FC STRATFORD 2-0 NEWENT TOWN: THE MATCH REPORT BY THE MOWDOG...

 Daffs Fall Foul Of Cox, Ludford & The Officials, As Blues Claim Win Two…

FC Stratford 2-0 Newent Town

The Mowdog’s thoughts…

Certainly from FC’s point of view another three points in the Hellenic League Division 1 would have been most welcome against Newent, albeit from a fairly strange encounter which was constantly interrupted by free-kicks and also delays when footballs were hoofed behind goal-frames and into the long grass beyond the touchline opposite the dugouts. Spectators sometimes fetched the wayward balls, players did too but extra balls were sometimes slow to materialise and those situations certainly annoyed Newent’s players, as they had Shortwood United on Saturday too. On this night, such complaints by Newent’s Tyler Weir, already on a yellow card saw him sin-binned for the second time in two games. His team-mate, substitute Dorian Colling saw the referee brandish that second yellow card, assumed Weir had been dismissed and let the official know his feelings about it in a somewhat unacceptable manner. He was instantly sent-off… 

Weir’s runs and neat passes had actually been one of the good things that the Daffs brought to the match, added to the strength and commitment of Harrison Jones and Brin Woodward.

THE TOSS...

Thus Newent played for ten second-period minutes with nine men, Weir returning for the final fifteen or so. Clearly the game was lost anyway but after Town’s co-managers had received four withdrawals of players during the afternoon and after a day’s work, some of the others had arrived later than they had hoped, the two managers’ preparations had been rather baulked.

However, before the end, someone from Newent displayed real anger I believe and damage was done to one of the Home Guard dugouts, which was totally unacceptable and inexcusable, if true.

The Levi Steele Saga…

The eager, speedy, switched-on FC striker once again impressed in every aspect of his game except his finishing. Once again, the ball simply would not enter the Home Guard nets. He actually diverted a low Lewis Ludlow free-kick wide of the left upright during the first-half, drove too high himself from downtown and rose in front of Matt Nutt to head a Ludlow corner over the target. After the break he had more opportunities, shooting at the near left post from an angle but although the ball was going wide, visiting ‘keeper and skipper Alex Goode grabbed the effort. The ball ran off Steele’s foot on one occasion, a looped header was easily caught by Goode and so, when he drove hard and low from inside-right and saw the ball rap the base of the right stick, he decided to abandon both head and feet, sending the ball past the goalie with his chest… Nice idea… But even then the ball was hacked off the goal-line by the alert Brin Woodward…

STEELE IN BLUE...

Steele was apparently cautioned but late in the game came a moment I really liked. He had been tackled by his marker Ryan Barry but the defender stayed down with cramp as Steele moved away. The striker glimpsed behind him, saw Barry down and returned to help him out. Good stuff, that…

The Jordan Cooper Endeavour…  

The Newent central striker was in good form, forcing home goalie Eddie Cox into his one real save, a dive left to beat aside a left-footer from 17 yards. Cooper headed a decent chance from Jordan Barry’s delivery over the target late in the match, had leapt to hook a left-footer past the right post earlier in the contest and a snap-shot had struck home defender James Robbins’ arm it appeared but the referee waved away penalty claims.

Cooper was also cautioned for fouling an opponent then sending a 45 yard shot into the net; in other words he ‘kicked the ball away’…

COOPER (9)...

He will also be remembered for his angry bellow as the half-time whistle sounded: “Get around me…” He clearly felt that he needed support…

He told me that against nine, then ten men, Newent really wanted to steady the ship and not get thumped. Hence, they dropped back into banks of defenders…

The Lewis Ludford Contribution…

The home midfield lads stuck to their chores, with Ryan Reeves harrying, hassling and hurrying, Dean Poulson not seeming to be there but actually being there when needed and Ludford, with his set-pieces, was something of a bearded shark. Matt Nutt headed two Ludford corners over the target and as mentioned, his 25 yard free-kick was unkindly diverted by Steele. However, after a lively start by the visitors, FC’s Ben Cox had controlled a punted kick upfield by right-back Ben Johns at inside-left, then tried to send in a low left-footed cross himself but the challenge of Floren Bodea trapped the ball, allowing Cox to fire an instant and fine right-footer past Goode and into the bottom right corner of the net.

1-0...

Ludford himself netted goal two, getting on the end of a splendid Steve Ruck centre from near the left byeline, beating Harrison Jones in the air and heading the ball firmly past Goode, who must have thought, “That’s bad…"    

2-0...

After the interval, Ludford left a free-kick on the right for Ruck to take but this time from two yards out, the bearded shark headed over the crossbeam.

However, Ludford’s corners are wicked on the tight Home Guard pitch and visiting teams will not relish defending them…

The goalkeepers’ exploits… 

Er, neither was really too taxed, for the majority of goal attempts were easily collected, like Eddie Cox’s saves from Colling and the effervescent and beefy Brin Woodward, who also shot way too high and curled a free-kick towards the right stick, causing a sudden dive by Eddie Cox, for nobody touched the in-swinging ball and it drifted narrowly wide. After half-time, Colling did exploit an error in defensive communication between Eddie Cox and a colleague but the substitute’s low drive struck the right post from an angle.

EDDIE COX...

Goode was also mainly redundant, only stopping the low Steele effort, as aforementioned and catching a header from the same player but home replacement Ash Wilkes blazed too high late on from a Steele centre which Ruck couldn’t get at. Another substitute Dan Atkins rattled the crossbar in the closing minutes, although the referee seemed to have spotted some kind of infringement. Good shot though…

ALEX GOODE...

Steele had also the injured Ryan Palmer’s replacement Tom Daccus clear at inside-left but the forward dragged his shot across the goalmouth and some distance wide, not troubling Goode. 

The final words…

The game left a sour taste in some observers’ mouths, what with the banging on a dugout (& likely damage), the ongoing verbal feud between Weir and Ruck, the ball-retrieving problems, the sin-binning of Weir, the dismissal of Colling and of course the slamming of home goalie Eddie Cox to the ground by Ryan Barry, who arrived as late as my Private Eye has been delivered recently from the local Shirley sorting office. A scrap ensued, from which Weir and Ryan Barry were cautioned, as was Ruck for getting involved, although Nutt moved clear, after making his feelings shown about the initial challenge…

Six pylons, each with two floodlights lit the ground, although two of the twelve lights remained unlit, leaving some parts of the pitch rather gloomy. FC will have to get used to that…

The fast balls forward played by the Blues’ defenders are just what Steele thrives upon but he will surely be desperate to net that first goal… 

TAKING NAMES FOR DETENTION...

Against nine men, it seemed certain that Stratford would go forth and use the advantage to improve their goals-for column but that didn’t happen, although Steele must have been itching to get off the mark for the term. FC kept possession for spells instead, for the match was already won with those two first period goals and subsequently they have found themselves one of four teams in the Division with six points from six, along with Worcester Raiders, Pershore and Littleton…  

The teams…

FC STRATFORD:

EDDIE COX, BEN JOHNS, STEVE RUCK, RYAN REEVES, JAMES ROBBINS (CAPT), MATT NUTT, DEAN POULSON, LEWIS LUDFORD, LEVI STEELE, BEN COX, RYAN PALMER.

SUBS:

ABDUL MUHAMMED, ASH WILKES, DAN ATKINS, TOM DACCUS, FREDDY MURPHY.

NEWENT TOWN:

ALEX GOODE (CAPT), JORDAN BARRY, LUKE GRIFFITHS, FLOREN BODEA, RYAN BARRY, HARRISON JONES, MORGAN DAVIES, BRIN WOODWARD, JORDAN COOPER, TYLER WEIR,  ELLIS WAUGH.

SUBS:

DORIAN COLLING, WILL KNEEN, PAUL OYENINAN, COSMIN MICULA.