NEWHALL UNITED 1 DERBY ROLLS ROYCE LEISURE 3: match report by The Mowdog...

Rolls Royce Resilience Reaps Reward

Newhall United 1 Derby Rolls Royce Leisure 3

Newhall's players congratulate each other for finding the ground...

The tossing Fosters...

It could not be said that The Royce coasted to this victory at Newhall, whose players were clearly combative and desperate to rust their guests’ engines, but the visitors took three of their goal chances, whereas Newhall squandered some of theirs, although the busier goalkeeper was definitely not Rob Woodard of The Royce. Two of The Royce’s goals stemmed from goalkeeping errors and the third was a gentle header but the second period was understandably scrappy, despite the decent surface, as The Royce players, no doubt impatient for the final whistle so they could begin their celebrations, became a trifle careless. They certainly enjoyed the receipt of the trophy, their keepsakes and the attention, for who wouldn’t? But I was puzzled that there were so few attendees from Melbourne, who might have secured the title, if Newhall had managed to win the match. Matt Brian of Dynamo Tweeted me asking for the score and after I had replied, he congratulated The Royce, which impressed me. Once again, The Royce were so well served by their full-backs, with Kieran Lynch working particularly well with Alex Marshall.

Get down, Boogie, Oogie, Oogie...

The speed and guile of home striker James Ward would likely be a threat for Peter Aliguma and Dylan Place and sure enough, during the opening stages, the forward found space at inside-right but dragged a shot well wide of the far post. At the opposite end, Troy Black ballooned a shot over the Newhall crossbar, after solid United ‘keeper Simon Baldwin had punched an Ash Foster corner clear. Alex Marshall was unable to get purchase on an angled effort, following a long throw by the impressive Owen Brown for The Royce, before an ambitious but well-struck 35 yard free-kick, left of centre by Ward dropped only just over Woodard’s crossbar. The early skirmishes had been in The Royce’s favour, but only just and the hosts then began to assert themselves in midfield, with Nick McInulty marauding about, finding space and making life tough in particular for the ever-willing Royce skipper, Ash Foster. Odd that both skippers were called Foster; maybe they should set up a chain of men’s wear stores called ‘Foster Brothers’? Ah, The Mowdog is full of good ideas…

Ash Foster’s left-wing corner was strangely left by both Aliguma and Davy Hamson, who spoke with me before the game but again it was Black who rapped in a shot, which was again off target. A break involving Sean Gordon and Ash Foster fizzled out for the guests, then Aliguma headed away a left-wing delivery by Newhall, only for Matt Draycott to feed McInulty, who had cleverly peeled away deeper to find space, but his effort from 25 yards, inside-left, curled past the right upright, with Woodard more than a little fretful. Strangely, with United biting hard, Danny Wright, who was ‘eager ’in the trenches’, committed a foul, for which he was cautioned by the referee, who officiated at a restricted jog, mostly along a straight line, which stretched 20 yards either side of the half-way line. My father, now deceased, would have covered more ground at the age of eighty, despite suffering from two very dodgy knees and glaucoma. The punishment for Wright worsened however, for Baldwin made a mistake from the ensuing 35 yard free-kick shot by Ash Foster and conceded a sloppy goal. The hefty goalie fell left to save the low free-kick but like a bear unable to grasp an escaping chipmunk, he lost possession and Hamson, sniffing reward, poached a goal, netting his gift from a yard or so.

0-1, Hamson has scored but there's no excitement on the sideline...

A strong run to the right byeline by Brown led to corner for the guests, but Black’s header was wayward from that set-piece. Wright and his colleague Luke Harris were living a little dangerously with some ‘exertive’ challenges, shall I say, but the referee seemed as unmoved as a rat in a Somme trench. It appeared that the vociferous and physical home central defender Josh Pearson was cautioned, before, suddenly, Ash Foster was free at inside-right, with only the enormous shadow of Baldwin to beat but he hesitated, like he was unwilling to change a baby’s nappy and a defender rushed him down from behind to make a brilliant tackle, conceding a corner on the right. A shot by Ash Foster was then way off target, with Gordon looking puzzled at his own lack of involvement thus far but suddenly, a long boot upfield by The Royce saw Baldwin race from goal like a Saxon defending his farm from pillaging Vikings, only to be beaten by the bounce to the horror of defenders, 19 yards from goal; Gordon and Marshall simply looked aghast and Marshall benefited, rolling a gentle ground shot into the empty net, as he fell backwards like a reveller in Broad Street, Birmingham, following a night out. 0-2 and possibly the game was over as a contest.

Marshall looks embarrassed but the 'keeper says:
"Oh, gosh, what a silly fellow I am..."

Finally, intelligent play by the trailing hosts so nearly brought a goal their efforts might just have warranted, for no player seemed capable of taking the game by the throat and running it. Ash Riddell’s thoughtful play ended with a clip towards Wright, who had begun the attack and who hooked the ball on and upwards for the alert, keen tall striker Mick Kirkland to rise and lob a header onto the top of the horizontal. The half came to an end when Wright’s awful sliced volley from 22 yards, after Aliguma had headed clear a Newhall free-kick, landed on the byeline, sending up chalk as it bounced 18 yards wide. My acquaintance Colin, from Ravenstone, had missed goal two because he was buying a hot drink for a friend and he was to miss goal three too, after the interval, for he was in deep conversation with his mate about the make-up of Steps 1-4 for next season. See? It pays to video sometimes. 

Rolls Royce keep the engines ticking over at the break...

Davy looks my way threateningly, thinking:
"I hope you've got my goal on video, cuz if not, I'll cull your badger..."

Half two about to begin...

That third goal, which effectively won the title for the Engines, was from a simple free-kick from distance, I think by midfielder Brandon Gwinnett, whose work ethic reminds me of a Black Market operator during the Second World War, and no, I can’t explain that, but he does seem to be into everything. Black won the ball, which was travelling towards him, back almost to goal, left of centre and his let’s say ‘cushioned’ header across the 6-yard box bounced gently into the far corner of goal, with Baldwin scrabbling, scrambling and scurrying in vain. More importantly, Troy Black smiled.

The Greek smile of Troy...

Following a right-side throw, the ball rolled invitingly for a first-time drive from home defender Harris, whose effort was superbly struck, adding kudos to the state of the reasonably flat turf, but the ball arrowed just past the right angle of bar and upright. More neat play by Newhall, involving Riddell, ended when a pass to Wright couldn’t be found then The Royce maybe ought to have netted a fourth, if flattering goal. A fine run along the left touchline by Gordon, bursting through a tough tackle, saw him reach the left byeline, close-in, with support but his low delivery was palmed aside by Baldwin and a defender hacked the ball to safety. Ward was drifting more to the left flank and finally, his efforts brought a reward, however scant, for his team. His control led to the ball rolling inside for Wright, who drove a fine, if speculative shot goalwards from a good 35 yards and Woodard, no doubt deceived, could only watch as the effort swirled and dropped inside his right upright. Wright loved it, celebrated it, but then, after Black was cautioned for an unwise and careless tackle, things soured.

Wright enjoys his wild strike...

Feeling that the game wasn’t lost yet, no doubt, Newhall’s tackles became more vigorous, then skipper Richard Foster headed well off target from a free-kick, following inept Royce defending. Suddenly a couple of really dubious challenges flew in from home players, at the far side of the pitch from where I was standing, but the second of them, presumably by McInulty, caused real controversy, animating The Royce manager Mark Hamson. He could have been auditioning for a part as a windmill in a new Dutch soap opera, but the referee, for once not having to move too far to officiate, chose to dismiss the flapping boss from the playing area. Where was he supposed to go? If he had been ‘sent to the grandstand’, he would never have been found again, for the dereliction there made Lye Town’s grandstand look like White Hart Lane… As the bemused manager threaded his way through the undergrowth, like a badger finding somewhere to deposit its droppings, it did appear that McInulty, possibly, was shown a yellow card but I could well be mistaken as to the identity of the culprit, who was a good distance away from the referee at the time he brandished the sweaty piece of yellow paper. How unusual for the official to be so far from an incident...

Reminds me of my marriage.
My words were: "What have I done?"

The manager wonders why his mate has chosen this moment to do his Stan Laurel impersonation...

Ash Foster drove wide from Hamson’s provision, then a right-wing centre by the hosts found the head of the much-taller-than-Brown Draycott but Woodard fell at his near post to grasp the ball, like he was about to be the winner of the Pass the Parcel game at the end of season party. Aliguma beat the flapping but bigger Baldwin to Ash Foster’s left-wing corner but the hard-working Royce central defender nodded his effort just too high, then Gordon nearly reached a left-wing delivery beyond the far post but, stretching, could only lift the ball over the goal-frame. I was surprised when McInulty, along with Damon Willday, was replaced by Newhall, but maybe the coaches were protecting him, and the substitutes were Nathan Smith and Richard Draycott. Wright volleyed a Royce clearance way too high, then after Adrian Hall replaced the tricky, if not too threatening Gordon, Ash Foster’s 25 yard free-kick rose over the crossbar for the visitors. He tried again from the left flank but this time found only the side-netting, before Ward, to much applause, for I believe he was making his final appearance for Newhall, was replaced by Adam Stockdale.

Random aerial action...

Gwinnett also took a break and Richard Norman invaded the pitch, wearing 13; Norman arched his back, for this was Norman’s window of opportunity, albeit late in the game. The incident which placed the lid on a poor refereeing performance arrived when Richard Foster so clearly fell and blocked a 20 yard Royce shot with his arms. The assistant flagged immediately, I couldn’t tell whether the incident was inside the penalty-box but the referee ignored his linesman completely anyway, as if he was a person selling the ‘Big Issue’ in Solihull’s town-centre. The Royce players were incensed, the official shook his head and waved a finger, like a teacher who has blamed the wrong child and doesn’t have the decency or good nature to admit to his flawed analysis. Hall used some real pace to hurry Baldwin to clear, then challenged the harassed ‘keeper for an aerial ball, which the custodian was fortunate to survive and the referee, tired of all that running, blowing and ignoring good sense, whistled the end of an untidy contest won by the determination of The Royce to achieve a goal. Their efforts were more evident than their skills on the day, but who cared? They were champions and they enjoyed their fun-time, despite some beer-inspired bad natured language in front of children by two or three local ‘lads’ on the sideline. 

Colin left early. It’s what he does. He has seen five games in a week and not seen the ends of any of them. It’s what he does. I took some pictures, drove home hot and quickly to watch Barcelona fail to beat Athletico. Don’t care, though, for it remains a pleasure to watch the passing. Kind of a bit like Small Heath at St Andrews, where players also wear shin-pads. Sadly, that is the only similarity…

Well done Royce for the success, well done Newhall for not capitulating. Thanks to Newhall for making me welcome, too, once I found the ground…

Teams:

Newhall:  Simon Baldwin, Damon Willday, Luke Harris; Nick McInulty, Josh Pearson, Richard Foster (Capt); Ash Riddell, Danny Wright, Mark Kirkland, James Ward, Matt Draycott.

Subs: Richard Draycott, Nathan Smith, Adam Stockdale.

Rolls Royce:  Rob Woodard, Owen Brown, Kieran Lynch; Dylan Place, Peter Aliguma, Brandon Gwinnett; Troy Black, Ash Foster (Capt), Davy Hamson, Sean Gordon, Alex Marshall.

Subs: Adrian Hall, Richard Norman, Nathan Daley.