MORETON RANGERS 1-1 NEWENT TOWN: FULL REPORT & IMAGES...

Pirate Thomas Swoops Late To Wreck Rangers’ Title Aspirations

Moreton Rangers 1-1 Newent Town

This highly anticipated game between the top two outfits in the Hellenic League Division 2 West, saw Newent go a goal down early on to a header by home skipper Adam Shipman which was vehemently contested by the visitors but it seemed that control of the encounter was always just about edged by Newent, so much so that their back three of skipper Hayden Rust, Shaun Stanley and Taylor Cordell appeared to enjoy more possession between them than most others on the field of play put together. I must apologise to Shipman however, for when he headed Rangers ahead, his number 6 looked fleetingly like an 8 and on the video clip, I incorrectly mentioned the scorer as being Paul Whitehouse… Sorry.

THE MORETON DUGOUT...

Shipman… Interesting name that because Newent not only had a Rust in their line-up but also a Blood, Zack Blood (although the other two Blood brothers Oscar and Harrison were not present.) I was therefore put in mind of pirates: Captain Rust, First Mate Blood, Boatswain Micula, Sailing Master Stanley, Navigator Gibbs, Powder Monkey Cordell and of course Gunner Thomas. So the Pirates of Newent were blessed with Rares Micula doing the general work on the ship, Stanley in midships steadying it, Blood anchoring the midfield, Pat Gibbs navigating his way through the Moreton defence with some threatening runs and of course Cordell assisting John Thomas by providing the ammunition for the forward to regain late parity for his crew. Henceforth in the report therefore, Newent will be The Pirates…

THE NEWENT BENCH...

John Thomas had a hard time against Shipman and Harry Smith in the home defence however, only really going close to scoring a couple of times in the opening period and indeed, it was midfielder Micula’s two first-half shots which caused more consternation for Rangers, the second of which struck their crossbar. Moreton also had a few chances and striker Dougie Wallace pulled a fine opportunity wide just after Shipman had opened the scoring but leading scorer Lee Brooks was quiet throughout the match, although he missed a one-on-one with Town ‘keeper Alex Goode and miscued late on when Goode’s bad kick landed in front of him, 25 yards from goal, with The Pirates’ gloveman all at sea. A draw was maybe acceptable to Newent but surely not to Rangers, who must now rely on other teams to steal points from the table-toppers. 

BROOKS APPLAUDS WALLACE, WHO IS ABOUT TO START THE GAME...

The Newent team-sheet was unique: even the lady who controls the Newent Town Twitter account struggled to decipher some names upon it and I reckon it ought to be featured on the Times newspaper’s puzzle page to cause the maximum confusion… We managed though… 

NOT EASY...

Indeed, Cordell must have travelled home from Moreton with a much stronger right leg than left one. His numerous long passes, often from starboard to port, where left-back Callum Rickard regularly found himself in expanses of free space, must have powered up that limb hugely. Oddly, Rickard was unable to make his deliveries count really but one felt that Cordell would eventually have some say in the outcome of the match and so it proved to be… 

THIS AREA WAS QUITE BUSY.
SOMEONE COUNTED OVER 100 SPECTATORS...

An early left-side centre by the speedy home left-winger Jamie Wyatt was struck too hard, before a right-flank corner brought the opening goal. It was fired to the far post where Shipman rose above Stanley well and headed the ball downwards onto the goal-line but neither Goode nor any defender could prevent the effort from entering the net. The Pirates complained to Neptune, the referee, but he felt that there was nothing wrong with the goal and Rangers led 1-0.

SHIPMAN, RIGHT, THE GOALSCORER...

Goode beat away a Moreton free-kick and The Pirates attacked on the break through John Thomas who released Daryl Bayliss to the right. Bayliss’ return pass freed Thomas in the middle, with the Moreton defenders split and helpless but the left boot of home ‘keeper Jake Meredith prevented Thomas’ low shot from equalising. Jack Robson, who was extremely competent and reliable at right-back for the hosts then sent over a fine centre which Brooks headed goalwards, the ball struck a defender, Rangers claimed an arm had been used but the ball fell to Wallace anyway, right corner of the 6 yard box, unmarked, only for his shot to be pulled across the face of goal and wide. In a decent period for Moreton, a Cal Peters centre from the right saw another Brooks header blocked.

IS THOMAS DOUBTING?
DECENT SAVE BY MEREDITH THOUGH...

Much of Newent’s play went through the capable boots of First Mate Blood, with the further forward Boatswain Micula drifting in deep offensive positions and it was interesting that all three central defenders in yellow Town shirts favoured their right boots… Bayliss rose at the left upright to head a right-side flag-kick off target, then following a strong run by Bayliss, a side-foot shot by Gunner Thomas was blocked by the sprawling Harry Smith. Certainly, The Pirates were settling into calmer waters by this time and a free-kick by Blood from the right was back-headed just too high by the leaping Thomas. Meredith was forced to snatch the ball from the marauding Gibbs soon afterwards and it was becoming clear that Rangers were being forced to hold onto their lead by a determined, possession-orientated visiting crew. 

THE TWO NUMBER 8s, WHITEHOUSE & GIBBS: BOTH BUSY...

The referee penalised Rangers from another right-wing corner, when Harry Smith’s downward header was saved on his goal-line by the already muddied Goode but it was tough to see where any foul had been committed, even on the video clip. Blood’s blood was up and he was cautioned by Neptune for a challenge on Wallace, Rickard blazed an angled left-side cross behind the home goal-frame, before Thomas and Blood presented Micula with a shooting opportunity from 23 yards, which bounced just wide of the left stick. Rangers were having to counter-attack by this time and a rare centre, right-booted from the left by industrious midfielder Gary Smith, was flicked on by Wallace but the visiting linesman was practising his Semaphore Code with one flag and a free-kick was awarded to the guests.

SIMPLY BLOOD...

As the half waned, Newent created one more chance to shoot and it fell again to Micula, 22 yards out and his clipped effort, as he fell backwards like he was tumbling from the ship’s rigging, struck the home crossbar. The break arrived, neither linesman, belonging of course to the two clubs, had been involved in any particular arguments and Newent knew that their game needed to be upped for their league position to be retained.

MICULA HAS TUMBLED FROM THE RIGGING TO THE DECK...

THE RESTART...

A left-side centre by the supportive Town right-back Darren Stringer flew across the home goalmouth at the start of period two. A fine challenge by Ranger Kyle Ellery set Wyatt running and this set up Peters for a right-centre centre but it evaded Brooks. Wyatt needed more service in truth but he was rarely fed the kinds of passes that fast wingers really appreciate. A long Micula shot drifted way off target and then a couple of press-ganged crew members arrived from the Newent bilge. Stringer and Bayliss departed and they were replaced by Harrison Jones and Kieren Smart. Wallace took a rest for Moreton too and his replacement was Harry Peters, meaning two Peterses and two Smiths were in the action for Moreton. Town soon won four corners in succession and Shipman did well to head the best of them away, although Jones did manage a shot from the last of them which bounced unpleasantly past the left upright. Finally though, Brooks nearly netted for Rangers, when a fine and deep centre by Robson again was controlled by the striker’s right foot inside the 18 yard box but his left-foot shot was bravely blocked by the outrushing Goode. This save would change the game, in effect…

AS WALLACE JUMPS, CORDELL (6) DEMONSTRATES HOW BIG HIS SAVELOY WAS LAST NIGHT...

A header by Harry Smith for Rangers from Wyatt’s free-kick was looking troublesome but an offside flag waved, Zak Ellis replaced Cal Peters, leaving one Peters and the two Smiths on the field for the hosts, before the control slowly exerted by the guests began to grind down Moreton, albeit in an unspectacular manner. Smart did well on the right but his low pass from the byeline didn’t find Gibbs, who was baulked by Shipman and the foraging Navigator then conceded a foul in the penalty-box anyway. Again reaching the byeline on the starboard side, Smart fired his next delivery into Meredith’s gloves but soon, the Powder Monkey would provide the firepower and the Gunner would find his mark. Cordell would get his assist after all and it was his deep delivery from right of centre which Shipman jumped for but missed in the slightly swirling breeze. John Thomas read the trajectory better, sneaked in behind Shipman and launched himself like a lifeboat into a storm, to head a fine equaliser past the stranded Meredith and into the right corner of the net… The Pirates managed a hornpipe in celebration (not really…) for they knew that a point would suffice on the day.

OH GOOD, GOODE HAS JOINED THE GOAL CELEBRATIONS...

SHOWS HOW MUCH THE GOAL MEANT...

THOMAS (9): ONE OF HIS MORE IMPORTANT GOALS...

John Thomas was cautioned for barging into Harry Smith and the Rangers’ defender would soon move into attack, after Ellery had been replaced by defender Joe Jarvis. Liam Thomas replaced Rickard for the visitors and thus we now had two Thomases and two Smiths on display. A deep free-kick by Cordell was wind-affected and swerved over the crossbar, with Meredith looking at it with some consternation, then the final five minutes or so broke into excitement, something the match had lacked, in all honesty.

THOMAS HAS NOW BEEN CAUTIONED...

Stanley’s back-pass saw Harry Smith race at Goode and the goalie was forced to hurry but his miscued boot-away fell at the feet of Ranger Brooks, the leading Moreton goalscorer, 25 yards out. It seemed remarkable though that Brooks mis-kicked the ball and the chance was thereby spurned. A late drive by Jones flew into Meredith’s midriff, who also raced out of his penalty-box to hack the ball away from the hovering John Thomas but the game was brought to an end by Neptune and The Pirates celebrated hugely, having plundered a point from the port of their enemy…

"WE NEED A FEW PINTS TO GET OVER THIS, MATE..."

THE GUNNER & THE NAVIGATOR...

Captain Rust had marshalled his shipmates well enough, Gunner Thomas did it when it mattered and Navigator Gibbs never stopped in his harassment of his opponents. The right-footed defensive three were in command for many periods of the game and First Mate Blood was always the go-to guy. OK, passes went astray from him and also Micula but in reality, Rangers, despite some decent sorties in midfield by Whitehouse and a few rushes by Cal Peters on the right, didn’t often cause Newent any real trouble. Wallace battled, Brooks looked strangely disengaged at times but Harry Smith and Shipman were rocks for Moreton…

MORETON AT THE END: A LOST OPPORTUNITY...

So, up went the skull and crossbones as The Pirates sailed back to Newent with their ingot worth one point but it will possibly become worth so much more if subsequent results go their way… 

Moreton? Walking the plank, I fear…  

TEAMS:

MORETON RANGERS:

JAKE MEREDITH, JACK ROBSON, KYLE ELLERY, GARY SMITH, HARRY SMITH, ADAM SHIPMAN (CAPT), CAL PETERS, PAUL WHITEHOUSE, DOUGIE WALLACE, LEE BROOKS, JAMIE WYATT.

SUBS:

ZAK ELLIS, HARRY PETERS, TOM PASHLEY, JOE JARVIS, ROBBIE SHURMER.

NEWENT TOWN:

ALEX GOODE, DARREN STRINGER, CALLUM RICKARD, HAYDEN RUST (CAPT), SHAUN STANLEY, TAYLOR CORDELL, ZACK BLOOD, PAT GIBBS, JOHN THOMAS, DARYL BAYLISS, RARES MICULA.

SUBS:

HARRISON JONES, KIEREN SMART, LIAM THOMAS.