Match Reports - February 2008

With Town Match Reporter Bryan Hale laid up in bed today with flu, today's match report has been compiled by Rod Abrahams. Get well soon Brian.

Saturday 23rd February

Stratford Town 4 Shifnal Town 1

Davis 4, 15, Dovey 61

Petty 24,

Byrne 85,

Stratford Towns slump in form since Christmas was halted at last with their first win, at Knights Lane, beating their League Cup conquerors on Wednesday night Shifnal Town 4 – 1, to take the much need 3 points, however a win for Town on Wednesday would have kept the season alive and some interest for the followers but it was not to be.

The melt down towards the bottom of the table has been stemmed, so it has eased the chance of the game against Cradley Town, later in the season being a 6 pointer to avoid relegation.

Again it was a 'gents excuse me', as there were five changes from the Wednesday starting line up. Micky Love formally with Brackley Town and Nuneaton Borough made an impressive debut in the back four and Nick Mowl retuned in midfield after a spell at Bedworth United. Crawford, Rawlings and Davis started after being on the bench on Wednesday, replacing Grandison, Robinson and Donaghey who were relegated to the subs bench.

With this the third encounter between the two sides in 10 days, it was Town who took the 3 points following a draw and lose in the previous two games, and it was Stratford who got off to a flying start with 2 goals inside 15 minutes, but it was Shifnal who applied the early pressure forcing 3 corners in the first 2 mins, from which a Linden Dovey header was blocked buy the Town defence and hacked away for a corner. But it was Stratford who took an early lead with their first attack, when the Shifnal defence failed to clear a Michael Crawford cross which fell to Martin Thompson who slotted the ball through the Shifnal back line for Neil Davis to run through and easily beat stranded keeper Tim Beech to put Town one up.

It's number one as Neil Davis slips the ball past the Shifnal keeper.

Tom Brady headed a dangerous cross wide of his own goal to prevent Shifnals Matt Johnson getting in a strike at goal, but it was Stratford who doubled their advantage in the 15th minute. Lawrence Rawlings intercepted a pass in his own half raced up field and his perfect cross, was met by Davis, at the far post to again beat Beech for his second of the game from close range.

Shifnal were having the lions share of the possession but failed to make a telling opportunity and it was Town who made it 3 – 0 in the 24th minute. Again it was Rawlings who was the provider as he fired in another telling cross Davis dummied the ball at the near post which allowed Jamie petty the simple task to beat Beech from close range at the far post.

Jamie Petty heads in at the far post for number three.

Shifnal failed to make the most of their possession. A Matt Johnson shot from distance forced Town keeper Dormand to make his first save low to his right in the 27th minute and a lopping header from Linden Dovey from a Ramone Stephens cross landed on top of the net with Dormand scrambling back to cover. But their best chance of the half fell to Ben Porter, who miss cued a Stephens cross wide with only Dormand to beat.

Half Time Stratford 3 Shifnal 0

Mark Faulds had to go to hospital at half time with a suspected broken wrist and was replaced by Jack Byrne. With the wind now in their favour Stratford failed to make the most of the advantage, as the second half settled into a midfield battle, as any threat on either goal was very limited.

Shifnal did reduce the deficit on the hour mark when Liden Dovey, who scored the

winner from the spot on Wednesday, forced the ball in from a low Stephens cross. Town keeper Dormand kept Towns 2 goal lead intact with a smart save from a close range effort from Scott Gennard, and Micky Love cleared the loose ball for a corner.

Was this to be another case of Town letting a lead slip away and drop points, no not this time, as Stratford made the game safe with 5 minutes left when Thompson put a ball over the Shifnal rear guard, Grandison chased it down cut into the Shifnal area and found sub Jack Byrne, who had time and space to pick his spot and drill a low shot into the bottom corner to beat Beech from 18yds out.

Stratford next game is not until the 12th March, so with Faulds and Davis added to the injury list, this break will hopefully give some time for injured players to recover and get back into the side and reduce the injury list. The win has moved Stratford up four places to 9th in the League, but this is a somewhat false position, as with no game for two and a half weeks, if teams with games in hand win their matches Stratford could go down to 17th place.

A better performance from Stratford, but it is now a case of playing out the season with nothing to play for except respectability and to try and achieve a respectable position in the League. From our current position a top eight finish would be respectable.

Stratford Town. Dormand, Brady, Crawford, Mowl, Pringle, Love, Rawlings,(83 Ruck), Faulds,(46 Byrne), Thompson, Davis,(58 Grandison), Petty. Suds not Used Robinson, Donaghey.

Shifnal Town. Beech, Andrewartha, Jackson, Newall,(Gennard) Simms, Wheeler, Stephens, Johnson, Dovey, Porter, Jeavons. Subs not Used Bates, Hitchcroft, Lee, Poole.

Stratford Town Man of Match Pringle and Rawlings.

Cautions Stratford None Shifnal Jeavons, Newall.

Match Stats

Stratford Town GA 7 OT 5 HW 0 CW 1 FC 17 OS 4 YC 0 RC 0

Shifnal Town GA 12 OT 6 HW 0 CW 7 FC 11 OS 1 YC 2 RC 0

Michael Crawford worked tirelessly on Saturday chansing the tricky winger from Shifnal.

Wednesday 20th February

LEAGUE CUP EXIT EFFECTIVELY ENDS TOWN’S SEASON

Stratford Town - 1 Grandison 12

Shifnal Town - 2 Jevons 5 Dovey (pen) 79

Earlier in the season when Town were at or near the top of the MFA the League Cup probably did not feature too highly in Micky Moore’s priorities as evidenced by his team selection for the Second Round match at Loughborough , but following the spectacular collapse in form since Christmas this competition now represented Town’s only chance of success this time around, and Wednesday evening’s Third Round tie against Shifnal was therefore of huge significance.

Win it and Town’s season remained alive - lose it and all that would be left would be to play out the remaining 11 League matches and hope to cobble together enough points to avoid slipping any further down the table. And after a bright first half Town faded tamely away in the second with a performance that was really a microcosm of their entire season - good to begin with but getting worse the longer it went on.

Seemingly as always there were several changes to the starting line-up from Saturday’s loss to Barwell. Richard Munday and Aaron Farrell had not recovered from the injuries picked up in that match so Tom Brady replaced Munday in the centre of the back four and was partnered by the returning Ashley Pringle thus allowing Richard Robinson to move into midfield in place of the unavailable Jack Byrne. Justin Marsden came in for Farrell and new signing Martin Thompson from Leamington took over from Neil Davis up front with Davis dropping to the subs bench.

Also on the bench instead of Steve Ruck and Scott Stevenson were Lawrence Rawlings (back from injury) and Nick Mowl (back from Bedworth).

Both sides started briskly, and the visitors went ahead in only the 5th minute. They won two corners in quick succession on the right and the second was taken short. The ball was worked to Ramone Stephens on the edge of the penalty area and he threaded it through to Ben Jevons whose shot from a narrow angle went across Town keeper James Dormand and into the net at the far post.

Town needed to respond quickly and Tim Beech had to save from Marsden before the equaliser arrived in the 12th minute. Marsden sent over a cross from the right and the ball fell to Jerome Grandison who finished precisely past Beech from 8 yards out.

Barely a minute later Grandison was again prominent in another attack which ended with a Robinson effort being cleared off the line by Gordon Simms at the expense of a corner. Shortly after a Thompson header from a Jamie Petty left wing cross went inches over the bar, and then from another Petty cross Beech saved well from Grandison.

Shifnal were doing well to hang on as Town continued to dominate. Grandison made a good run down the left to set up Thompson but the striker wanted too much time and he was crowded out, and then Petty unleashed a fierce shot which was only gathered by Beech at the second attempt.

Nevertheless Town had a let-off in the 26th minute when the speedy Tim Jackson - who had caused Town no end of problems in the League game the previous Wednesday - skipped past Nic Oakley to lay on a clear chance for Matt Johnson who fired wastefully wide, and then Johnson nodded on a free kick to the unmarked Phil Bates whose effort found the side netting.

Town however were having the greater possession and Beech was the busier keeper saving from Marsden, Thompson and Grandison before Dormand was brought into the action in the 40th minute having to go full length to his right to grasp a 30 yard free kick from Jackson.

With half time approaching Town were still pressing for the elusive second goal which their efforts probably deserved. Thompson was again too high from a Petty corner, and then a strong Grandison run down the inside left channel was only halted by Beech coming quickly off his line to bravely smother the ball before Grandison could finish, but at the interval after an entertaining first period the scores were still level..

Half Time - Stratford Town 1 Shifnal Town 1

It would be intriguing to know what the team talks were in the respective dressing rooms during half time as it was a totally different game after the break. Town were tentative straight from the restart as if they had already run out of steam or ideas or both, and Shifnal gradually began to assert.

The play was now concentrated in midfield as Town struggled to repeat their first half attacking play. Rawlings came on for Petty to try to instil a bit more life into Town’s game, but the visitors were gaining in confidence and playing some neat football of their own More and more of the match was being played in Town’s half and they received a warning of what was to come in the 74th minute when Jackson again went past a static Oakley to fire in a shot which Dormand did well to reach with his left hand and Brady only just got to the loose ball before Linden Dovey to put it behind for a corner.

Not long after the match was won and lost. More possession play from Shifnal led to Stephens making ground into the right hand side of Town’s penalty area where he was tripped by a desperate Harry Donaghey. The penalty decision was straightforward as was Dovey’s despatch of the spot kick past Dormand and Shifnal were deservedly in front

Town now had some ten minutes to save their season, and Micky Moore withdrew both full backs and sent on Crawford and Davis but Shifnal had their tails up and but for Dormand would have gone further ahead in the 84th minute when Stephens and Jevons exchanged passes only for the Town keeper to race smartly off his line to block.

With full time imminent Crawford sent over a teasing cross from the left which Beech did well to claim under pressure from Thompson, and Town’s final chance came and went when Rawlings got away down the right and whip in a low cross only for Marsden to put first time effort the wrong side of the near post.

So now its League action only for Town for the rest of the campaign beginning with the return of Shifnal on Saturday. After that Town have two and a half weeks without a game - probably some merciful release for their long suffering followers.

TOWN : Dormand, Oakley (Davis 81), Donaghey (Crawford 81), Robinson, Pringle, Brady, Grandison,, Faulds , Thompson, Marsden, Petty (Rawlings 70). Unused Subs - Mowl & Overton

SHIFNAL : Beech, Andrewartha, Jackson, Bates, Simms, Wheeler, Stephens Johnson, Dovey, Porter, Jeavons. Unused Subs - Newall, Price, Rochester, Evans & Goodall

Town Yellow Cards - None

Shifnal Yellow Cards - None

Attendance -

Man of the Match - Martin Thompson - the new signing gave an energetic performance up front especially in the first half when he had plenty of support from midfield - in the second half that all drained away.

Match Stats

Town - GA 9 OT 6 HW 0 CW 6 FC 17 OS 3 YC 0 RC 0

Shifnal - GA 8 OT 4 HW 0 CW 5 FC 8 OS 4 YC 0 RC 0

Saturday 16th February

Man of the Match - Jamie Petty

Wednesday 12th February

A POINT APIECE AT SHIFNAL

Shifnal Town - 1 Lee 58

Stratford Town - 1 Marsden 50

Town put in their most encouraging performance for some considerable time on Wednesday evening when they came away with a well deserved point from the first of three encounters in ten days with a determined Shifnal Town side.

Micky Moore again shuffled the team notably by giving Aaron Farrell a start in place of Scott Stevenson after his energetic second half display at Oadby. Nic Oakley, Richard Munday and Jerome Grandison also came into the side instead of Adam Overton, Michael Crawford and Neil Davis, and new signing Justin Marsden - who includes Telford among his previous Clubs - was drafted in to replace Gary McPhee whose short stay with the Club has now ended after 5 appearances and 2 goals.

Town almost got off to a dream start when with little over a minute on the clock Farrell pounced on a weak headed back pass from Adam Price only for his lob over the stranded keeper Martin Poole to drop agonisingly the wrong side of post.

Farrell’s pace was to prove a problem for the Shifnal defenders all evening, and in the 15th minute he laid on a chance for Marsden whose shot was hit straight at the well positioned Poole.

Shifnal suffered a blow when their dangerous striker Scott Gennard had to go off a minute later with the nippy Jordon Lee coming on instead, and for the next 20 minutes or so the play was confined to the middle of the pitch as both sides looked to play a passing game but all too often gave the ball away before creating anything resembling a clear cut chance.

On the half hour mark a mistake by Jamie Petty when his attempted headed clearance went straight to the lurking Ben Jeavons nearly put Town in trouble, but James Dormand made a smart save going low to his left to hold the midfielder’s well struck effort.

That apart it was only in the final five minutes of the half when either goal was seriously threatened. For Shifnal Lee set up a chance for Tim Jackson on the left only for his shot to flash across the face of the goal, while for Town Mark Faulds and Jack Byrne exchanged passes before Byrne’s effort from 20 yards out went disappointingly wide

Half Time - Shifnal Town 0 Stratford Town 0

Town had Munday to thank for not going behind within seconds of the restart when he got in a perfectly timed tackle to thwart Linden Dovey after Richard Robinson had been far too casual and lost possession on the edge of Town’s penalty area, and a couple of minutes later Munday almost opened the scoring at the other end when his header from a Harry Donaghey corner was scrambled off the line with Poole nowhere.

With the game opening up chances were now coming at both ends and in the 50th minute Town took the lead with a neatly worked goal. Faulds did well to retain possession under pressure on the edge of the penalty area and then thread the ball through to Marsden who marked his debut by turning and hitting a low right foot shot beyond Poole’s left hand into the bottom corner of the net.

Town’s lead was to be relatively short lived however as Shifnal equalised just eight minutes later and what a fine goal it was too. Jeavons won possession on the halfway line and split Town’s defence with a perfect crossfield pass out to Jackson wide on the left who sprinted to the byline before pulling the ball back for Lee to finish clinically from close range.

Jackson went close again shortly after but this time hit his effort into the side netting, and with the equally pacy Ramone Stephens beginning to make some telling contributions down the right flank Town’s defence came under a bit of pressure. However Munday was usually in the right place at the right time and with Dormand confidently dealing with some dangerous crosses Town coped without too many real alarms.

The play was now more end to end than the midfield stalemate of the first half as both sides sought the crucial second goal. Byrne set up a chance for Faulds but Price made a good covering tackle and a Farrell cross found Petty whose effort was well wide, while at the other end a mistake by Donaghey let in Dovey only for Dormand to spread himself and make a vital block.

Town did get the ball into the net with ten minutes to go but the referee ruled - probably rightly - that Faulds had fouled the keeper in the process, and the final chance fell to Shifnal when big central defender Gordon Simms went up for a free kick only to prod his effort the wrong side of the post with Dormand beaten.

Nevertheless the draw was a fair result after an ultimately quite entertaining game between two evenly matched teams. They meet again next Wednesday for a quarter final League Cup clash and then the following Saturday for the return MFA game, and on the evidence of this evening two close games are in prospect.

Meantime Town can look back on an improved effort here and forward to the opening match at their new Knights Lane home against Barwell on Saturday. Perhaps after the gloom of recent weeks something better is just round the corner.

TOWN : Dormand, Oakley, Petty, Byrne, Robinson, Munday, Farrell, Faulds (Crawford 88), Marsden, Grandison,, Donaghey (Ruck 83). Unused Subs - Davis, Stevenson & Overton

SHIFNAL : Poole, Andrewartha, Jackson, Bates, Simms, Price, Stephens (Parker (84), Johnson, Gennard (Lee 14), Dovey, Jeavons. Unused Subs - Rochester, Goodison & Goodall

Town Yellow Cards - None

Shifnal Yellow Cards - Simms

Attendance - 71

Man of the Match - Richard Munday - another solid performance from this gritty central defender - his positional play was particularly good this evening

Match Stats

Town - GA 9 OT 3 HW 0 CW 3 FC 12 OS 1 YC 0 RC 0

Shifnal - GA 8 OT 5 HW 0 CW 6 FC 14 OS 5 YC 1 RC 0