NUNEATON GRIFF 6-4 RACING CLUB WARWICK: MATCH REPORT & IMAGES...

Not The Best Day To Keep Goal, As Ten Go In At The Pingles…

Nuneaton Griff 6-4 Racing Club Warwick

Names like Bertie, Billington, Blake, Briscoe, the two Coles, Leaver and Jack Taylor were missing from the Warwick team list, players I have seen play several times this season but still, regulars Tom Cross, Marc Passey, Martin Hutchcox, Jamie Coleman and Lewis Hudson made up the starting defence picked apart relentlessly by an enterprising Griff outfit which leaned heavily on some sharpness in midfield, plus a deal of unquestionable liveliness and elusiveness in attack. Striker Lewis Commins enjoyed a field day, netting four times and fellow forwards George Brindley and Henry Harris snatched one apiece as the Racers were slowed up to mere Chasers at times. Errors were certainly made by the guests but their hosts were clinical and despite conceding four times themselves, including a trio of goals for Sean Kavanagh, RCW looked tired if the truth be told and often appeared languid.

THE LINESMAN WITH THE YELLOW FLAG REMINDED ME OF A SCIENCE TEACHER I USED TO ENDURE...

Neither goalkeeper made the kinds of saves they would normally expect to make, for almost every on-target shot actually went into their nets, leaving both young Griff Aidan Jeynes and the more experienced Racer Cross looking forlorn and depressed for much of the time. 

A PRAYER TAKES PLACE ON MALLEY'S HEAD...

Warwick’s Kavanagh must affect the workings of my hand-held camera in a detrimental manner, for it malfunctioned as he fired in his team’s second goal but at least his other two are well documented on video clips… Apologies to him… And Commins’ headed goal was poorly videoed which I am really annoyed about, although I guess the Warwick defence won’t have to inspect their rather static marking too closely because of that…

An early back-header by Coleman to Cross stretched the ex-Coventry United defender but Warwick threatened first with a left-side centre from Hudson but Luke Church’s header went upwards, rather than goalwards. The first incisive move by Griff should really have been a warning to the Racers but they seemed unable to prevent the rushes launched at both full-backs Passey and Hudson throughout this absorbing contest played on a heavy pitch with a puddle for a centre-spot. Chris Mitchell relayed the ball right to Commins, who evaded Hudson’s attentions and although his low centre seemed innocuous enough, striker Harris got to it before Hutchcox but guided his near post effort too high.

HARRIS HAS JUST SHOT TOO HIGH...

A late challenge by Harris on Passey really would normally have seen a caution administered but the fact that Passey rose immediately and because the main official was doubtless taking the surface into account, led to a mere word from the referee. Fine, but later in the match, following a booking for Racer skipper Alex Price for his vocabulary use, a few players were shown yellow cards for similar fouls to the one Harris got away with, highlighting once again the inconsistencies which annoy players, coaches and spectators…

COLEMAN: JUST 45 MINS ON THE DAY...

And then Commins took possession on the unguarded right side of the penalty-box and fizzed a low shot past the unprotected Cross into the bottom left corner of the net. 

1-0...

COMMINS (ORANGE FEET) THE SCORER...

Fair play to RCW though, they continued to pass the ball about calmly and equalised with a goal that the home fans were not pleased about. Church fed Wade Malley on the 18 yard line and he freed Kavanagh to his right but the forward’s low cross-shot was deflected by the hurried challenge of Griff skipper Ryan Aston, who had abandoned his right-back slot to avert the danger but the ball squirmed to where he had come from and Rich Powell, now obviously unmarked, tapped it into an empty net. Calls for an offside flag were ignored…

1-1: A RICH POWELL TAP-IN...

Nuneaton responded quickly and re-took the lead though and the goal stemmed from an inaccurate pass by Hudson to Powell which Brennan King slid to intercept. The influential Ryan Ball slung the ball left to Commins and he set about cutting inside and rushing at Passey and Hutchcox, before the ball squirmed from Coleman’s slide into the path of Brindley, in the same spot that Commins had scored from earlier, 12 yards out, inside-right channel. The forward rapped a smart rising finish into the left side of the net.

2-1: BRINDLEY THIS TIME...

Commins was on a roll and he soon raced towards the left byeline and slipped a low right-footer just beyond the far post but then, incredibly, it was 3-1 to the hosts. Commins leaned in between Passey and Powell at the left post as a right-side delivery was knocked in by Griff and the striker’s header went into goal via the inside of the left upright…

COMMINS' HEADER HAS MADE IT 3-1 BUT COLEMAN & PRICE LOOK SEVERELY PIGGED OFF...

Before the camera had recovered from the shock of it all, Racer Kavanagh had got free on the right side of the 18 yard box and rapped a shot past Jeynes at the goalie’s near post. Five goals scored and time still remained before the interval…

3-2 & KAVANAGH CELEBRATES WITH THE ONLY BITS NOT TATTOOED: HIS HANDS...

Commins again threatened Passey on the left-flank, cutting inside and releasing another low shot which might have taken a slight nudge off a Cross boot as it rolled across the face of goal for Warwick to clear. The Racers were looking very jittery in defence, Griff were gaining in offensive confidence, although Malley did swing a boot at a low Hudson cross, following a neat Powell pass to earn an unproductive corner from a deflection. And then Griff struck again…

4-2 & 3 FOR COMMINS...

Martin Slevin’s low midfield pass was intercepted by the enterprising Griff left-back Rhys Lyons, who  set off on a run, before Ball took over and passed to Commins on the right touchline. Commins clipped a lobbed pass to Harris on the 18 yard line and the central striker’s volleyed return to his colleague saw Hudson out of the game and Commins again beat Cross with a low drive from an angle into the far corner of the net. 

All that Warwick could offer before the break was a right-side Slevin free-kick which was meekly headed to Jeynes by Church. Half-time was signalled, Lyons’ tea awaited him, Aston avoided returning to his villa, Ryan had been having a ball and the two central defenders in blue, Ryan Millerchip and Ash Wilks had managed well enough and would continue to do so… For Warwick, little had gone right… They would replace Coleman and Church with Craig Watkin and Elliott Powell during the interval and thus reverted to a back three, with both substitutes flanking the harassed Hutchcox.

MALLEY: DUMPED...

HENRY DOESN'T WANT TO KICK OFF IN THE PUDDLE...

Kavanagh popped up again soon after the restart but the goal came after the disappointed Hutchcox had headed well wide of the far upright from Slevin’s right-wing corner. Elliott Powell won possession on the RCW right, Passey crossed the ball in and Kavanagh flicked on a looping header over the stretching Jeynes and the ball dropped into the net.

4-3: KAVANAGH TAKES SNUFF IN CELEBRATION...

At 4-3, with Warwick beginning to take control, albeit without too much of a threat, a free-kick by Watkin from the left saw Malley rise at the far stick but drop his header wide. A bad foul by Slevin just beyond his own 18 yard line on Ball saw the Griff-man rise from the soft turf to clip a good free-kick just past the upper reaches of the right post. Griff were beginning to trouble the RCW back-line on breaks by this juncture and soon a half-volley by Ball freed Commins, who had too much pace for the Racers, ironically and he sped past the advancing Cross towards the left byeline from whence he slipped a pass into the path of Brindley but Cross stopped the ensuing shot with his right boot, just like a defender would have done.

MALLEY: DUMPED AGAIN...

WE LIKES A BIT OF HASSLE...

"IT WASN'T ME. I WAS NOWHERE NEAR ANYBODY, ANYTIME... HONEST..."

PAYING THE PRICE...

Commins nearly set up Harris, Alex paid the Price for complaining and was cautioned then Griff stormed into a 5-3 lead when a booted clearance by Griff, leaving Hutchcox stranded upfield, saw Elliott Powell and Watkin covering Commins and Harris on the half-way line. Watkin attempted to head the bouncing ball back towards Cross but the big ‘keeper was never going to get there before the alert Commins who set off like a greyhound after a stuffed hare at the Perry Barr track. Commins easily won the race and converted into an empty net for his fourth goal of the afternoon.

THE ALL IMPORTANT FIFTH GOAL...

...BY MAN OF THE MATCH COMMINS...

Callum Bell replaced Price, Elliott Powell was booked and then Harris scored his goal. Commins was the assistant, cutting inside from the right and leaving Watkin in his wake, before slipping a pass left for Harris, whose first shot from 12 yards was stopped by Cross’s feet, only for the striker to react first and convert the rebound. Hooray, Henry…

6-3 & A GOAL FOR HARRIS...

Lee Hewitt replaced Griff’s Brindley, Commins eased past Hutchcox on a run towards goal but spun to the grass, earning a caution for ‘diving’, before a long Malley throw from the right was challenged for by Passey, the ball fell for Kavanagh and his low, not hard, 10 yard shot on the turn rolled inside the left upright, with Hudson’s slide in front of Jeynes probably affecting the ‘keeper’s eye-line.

COMMINS: ALWAYS A THREAT...

6-4 & 3 FOR KAVANAGH...

Luke Delaney replaced the excellent Ball, Passey was cautioned for a bad foul on the precocious Commins and the last meaningful action was King’s 23 yard shot from the subsequent free-kick which rose way too high. 

Warwick seemed simply to want the game to finish, for their performance, despite periods of possession, looked glum at times and lacking any spark. A few players seemed heavy legged but on the day, Griff played their tactics so well and in Commins they had a real match winner, alongside two useful colleagues in Harris and Brindley. Full-backs Aston and Lyons were good too but Ball, Mitchell and King were simply more effective than their counterparts in this encounter…

Just a word about the welcome I always seem to receive from Nuneaton Griff: thanks, it really is appreciated… 

TEAMS:

NUNEATON GRIFF:

AIDAN JEYNES, RYAN ASTON (CAPT), RHYS LYONS, CHRIS MITCHELL, RYAN MILLERCHIP, ASH WILKS, LEWIS COMMINS, BRENNAN KING, HENRY HARRIS, RYAN BALL, GEORGE BRINDLEY.

SUBS:

ADAM DAVIES, LUKE DELANEY, HARVEY SMITH, RYAN SLINN, LEE HEWITT.

RACING CLUB WARWICK:

TOM CROSS, MARC PASSEY, LEWIS HUDSON, MARTIN HUTCHCOX, JAMIE COLEMAN, ALEX PRICE (CAPT), LUKE CHURCH, MARTIN SLEVIN, WADE MALLEY, SEAN KAVANAGH, RICH POWELL.

SUBS:

ELLIOTT POWELL, CRAIG WATKIN, CALLUM BELL, PAUL HOLLAND, SCOTT DAVIES.