Warwick Edge Out Uttoxeter In Battle Of The Racecourses
Racing Club Warwick 3-1 Uttoxeter Town
This was not an exciting game, indeed the contest between the two racecourse towns even lacked a photo-finish and the four goals were rather unsatisfactorily scored. One was an own-goal, another was fiercely contested by the visitors, claiming that their goalkeeper had been fouled, before Uttoxeter’s goal came as a result of a really bad error by the home defence and the final strike by RCW, converted by replacement Luke Cole in the closing minutes of the encounter, stemmed from striker Trea Bertie’s second miscue of the evening. His first had inadvertently caused Town’s Craig Swinfield to shoot the ball into his own net after only 20 seconds or so after the opening kick-off.
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| WARWICK: TALLER HORSES THAN UTTOXETER... |
The match would seemingly become a short story entitled ‘The Official, The Own Goal And The Oral Spats’, for the referee, the shockingly bad start by Uttoxeter, the running ‘commentaries’ between a Town coach and the main official, plus the yelling of one of the Uttox supporters, all combined to provide a rather unusual backdrop to this important Midland League One clash. A sluggish, yet unfortunate opening six minutes by Uttoxeter had led to a two-goal deficit but when winger Jack Hassall hassled the home defence into messing up a simple back-pass to goalie Charlie Bannister and left those Racers involved imitating motionless training cones, Hassall nudged a goal and subsequently the visitors began to settle and play some decent football at times, which appeared to confuse and demoralise the Racers. Until Cole swooped near the end, there was always a chance that the creativity of inventive Uttox forward Tom Liversage might force an equaliser but it wasn’t to be for the plucky guests.
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| MACKEY STARTS IT... |
The match official simply suffered an awkward evening, angering both teams and their coaches with some decisions which perhaps didn’t reflect what had actually occurred. Each team was denied advantages, being stopped in full attacking flight, only then to be awarded a free-kick some way back. Each team also committed several blatant fouls, for example a clear obstruction by a Racer on one Town player and later a scything down of Racer Ben Mackey by a Uttox defender, neither of which brought a whistle from the referee. He also allowed Town goalie Jack Tolley to be baulked by Mackey in the lead up to the second Warwick goal and naturally, cynicism began to emanate from the Uttox bench. The Racers were often incensed too by the officiating but the loud bellowing from a veteran fellow on the sideline, a Town follower, became embarrassing to endure, probably even for the visiting contingent. Several Uttoxeter guys spoke with me during the evening and all of them were good people but having to abide that one chap’s abuse at the referee and the Warwick players? Oh, dear…
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| ACROSS THE LINES... |
Uttox lacked height in their ranks, yet rarely were the Racers able to exploit their aerial advantage from offensive set-pieces, even with skipper Scott Turner and sidekick Sean Castleton adding their sizes to the cause. In truth, Town’s central defenders Charlie Goldstraw and skipper Doug Price won so many headers throughout the game, as did their central striker James Curley, which must have narked the RCW coaching staff. Neither goalie would have any difficult saves to make, for few chances were created by the two offenses. Straight from the kick-off though, the hosts took a simple lead. Lewis Hayden slipped a pass to Mackey, who fed the overlapping Marc Passey on the right and his low centre was on a plate for Bertie, just 4 yards out but he failed to connect with the ball, thus performing an unwitting dummy, so that the ball bounced off Swinfield and into the net. Oops…
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| 1-0... |
A couple of corners came to nought for the hosts: the first being nodded by Turner for Mackey to head but the ball was deflected for another flag-kick, then Mackey dragged a shot wide of the right upright from 13 yards, to his chagrin. Bertie did add a second goal for the Racers after around 6 minutes when a free-kick was headed upwards and backwards towards his own left post by Goldstraw but as Tolley jumped for the ball, Mackey ‘challenged’ him. Each team would have a different opinion about whether a foul had been committed but the officials saw nothing amiss, Bertie collected the loose ball and as Swinfield attempted to tackle him, the forward rapped an 8 yard left-footer into the left corner of the net. The goal was awarded…
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| THE POWER STRUGGLE... |
Bertie would later be freed at inside-right by George Curry but fired into the side-netting and the only other telling shots by the hosts, whose ascendancy faded considerably during the opening half, were two shots by midfielder Danny Bartle, the first of which was blocked and the second, the rebound, was lifted high over the target. No threat had come from Uttox at all until the slumbering hosts offered Hassell his chance to nip in and poke the ball past a disbelieving and advanced Bannister. And then the visitors began to combine rather decently. Curley received a good assist by the rampaging Swinfield but as Castleton slipped, Curley’s shot unluckily struck the fallen Castleton’s boot and looped into Bannister’s arms. One drive by Hassall went close to the left angle of crossbar and upright from 20 yards as the half ebbed away and that, really, was that.
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| 2-1 NOW... |
Despite competing well and passing smartly at times, especially when Liversage was on the ball, the visitors rarely threatened after the break in all honesty. A Curley header dropped past the right post late on, as did a Goldstraw header, both from deep free-kicks but Goldstraw would become the only Town player cautioned, for a foul late in the game. Too many Warwick moves broke down before Bertie or Mackey could capitalise, despite the rushes of left-back Rich Powell, plus the odd sortie by Passey. Mackey could find no power when he headed Powell’s centre to Tolley, Mackey then saw a low shot from inside-left deflected for a corner, before a weak Turner header from a Passey delivery was picked up by the Uttox gloveman. Passey dropped a long centre just beyond the goal-frame, substitute Cole drove off target from 15 yards but he, following another unusual ‘assist’ from Bertie, would force gasps of relief from the Racers’ players, coaches, officials and supporters, by scoring in the closing moments of what had become a tense encounter.
The goal again stemmed from a backwards header by a Town player, allowing replacement Adam Knight to move goalwards on the right side of the penalty-box, whereby he passed the ball across Tolley for Bertie to convert, only he didn’t, as he maybe slipped, selling another dummy and the ball thus rolled right off his foot for the gleeful Cole to score from a couple of yards out. And the game ended after Warwick’s most noticeable performer, Hayden stood in front of the ball at a Liversage free-kick, right in front of me. The Uttox coach wanted Hayden moved: “Referee, my good man, please would you ask the loitering chap in yellow livery to leave the vicinity? There’s a good fellow…” The request was actually: “F*** him off, ref…”
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| COLE (16) AT THE RESTART FOLLOWING HIS GOAL... |
And thereby did the game end…
Joel Dyche was Town’s Mr Tall in midfield and he worked hard. Curley, although rather isolated at times, led his attack really well, but Liversage was really effective and Hassall a willing runner. Plaudits go to Goldstraw particularly, along with fellow defenders Price, Swinfield and George Woodruffe. Harry Towner and Liam Sowter were beaverish for their team… For the hosts, Hayden was the feature player with some neat skills and turns, Curry’s best play was seen late on, Mackey was a physical handful and Bertie’s pace was rapid, although Town dealt with that well on occasions. Chris Johnson and Bartle seemed busy enough in midfield but with Bertie in the team, sometimes Warwick maybe like to go long with their deliveries and see whether the speedster can create something. But that tactic can often concede possession…
TEAMS:
RACING CLUB WARWICK:
CHARLIE BANNISTER, MARC PASSEY, RICH POWELL, SEAN CASTLETON, SCOTT TURNER (CAPT), CHRIS JOHNSON, LEWIS HAYDEN, GEORGE CURRY, BEN MACKEY, TREA BERTIE, DANNY BARTLE.
SUBS:
ADAM KNIGHT, HENRY LEAVER, JOE SMITH, LUKE COLE, NEIL STACEY.
UTTOXETER TOWN:
JACK TOLLEY, CRAIG SWINFIELD, GEORGE WOODRUFFE, CHARLIE GOLDSTRAW, DOUG PRICE (CAPT), HARRY TOWNER, LIAM SOWTER, JOEL DYCHE, JAMES CURLEY, TOM LIVERSAGE, JACK HASSALL.
SUBS:
MAX KIDDLE, ADAM JOHNSON, ALEX BRITTON, OLLIE RITCHIE, TOM MORGAN.
