|
RYMAN LEAGUE DIVISION ONE SOUTH—SATURDAY 18 AUGUST 2007
MATCH REPORTER: TREVOR MULLIGAN
Whilst it was nice to see our team decked out in new shirts more resembling their original amber colour, rather than the pumpkin shades of recent seasons, the Wands made a meal of what should have been a straight in-and-out takeaway.
As early as the first minute prodigal son Michael Power tested the visitors’ defence, but his left-foot shot went inches wide. And that really summed up the rest of this game. Cray made chance after chance but their goalscoring skills betrayed them when it mattered most.
At the back, the crisp new defence line-up coped easily with anything that Whyteleafe dared to throw at them—and that wasn’t a great deal. Glen Knight, making his debut in the Cray goal, had a quiet first half, whilst his counterpart Rob Tolfrey between the ‘Leafe sticks was beset by a few nightmares that he’d probably want to forget in a hurry. The Cray back four of Aaron Day, Ryan Royston (both playing their first games for the Wanderers), Julian Curnow and Colin Luckett were always in command and the visiting attack rarely got a look in.
In the 16th minute a Royston header from a set-piece went just wide, whilst a minute later Jamie Wood chipped a delightful ball into the path of George Fenwick (another debutant) but his left foot shot went inches wide of the far post.
With several more half-hit chances going begging, it began to look like Cray could not score despite having most of the play. A 31st minute Power header from a Jamie Wood corner hit the underside of the bar and was somehow scrambled away before the ball had time to cross the line. On 34 minutes a Jamie Wood left foot lob from just inside the ‘Leafe half troubled Tolfrey enough for him to almost make a complete hash of dealing with the ball. In his attempt to palm the ball over the bar, he only succeeded in pushing it onto the underside of the bar before grabbing it at the second attempt as Fenwick rushed in.
Another Power shot eluded the goal by several altitude feet in the 43rd minute when he was well placed. But Cray finally broke the deadlock in the 45th minute. A little game of ‘to me, to you’ between a defender and Tolfrey didn’t leave Whyteleafe much to chuckle over when it all went disastrously wrong for them. The ball arrived ultimately at the feet of Ross Lover on the edge of the penalty area who, quickly realising that Tolfrey was off his line, placed an exquisite lob shot over his head and under the bar.
That should really have set Cray’s stall out for a more fruitful harvest of goals in the second half—but oh, how wrong can we be?!
A 52nd minute build-up between Power and Jamie Wood saw the mighty atom volley the ball into the net past Tolfrey with his favoured left foot, only to see the linesman raise his flag very late for apparent offside, resulting in the referee cancelling out the goal. It was Wood again in the 62nd minute who saw his right foot volley just miss the target, this time from a Fenwick pass.
In a rare Whyteleafe troublesome moment, Knight showed that he was more than a match for the visitors when he saved well down low at the near post. Eight minutes later, however, he surpassed that save by diving to his left to deny Denva McKenzie, whose shot looked goalbound until the ex-Dover man made the save look easy.
Cray still couldn’t find that elusive second and match-clinching goal, and with Lewis Wood having replaced Fenwick in the 70th minute, Tolfrey and his back line experienced more problems coming at them in the form of the Wood brothers. In the 77th minute good play between Jamie Wood and Power resulted in the latter having a poke at goal but he was again just off target.
Two ‘Leafe players—Robert Smith and Ali Reeve—had a clash of heads in the centre of the field as they went to head the ball. The collision left both players flat out on the floor for several minutes whilst they received treatment. Smith was back on his feet first, but Reeve took considerably longer—and then had to leave the field to have heavy strapping applied to his head. He was also seen to change his shorts and donned the number 16 shirt before his heroic return to the game. His first duty was to head the ball out for a corner, and boy did that look painful. But he is to be saluted for his Dunkirk spirit.
The holdup meant the referee added an extra 8 minutes to the end of the game, but it was really a case of could Cray manage another goal, rather than would Whyteleafe equalise.
Three points in the bag—yes. A clean sheet—yes. A good goal to decide the game—yes. Nice new football strip—yes. Other than these observations, Cray really must try to make the most of the chances they make in front of goal. Good performance, but could—and must—do better.
Cray Wanderers: Glen Knight, Aaron Day, Colin Luckett, Dean Morris (David Hall 74), Julian Curnow, Ryan Royston, Ross Lover, Jamie Kempster, George Fenwick (Lewis Wood 70), Michael Power, Jamie Wood (Tyrone Sterling 84). Unused subs: Danny Whelan, Alan Matthews.
Man of the Match: Ross Lover.
|