RUGBY FC 4-2 TRIUMPH ATHLETIC: FULL MATCH REPORT...

Rugby Thank Evans For Bishop

Rugby FC 4-2 Triumph Athletic

Rugby recovered from Triumph wingback Tommy Atkins’ headed goal to capitalise upon a slumbering period by their guests, during which midfielder Tom Bishop scored from 24 yards and home skipper Ryan Evans netted a brace from right-wing Alex Platt’s corners. The feeling of the visiting manager that his players should ‘remove their skulls from between their funky buttocks’. (Actually, the words ‘heads’, ‘out of’ and ‘f*****’ arses’ were bellowed…) I liked that. Certainly the hosts had been quicker to loose balls than their often sluggish guests and posed a real threat on the offensive right, where the left foot of Platt was a menace, turning inside. Ross Irwin, Triumph’s left wingback was constantly having to track back to cover Platt, for the left-sided Athletic central defender Kyle Walker, who maybe should have been playing second-row for the England Rugby Union team in Wales instead due to his immense physical presence, was too often dragged wide to face the tricky Rugby customer. Visiting ‘keeper Khane Barlow would make a few parried saves to keep his team within striking distance. 

NEARLY READY...

Kyle Walker would in fact initiate Triumph’s second period comeback following a 3-1 interval deficit, not by creative passing, not by making rapid rushes in possession but by slinging across a series of wicked, huge throws. Against a slight slope and a blinding sun however, home goalie Josh Hughes performed heroically, never afraid to throw a gloved fist at the dangerous throw-ins and he would subsequently make fine saves from Tommy Atkins and then at the feet of Colum Nugent, who would eventually beat Hughes with a smart glancing header, unsurprisingly from a Kyle Walker throw. Against the traffic though, a break by the hosts caught a linesman slightly behind play and Bishop, clear, possibly offside, possibly not, settled the outcome of the encounter by slipping the ball past Barlow.

BUNTING FOULS THE BALL WITH A SHOW OF STUDS...

So, two contrasting offenses thus contested a six goal affair, yet I guess that a draw might have been acceptable to both teams under the circumstances but the match might have taken a totally different route had an early incident been dealt with differently by the harassed, headteacher-like main official. In the opening moments, a kick forward by Platt freed bearded Rugby central striker Daniel Bunting and he appeared to be getting the better of visiting skipper Rich Atkins when the Triumph man appeared to make contact with Bunting, who fell with no discernible dive. No free-kick was awarded, the linesman was in no position to see the incident clearly and thus play carried on. Then, Bunting lost his composure, threatened to walk off the pitch and go home for tea and he was clearly severely miffed by the situation. The referee took a while to encourage the striker to approach him and receive a caution, until a home coach managed to convince Bunting to accept the punishment…  

THE CLASH...

The goal by Triumph stemmed from a left-side, left-foot corner by Nick Walker, which Rich Atkins headed but not goalwards, the ball instead flying out to Nick Walker again. This time the midfielder’s left-boot centre was powerfully headed into the net from close range by the lurking Tommy Atkins, off the hand of the recovering Hughes.

ATHLETIC JOY...

0-1: TOMMY ATKINS (2) THE SCORER...

Triumph’s Dave Freeman struck a shot too high but in truth, the hosts forced themselves back into the contest mainly through the efforts of midfielder Nathan Ellis, plus comrades Bishop and the busy Pat O’Brien but more importantly through better anticipation, quickness and accuracy than their rather languid opponents. Forward Shane Osbourne was lively too and he had a free-kick fumbled by Barlow, who grabbed the rebound as Platt hovered nearby. Barlow parried an angled Osbourne drive too, following a one-two with Bunting. Bunting then proved tough to read (a reed bunting?) when he slipped a fine centre from the left across the face of goal. Ellis drove too high and Platt shot off target both from open play and from a free-kick, before he cut inside from the left and tested Barlow with a low shot which was parried by the gloveman but Platt’s rebound effort was too easily gathered.

BARLOW DOWN TO SAVE...

The goals were slick, no nonsense affairs and the first was by Bishop, who took a pass from Ellis and drove a lovely right-footer into the top left corner of the net from about 24 yards.

BISHOP HAS EQUALISED...

Two Platt corners wrecked the Triumph defence, the first resulting in Athletic’s Rob Chamberlain and Kyle Walker watching the ball’s flight and being attracted to the moving Bunting, allowing Evans to step back into space and power a downward header into the bottom right corner of goal past the helpless Barlow. 

2-1: SCORER IS EVANS (RIGHT)...

The third goal arrived via a near post trajectory from Platt which was cleverly flicked on by Bunting who had again attracted the attention of Chamberlain and Kyle Walker, thus wrong-footing the Triumph defence and allowing the unmarked Evans to hustle the ball into goal at the far stick. 

3-1 & A BRACE FOR EVANS...

Half-time brought a resurgence from Triumph but ultimately they were to be denied and again the referee would make a decision which might well have affected the outcome. Nick Walker smacked a drive over the target after Hughes had punched out a long Kyle Walker throw, before the guests scored from another right flank chuck by Kyle Walker. A fine glancing header by the leaping Nugent flew into the left corner of the net, leaving little chance for Hughes to save. Nugent would also curl a decent shot wide and be denied when Hughes dropped bravely at his feet to smother the ball, which was then despatched on the rebound from 19 yards by Freeman, over the crossbar, above the metal container sheds, drifting over the trees around the car-park and was last seen falling into Southam United’s new ground.

2ND HALF AND FREEMAN IMAGINES HOOFING THE BALL TO SOUTHAM...

3-2: NUGENT LOOKS DELIGHTED...

Luke Comasky poked a close range shot wide and clipped a better effort past an upright too, before Kyle Walker headed a Nick Walker corner over the crossbeam. The Chucker later drove a dangerous delivery across the home goalmouth too, from the right. Chamberlain shot well wide late on and replacement Owen Wassall’s back-header from another throw-in dropped onto the goal-line and Hughes fell upon it like he’d been felled by a bowman’s arrow. However, it was Tommy Atkins who went so close to scoring for his team twice and it needed a brilliant glove-touch, a post and a headed clearance off the goal-line by Elliot Moore to preserve the hosts’ lead. A fine right-footer by Atkins T. sent Hughes diving right and his fingers turned the ball onto his right upright but when Hughes later punched out a Kyle Walker throw-in, Atkins T’s right foot lifter was remarkably nodded clear from under his own crossbar by the alert Moore, albeit in a crowd.

A STRING PUPPET ATTEMPTS TO HEAD THE BALL...

Rugby survived the aerial pressure from Kyle Walker, although to be fair, little danger came from free-kicks or corners and yet the hosts might have scored themselves too through O’Brien, who miscued Platt’s low centre from the right. Barlow leapt low to clutch another Platt delivery, Evans beat Barlow in the air but headed wide, then after he had seen a free-kick saved by Barlow, Bishop won the game one-on-one with Barlow. 

THE GAME WINNER HAS BEEN SCORED BY BISHOP...

The enigma was Bunting, for he might have scored a brilliant goal, despite the fact that many thought that he should have been shown a second yellow card earlier in the second period. Nugent had committed a foul and was rightly booked for it and yet moments later, Bunting went in even harder on an opponent and the official hesitated before displaying his inconsistency and not cautioning the Rugby striker. This sparked some fireworks again involving Bunting, who remained on the field to set up a great chance for himself. He slipped behind his marker with a reverse nutmeg, nutmegged another defender but with only the goalie to beat on his left foot, he lifted a right-boot shot well off target. A shame… 

NUGENT IS ABOUT TO RECEIVE A CARD TO MATCH HIS BOOTS...

THERE'SNOW BUNTING BOOKED AGAIN, HOWEVER...

THE LEFT BOOT FEELS HARD DONE BY...

The game ended in good spirits fortunately and lots of goalmouth action had been seen to entertain the few souls who had tarried in the rather unusually warm February sunshine. Triumph had struggled to create either through the middle, or via the flanks, leaving Comasky poorly served and their one offensive tool of effect was the long throwing of Kyle Walker, despite the hard work of the Atkins brothers, Comasky, Nugent and Nick Walker. Certainly, the back three struggled with Bunting’s presence, Osbourne’s movement and Platt’s wing-play but the industry of Ellis, O’ Brien and Bishop in the Rugby midfield generally forced their guests to go long with those aerial set-plays from the touchlines… 

OFF THE LINE BY MOORE...

This game was played in Long Itchington but after Tom Bishop’s two-goal salvo, surely renaming it Bishop’s Itchington, to compete with the nearby real village of the same name, would not have been out of order…   

TEAMS:

RUGBY FC:

JOSH HUGHES, TOM BISHOP, ELLIOT MOORE, HARRY DOMINY, NATHAN ELLIS, RYAN EVANS (CAPT), PAT O’BRIEN, RYAN HARRIS, DANIEL BUNTING, SHANE OSBOURNE, ALEX PLATT.

SUBS:

MATT MERRICK, CRAIG BURRIN, JAMES BROUGHAN.

TRIUMPH ATHLETIC:

KHANE BARLOW, TOMMY ATKINS, ROSS IRWIN, KYLE WALKER, RICH ATKINS (CAPT), ROB CHAMBERLAIN, NICK WALKER, LEWIS NORMOYLE, LUKE COMASKY, DAVE FREEMAN, COLUM NUGENT.

SUBS: 

ROBERT-CLAUDIU GIURGESCU, OWEN WASSALL, JOSH WARD.