BOURTON ROVERS 2-2 NEWENT TOWN (2-4 ON PENALTIES...) : THE MATCH REPORT...

Newent Finally Succeed In A Shootout, After Dominating At Bourton…

Bourton Rovers 2-2 Newent Town

(Newent won 2-4 in a penalty shootout…)

I guess this Supplementary Cup Tie should never have been extended into a penalty shootout, for visitors Newent created and squandered enough chances to have won comfortably during the ninety minutes. Home goalie Simon Flower and his skipper Phil Colmer were in really good form however and they kept their guests at bay on a number of occasions but when they were not able to stop shots, Newent’s forwards chose 28th September to illustrate the meaning of the word ‘profligate’… Jordan Cooper might have scored a bagful of goals on another day but still netted the all important equaliser to send the match to penalties. He then missed three late opportunities to win the match and saw his spot-kick well saved by Flower in the shootout. 

EITHER SANCHEZ GRANGE IS FARTING OR HE'S GOT A LINESMAN'S FLAG BETWEEN HIS BUTTOCKS...

FIELDING STARTS IT... 

He begged me to leave a couple of his misses out of my highlights but in a strange way, that would have taken something away from his overall performance which was exemplary in so many ways. The Bourton coaches congratulated Cooper on being the best player on view, so that really should mean a lot to the scary fellow. When we shook hands at the end of the encounter, I checked whether any of my fingers had received fractures. Fortunately, I had escaped injury and was able to drive home for tea… Some of his link-play was fine, his passing was generally accurate but those red boots found scoring a problem on the day. However, Rares Micula and Morgan Davies were real workers in the Town midfield, alongside the busy Dean Corbett, whilst in defence, Brin Woodward and Luke Griffiths supported the outstanding Rich Prictor well.

PRICTOR, LEFT: SOLID...

And then there was skipper and goalie Alex Goode… He bellowed, he encouraged, he remonstrated and he castigated from his position, he made two smart first period saves, then virtually won the shootout alone, saving two Bourton spot-kicks, then rapping the winning penalty past opposite number Flower. Some said he allowed Jack Robson’s penalty to go past him, so that he could get the glory goal… Really? A shrinking violet like Alex Goode? Surely not…

Bourton battled so hard and none more so than Colmer and Flower, who kept their team alive time and again. Offensively, it was tough for them though, with Josh Fielding and Jake Oakey feeding mainly on scraps, despite some promising offense by winger Keegan Bowes. The hosts took their goals well during the second period to overhaul Jake Nutting’s strike at the end of the opening 45 but when it mattered most, that Cooper goal was the catalyst to the eventual Newent victory.

BROWN & DAVIES, IN YELLOW: BOTH SO EFFECTIVE FOR NEWENT...

In that opening half, Rovers managed only two real shots at goal, both saved by the diving Goode to his right, a low drive by tall midfielder Jake Maudsley and then a rising effort from inside-right by Fielding, both of which stopped the goalie talking for a moment or so. However, the guests went really close on several occasions with Cooper shooting too high from a good position, following Sanchez Grange’s pass, before having a hard low shot blocked on the goal-line by the falling Colmer, who later combined with left-back Jack Galpin to deny the lurking, ever so scary striker in a goalmouth scramble. Davies was a threat too, firing straight at Flower, then having a deflected effort untidily shoved past an upright by the ‘keeper, before heading wide of the left stick and seeing a drive blocked by Colmer. Finally he shot across the face of goal.

The industrious and invaluable Micula saw one shot blocked, another went straight to Flower and a third effort was deflected by, er, yes, Colmer again, this time for an unproductive corner on the left. Nutting tested Flower too, before a cross bounced off his head and drifted wide but he finally netted for the deserving Town, benefiting from a save by Flower, who was unable to hold onto Cooper’s low strike. 

0-1 TO NEWENT...

THE INTERVAL REACHED...

It was a similar story after the interval, although Newent were visibly shaken when Bourton scored. Bowes, on a break, had already forced a low near post save from Goode then Rovers wasted a free-kick chance, attempting a clever pass instead of shooting. So, when offered a similar opportunity, Harry Larner fired a smart free-kick from 23 yards past the plunging Goode and high into the left side of goal.

THE NOW UPSTANDING MR GRANGE...

WHITEBOOTS LARNER HAS EQUALISED FOR BOURTON...

Another Bowes shot went to Goode, Oakey drove well off target but when replacement Connor Teague got away at inside-left (did he shove an opponent too?) he was at first denied by Goode, then shot the rebound from a narrow angle past three Newent players at the near post. Even Teague looked shocked that the ball had entered the net… Teague might also have sealed an unlikely win when he moved clear at inside-right later, but his shot went past the right stick, to his obvious dismay. 

GRANGE HAS MISSED...

TEAGUE, NOT FATIGUED: 2-1 NOW...

Newent? Again, they failed to take some good opportunities… Cooper assisted both Fin Brown and Grange to go one-on-one with the ‘keeper at inside-left but Brown lifted his shot over both Flower and the target, whereas Grange’s low right-booter was well saved by the gloveman’s left shoe. Grange also shot over when assisted by Cooper but then Cooper was surprisingly adjudged offside when he fed Grange again, which was unfortunate because on that occasion the ball finished up in the net… Corbett drove over the bar after Brown saw his shot blocked, then Corbett dive-headed a cross too high when maybe he actually had enough time to control the ball first. Prictor headed too high, Davies shot wide twice, too high once and then brought a diving save from Flower with a good strike from inside-right, although substitute James Hatton was unable to convert the loose ball.

WHY IS THE REF VAPING?

And so to Cooperman… He will no doubt rue his finishing late in the game, for although his looped header from Prictor’s nodded assist dropped onto the roof of the net, then his low shot flew just wide from 23 yards, subsequently he would regain parity for his team, latching onto a Davies pass at inside-right and firing low past Flower. Then he could have won the game, rapping a 5 yard shot against the brave thwart of Flower, before powering the rebound well over the goal-frame from the same distance. He looked aggrieved by that miss but in the dying seconds, his fine dribbling set him up for what surely would be a dramatic winner from 15 yards but that shot too rose well over the goal-frame and thus penalties were needed…

2-2 & COOPER FROWNS IN A REAL ATTEMPT TO LOOK LESS SCARY.
HE CALLS THIS A SMILE.

TOSSING FOR SPOT-KICKS...

DO THEY WANT THEIR TEA NOW TOO?

Woodward scored low for Newent, Colmer converted for the hosts but after Davies’ spot-kick had ricocheted into goal via the underside of the bar, Goode sprang low and right to save Callum Trott’s effort for Rovers. Flower then plunged left to deny the disbelieving Cooper but in response Goode leapt to turn Larner’s penalty over the bar, which meant that Jack Robson had to score for Bourton to keep the shootout alive. Goode moved left, the ball went past him easily, so was the goalie risking winning the tie himself with his own penalty-kick? We’ll never know, but his low shot went past Flower’s desperate dive anyway and Newent went through to the next round of the competition.

WOODWARD SCORES...

COLMER DOES TOO...

DAVIES: 1-2...

GOODE HAS SAVED FROM TROTT...

FLOWER HAS SAVED FROM COOPER...

LARNER HAS BEEN DENIED BY GOODE...

MICULA HAS SCORED WITH CONFIDENCE...

GOODE CELEBRATES...

A lively afternoon with four goals, many misses and a penalty shootout… Thanks for the welcome, Bourton and all the best with your ground improvements…

Just checking my right hand for bruising, following the scary handshake with MVP Cooper… 

Looks OK. 

TEAMS:

BOURTON ROVERS:

SIMON FLOWER, EWAN BURRELL, JACK GALPIN, HARRY LARNER, PHIL COLMER (CAPT), CALLUM TROTT, KEEGAN BOWES, JAKE MAUDSLEY, JOSH FIELDING, JAKE OAKEY, ALEX WINTER.

SUBS:

CONNOR GLYNN, CONNOR TEAGUE, JACK ROBSON.

NEWENT TOWN:

ALEX GOODE (CAPT), FIN BROWN, MORGAN DAVIES, BRINLEY WOODWARD, RICH PRICTOR, LUKE GRIFFITHS, RARES MICULA, DEAN CORBETT, SANCHEZ GRANGE, JACOB NUTTING, JORDAN SCARYMAN COOPER… 

SUBS:

JAMES HATTON, JOHN KING, ROSS ALLARD.