metallica concert. Anyway, several hours (it seemed) later, both players were shown yellow cards.

A bit of trouble...

The ball is on the ground...
Love that.

Vince also collected a caution, probably for speaking out of turn, before Blades so nearly added a second goal. Twigger made the ground on the right, his back-heel was stopped by Wood but he managed instead to pass the ball back to Harris, whose pass into the penalty-box saw Blain Shepperd crowded out and the ball flew to Thomson, 17 yards from goal and although his knee-high shot at goal was true and hard, Sabul managed to beat the ball out. And that was that for the half…

Mitch Thomson, left, displays his dance moves...

Half-time and a Blades player has a splinter removed from a buttock...
Not really.

Despite the passing attempts, mainly by Blades to be fair, little goalmouth action had occurred during the kind of first-half one might see in a pre-season match in late June. This was surprising, as AEI needed to win both remaining games and hope that Folly Lane and Whitnash draw their game soon, in order to perhaps win the Coventry Alliance Premier League trophy. So, after the interval, at least Rugby looked more lively. Shepperd, whose moves on the left-flank for Blades had looked mildly threatening on rare occasions, was replaced by Kyle Grantham at the break and soon, The Bell rang with an equaliser. Rob Crinihan slipped a pass through inside-right, the home defence was split like pins 7-10 remaining standing for a tenpin bowler to attempt a ‘spare’ and Vince, playing more as a striker, was away. Leeson advanced, Vince cheekily attempted to chip the ‘keeper, whose hands could only lift the ball towards goal and it bounced into the net. Now Rugby could push on perhaps? Er, no. Harris had other ideas for Blades…

1-1 now...

Carlo Welland, again more of a touch-midfielder than a Blades-runner (get it?), fed the ball in-field to Harris, whose neat control of a ball wasn’t matched by any runs or dribbles for the most part of this game but on this occasion, he lurched forth and passed for Thomson to collect the ball at the edge of the 18 yard box; Rugby defender Matt Izzard was left on the ground by Thomson’s shimmy and the forward shot left-footed again off a Sabul glove but this time into the bottom left corner of the net. 

2-1 and Thomson again...

Immediately, AEI countered and were level again. People who had been lulled into summery thoughts before the break, were now wide awake and taking notice, as Linten passed right to Mitch Boe, whose pass along the flank found the persistent Crinihan, who managed to get the better of Harrison on the byeline, although the Blademan’s partial tackle bounced to Willard. The midfielder though nodded the ball downwards to the feet of Vince, whose touch to Crinihan was returned and Vince shot into the bottom right corner of the net from 7 yards. 

Parity again: 2-2...

Blades then replaced solid defender Stu Paget and tiring returnee Thomson with Chris Harrison and Ollie Babbington, at which point I considered the three Blades substitutes’ surnames, which together sounded like a firm of Tudor lawyers dealing with Henry VIII’s marital affairs: Grantham, Harrison and Babbington… This proved costly for the hosts, for after a couple of decent pieces of defending by Rugby’s Castleton and a wayward Welland shot for the hosts, home goalie Leeson went down hurt. The referee spoke to the home coaches, which confused even the Rugby players, for the situation was simple: if the goalie was too hurt to carry on, then an outfield player needed to replace Leeson between the uprights. Chris Harrison did just that and was so quickly beaten. 

A right-side throw was nodded on by the now more influential Crinihan, straight onto the right boot of Vince, who must have thought he’d secured a hat-trick, but the ball bobbled against the left upright and there was Linten, on the spot to lash the rebound into the net. I said to mate Colin, from Ravenstone (near Coalville) at half-time, that Linten would probably score, for he deserved the reward for his constant running on offense.

2-3 to AEI now...

Linten held up the ball well and fed it back for Crinihan to strike a shot but the effort rose over the goal-frame, then the result was put beyond Blades when from a deep free-kick, Wood was fed and his 30 yard drive, well struck, certainly, was palmed upwards by Chris Harrison and the ball dropped behind him into the net. Oh, dear…

The jumps...

2-4 and Wood has scored...

Linten was replaced by Dan Newman for the guests, then after Castleton had broken up the play for Rugby, he passed to midfielder Luke Pritchard, whose second period distribution was good at times and his diagonal pass right found Liam Charlton. Charlton passed the ball across the face of goal for Newman but the replacement’s low shot at the far stick rebounded off the post and Blades survived. Pritchard drove a fair effort too high from the second phase of attack but Rugby soon made two more substitutions, either side of a good push away of an AEI corner by Chris Harrison. Pritchard and Vince were replaced by Rich Middleton and Joel Young. Harris, still caressing ball-possession but described by my mate as ‘languid’, due to the fact that,despite his undoubted skill being shown and the smart pass being made, he maybe too often stood still afterwards, soon passed for Grantham, who thought he’d been manhandled in the penalty-box by an opponent. The referee, flicking hair from face, thought otherwise. A little defensive panic by AEI, with Babbington challenging for effective Blades right-back Ryan Scott’s centre, led to a good chance for home midfielder Ben Cole but his hurried shot from just 10 yards flew over the crossbar.

A long header back by Scott saw Blades left-back Matty Lee try to shuffle the ball to Chris Harrison but Newman challenged and a partial block sent the ball rolling across the 6 yard box but too far ahead of Newman for the AEI man to convert. The ‘keeper managed to cover but soon, replacement Young missed a fine chance to add a fifth goal for the visitors. Castleton swung a boot at a challenge on Grantham, who had lost his temper with his own players a few moments before, as well as feeling like he’d been fouled in a previous attack and the replacement was left hurt on the ground. The game carried on regardless though and Newman was released by another astute Crinihan pass, which saw Chris Harrison advance but save easily, for Newman’s low shot had almost been dug from the turf, like a molehill had suddenly erupted. The second phase of this attack involved Crinihan again and he fed a square pass to Charlton, who passed to Young at 18 yards. Young fed Crinihan again, whose clipped pass freed Charlton on the right and he crossed low, perfectly onto Young’s foot, not 2 yards from goal but all seemed slow-motion for Young, as if cursed when attempting to score, like Barca’s Dani Alves is at the real Nou Camp and Chris Harrison managed to block the effort on the goal-line with upraised hands.

The frustration began to show for Blades when Twigger was cautioned for a bad foul on Charlton and as the game ebbed away, Young’s free-kick for the visitors took a nudge off the back of Wood’s skull, struck Chris Harrison’s legs and although Wood fed Young again, the substitute’s right-side centre dropped over the goal-frame. The game ended and Rugby’s dream, thanks in the main to Leeson’s injury it is fair to report but the afternoon was enjoyable enough at a nice ground. Nic Harrison and Scott were prominent for the hosts in defence but Harris did look skilled in possession, although it seemed that he was reticent to run at the opposition. Twigger was lively and of course, Thomson was very effective. For the visitors, Castleton, Wood and Crinihan were well involved but Vince’s two strikes and Linten’s lively running were invaluable.

Handshakes all round at the end...

Mitch Thomson chatted to me after the game and was kind enough to ask the referee for the team-sheets for me to check names and numbers from. Therefore I hope the names and corresponding numbers in my report are actually correct, for the names on the sheets were as illegible as my GP’s writing in some cases. I apologise for any poor spellings and mistakes in identity. So, on to Ambleside on Tuesday, to see whether The Bell can win again and put pressure upon Folly Lane and Whitnash…

Eggs and chips for my meal? You betcha.

It’s what I do…