Post by Lato on May 7, 2013 19:00:32 GMT
Cheshire & Manchester Sunday League – Godfrey Wild Trophy Final
Manchester Rovers 1-0 The Urmston
1. Riccardo
3. White
4. Dec
8. Damo
11. Harris
14. Mo
16. Masterman (C)
17. Tad
22. Ross
24. Pricey
25. Big Nathan
Rolling Subs:
2. Mason
6. Anto
9. Alex
12. Nathan
27. Owen
Grey clouds greeted Rovers at Bar256 in Fallowfield on the morning of the final. This was partly because it was cloudy and partly as a result of Rovers having been knocked out of two competitions in their last two outings. Nevertheless there was a focus and determination in the squad as they arrived. A couple of Rovers players stood outside the pub in their smart suits and ties were told by pub staff that if they were looking for the church it was on the other side of the pub. Then a couple of drunken hipsters walked past singing Hare Krishna, they wanted to know if we were Mormons. At this point you had to wonder whether someone was looking down upon Rovers today ;-). However a sense of déjà vu grew as we took the same journey to Wythenshawe Town FC, to the same changing room, greeted by the same groundsman. The groundsman was still seething from a flair being thrown on the pitch the week before. He was glad to see us smart suited up lads with no chicken costumes in sight.
Rovers went through the Masterman motions before being sent back to the changing rooms for the team talk. The side was named but it was now that G mentioned Rocky III. Within a split second the theme tune started going through our heads. At the same moment the sun came out for a glorious Bank Holiday cup final and as the sides walked out together we were clearly the only side with a Rocky III team talk to spur us on (I recommend you CLICK the link NOW and play in the background for the remainder of the report) www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kf8oZGHDTt4
Nevertheless in true Rocky fashion things weren’t so simple and it was The Urmston who started the brighter of the two teams. They were comfortable in possession and if not winning the first were mostly winning the second ball. There were a couple of half chances but nothing too troubling. Rovers meanwhile kept giving the ball away on the hard, bobbly pitch. However on 20 minutes Ricky’s long kick down the middle saw Big Nathan out jump his marker. The ball bounced and Pricey made the brave decision to win the first header of his footballing career. The flick on sent Tad through on goal. It took a couple of touches to get the ball down whilst running directly on goal. The keeper came out and Rovers held their collective breath only for Tad to stun everyone by calmly sliding the ball into the bottom left corner as if the spirit of Brandon, Bills and Fraser had taken over for a split second. It was clear soon afterwards that Rovers found a new belief whilst The Urmston’s early confidence was knocked. For the rest of the half Rovers showed much better composure and pressed the ball much better. Urmston carried on playing their football but never really threatened. Their best chance came when a runner lost his man in the box and forced a good stop from Ricky at his left post. The next Rovers break saw a storming burst from the back by Masterman. The ball bounced up kindly and it looked for all intents and purposes that a Masterman 35 yard spectacular was on the way, this time the shot did not dip quite enough. Pricey also went clean through on the right. This time the keeper did a good job of narrowing the angle and smothered the one on one.
The message at half-time was to win the second half and keep the intensity and confidence we showed after going a goal up.
The second half saw an evident improvement from Rovers. The passing was crisper and we looked more settled in possession. We cut through the Urmston backline time and time again. There were clear chances for Pricey, Nathan and Tad. The clearest chance saw Big Nathan through one on one. He took the ball round the keeper only to be brought down. The ref didn’t see it that way and added insult to injury by booking Nathan, the keeper admitted it was the wrong decision and that he was lucky to stay on the park. Owen forced a superb save after the ball bounced up nicely on the edge of the box. His thunderous left footed half volley stung the hands of the keeper and a foot either way Rovers would have started the celebrations. The final agonizing miss came when a ball crossed in from the right was met by Big Nathan on 3 yards. Despite being heavily under pressure his header bounced down into the ground only to somehow bounce directly up and over the bar. It was never one-way traffic though and Urmston continued to play their football. Whitey and Harris worked tirelessly on the left. Their left winger and man of the match pegged both Masterman and Tad back for long periods. Again it was a testament to Urmston that both our wingers were replaced by Anto and Stuart in the second half. Dec battled flawlessly to overcome last weeks’ knock. Ross took a yellow for the team in the first half but continued to put in last ditch interceptions knowing there was no margin for error. Equally Dee and Mo and later Owen ran tirelessly to hold their own despite being outnumbered 3 to 2 in the middle. Urmston continued to stretch both flanks and kept recycling possession. It’s a credit to the Rovers discipline and shape that they never created clear chances. There were a couple of balls across the six yard box with no one on the end. As Rovers sat slightly deeper in the final ten minutes and Urmston threw on an extra forward their best chance came when their central midfielder found himself free on sixteen yards, the ball rolled back to him only for his shot to find the car park. Nathan came on to harass the Urmston in the final minutes and his great work found Owen who once again went close. After Rovers contained another Urmston attack the final whistle blew, Rovers won the cup!!!
Goals: Tad
Players Player
Facebook Vote
Seasons Goals:
11 Bills,
7 Brandon,
6 Dec, Tad,
5 Mo, Masterman,
4 Fraser, Big Nathan,
3 Damo, Pricey,
2 Nathan,
1 Ross, Harris, Mason
Disclaimer: This was 36 hours ago, I can’t remember many details. The party went from 1pm to the small hours of the morning. It started at the Whythenshawe Town clubhouse, moved to 256 in Fallowfield where multiple rounds of Sumo Wrestling and Surf Boarding were used as a warm down. Finally three taxi’s took three groups of Rovers players to three different bars in the Northern Quarter. The spirit and togetherness of the team showed through as we were reunited in Barcelona. We moved to some other bar and partied like we’d won the cup the whole time!!!
League Website for Tables and Results: full-time.thefa.com/ProcessPublicSelect.do?psSelectedSeason=542568824&psSelectedDivision=5720169&psSelectedCompetition=0&psSelectedLeague=6300451
Facebook Group: Please join. We don’t have teamer anymore so it’d be good to have a place we can communicate about matches, training and socials ect.
www.facebook.com/groups/2413739152/
Manchester Rovers 1-0 The Urmston
1. Riccardo
3. White
4. Dec
8. Damo
11. Harris
14. Mo
16. Masterman (C)
17. Tad
22. Ross
24. Pricey
25. Big Nathan
Rolling Subs:
2. Mason
6. Anto
9. Alex
12. Nathan
27. Owen
Grey clouds greeted Rovers at Bar256 in Fallowfield on the morning of the final. This was partly because it was cloudy and partly as a result of Rovers having been knocked out of two competitions in their last two outings. Nevertheless there was a focus and determination in the squad as they arrived. A couple of Rovers players stood outside the pub in their smart suits and ties were told by pub staff that if they were looking for the church it was on the other side of the pub. Then a couple of drunken hipsters walked past singing Hare Krishna, they wanted to know if we were Mormons. At this point you had to wonder whether someone was looking down upon Rovers today ;-). However a sense of déjà vu grew as we took the same journey to Wythenshawe Town FC, to the same changing room, greeted by the same groundsman. The groundsman was still seething from a flair being thrown on the pitch the week before. He was glad to see us smart suited up lads with no chicken costumes in sight.
Rovers went through the Masterman motions before being sent back to the changing rooms for the team talk. The side was named but it was now that G mentioned Rocky III. Within a split second the theme tune started going through our heads. At the same moment the sun came out for a glorious Bank Holiday cup final and as the sides walked out together we were clearly the only side with a Rocky III team talk to spur us on (I recommend you CLICK the link NOW and play in the background for the remainder of the report) www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kf8oZGHDTt4
Nevertheless in true Rocky fashion things weren’t so simple and it was The Urmston who started the brighter of the two teams. They were comfortable in possession and if not winning the first were mostly winning the second ball. There were a couple of half chances but nothing too troubling. Rovers meanwhile kept giving the ball away on the hard, bobbly pitch. However on 20 minutes Ricky’s long kick down the middle saw Big Nathan out jump his marker. The ball bounced and Pricey made the brave decision to win the first header of his footballing career. The flick on sent Tad through on goal. It took a couple of touches to get the ball down whilst running directly on goal. The keeper came out and Rovers held their collective breath only for Tad to stun everyone by calmly sliding the ball into the bottom left corner as if the spirit of Brandon, Bills and Fraser had taken over for a split second. It was clear soon afterwards that Rovers found a new belief whilst The Urmston’s early confidence was knocked. For the rest of the half Rovers showed much better composure and pressed the ball much better. Urmston carried on playing their football but never really threatened. Their best chance came when a runner lost his man in the box and forced a good stop from Ricky at his left post. The next Rovers break saw a storming burst from the back by Masterman. The ball bounced up kindly and it looked for all intents and purposes that a Masterman 35 yard spectacular was on the way, this time the shot did not dip quite enough. Pricey also went clean through on the right. This time the keeper did a good job of narrowing the angle and smothered the one on one.
The message at half-time was to win the second half and keep the intensity and confidence we showed after going a goal up.
The second half saw an evident improvement from Rovers. The passing was crisper and we looked more settled in possession. We cut through the Urmston backline time and time again. There were clear chances for Pricey, Nathan and Tad. The clearest chance saw Big Nathan through one on one. He took the ball round the keeper only to be brought down. The ref didn’t see it that way and added insult to injury by booking Nathan, the keeper admitted it was the wrong decision and that he was lucky to stay on the park. Owen forced a superb save after the ball bounced up nicely on the edge of the box. His thunderous left footed half volley stung the hands of the keeper and a foot either way Rovers would have started the celebrations. The final agonizing miss came when a ball crossed in from the right was met by Big Nathan on 3 yards. Despite being heavily under pressure his header bounced down into the ground only to somehow bounce directly up and over the bar. It was never one-way traffic though and Urmston continued to play their football. Whitey and Harris worked tirelessly on the left. Their left winger and man of the match pegged both Masterman and Tad back for long periods. Again it was a testament to Urmston that both our wingers were replaced by Anto and Stuart in the second half. Dec battled flawlessly to overcome last weeks’ knock. Ross took a yellow for the team in the first half but continued to put in last ditch interceptions knowing there was no margin for error. Equally Dee and Mo and later Owen ran tirelessly to hold their own despite being outnumbered 3 to 2 in the middle. Urmston continued to stretch both flanks and kept recycling possession. It’s a credit to the Rovers discipline and shape that they never created clear chances. There were a couple of balls across the six yard box with no one on the end. As Rovers sat slightly deeper in the final ten minutes and Urmston threw on an extra forward their best chance came when their central midfielder found himself free on sixteen yards, the ball rolled back to him only for his shot to find the car park. Nathan came on to harass the Urmston in the final minutes and his great work found Owen who once again went close. After Rovers contained another Urmston attack the final whistle blew, Rovers won the cup!!!
Goals: Tad
Players Player
Facebook Vote
Seasons Goals:
11 Bills,
7 Brandon,
6 Dec, Tad,
5 Mo, Masterman,
4 Fraser, Big Nathan,
3 Damo, Pricey,
2 Nathan,
1 Ross, Harris, Mason
Disclaimer: This was 36 hours ago, I can’t remember many details. The party went from 1pm to the small hours of the morning. It started at the Whythenshawe Town clubhouse, moved to 256 in Fallowfield where multiple rounds of Sumo Wrestling and Surf Boarding were used as a warm down. Finally three taxi’s took three groups of Rovers players to three different bars in the Northern Quarter. The spirit and togetherness of the team showed through as we were reunited in Barcelona. We moved to some other bar and partied like we’d won the cup the whole time!!!
League Website for Tables and Results: full-time.thefa.com/ProcessPublicSelect.do?psSelectedSeason=542568824&psSelectedDivision=5720169&psSelectedCompetition=0&psSelectedLeague=6300451
Facebook Group: Please join. We don’t have teamer anymore so it’d be good to have a place we can communicate about matches, training and socials ect.
www.facebook.com/groups/2413739152/