Ramsbury FC gain an impressive 2-1 win against Cricklade Town Reserves in hard fought friendly game in very windy conditions.
Team Coach Sean had a strong squad for the planned friendly match today and although a few players looked like they had just returned from a Benidorm all inclusive 18-30s bender, he was rewarded by some very good individual performances, a genuinely promising team effort and much less whinging than usual. In fact, it was the opposition who won that prize for whinging as they were constantly moaning at the ref and each other and looked like they had been on the same holiday package as Ramsbury, but had spent most of their time at the all you can eat buffet and free Sangria bar!
Team: Ash (GK), Leigh, Chris (C), Adam, Noah, Skip, Byron, Rob, Scott, Charlie, Jason. Subs: Sam, Jonah, Henry, Dan and (Lunch break) Zac
Formation: 4-3-3 but it was hard to tell at times and 4-4-2 in the second half
First half was hard fought with the strong winds in the opposition faces and Ramsbury’s backs and a number of chances were not converted. Ash was having a blinder in goal and Ramsbury looked fairly compact in all areas and competed well.
Cricklade Town scored against the run of play with a well taken free kick that was not headed cleanly by Ramsbury defence, who were too flat footed, and the cross was neatly converted into the bottom left of the goal to give Ash no chance. Up until then Chris and Adam had been really assured as centre halves with Noah and Leigh covering well and offering loads of width on the flanks and connecting well with Skips, Byron and Rob in midfield up until Rob came off with lack of fitness or as he would say ‘tight calves’! Henry came on and was a whirling dervish (you will have to look that up Rob!) in midfield and put some quality tackles in to break up the opposition play and get the ball to the front three. Ramsbury definitely were finishing the half the stronger!
Ramsbury managed to equalize by a punt up front from midfield ….lets say by Skips as I wasn’t really watching at the time and was chatting to Sean …which was taken under control beautifully by Scott who then cheekily lobbed the keeper from 20 yards to stick it in the net. It was a great opportunist goal and hopefully Scott will have a few more like that this season. There were a couple of yellow cards for both sides for overly enthusiastic challenges and Henry and Charlie (no surprise there then Charlie) got the yellows as the half ended 1-1….I think!
The second half saw a switch to 4-4-2 and Jason and Zac on for Charlie and Byron and Sam on for Scott. What was good was the changes and change of formation were adapted to quickly and the tempo with the wind now in Ramsbury faces did not drop. There was some great battles in midfield with Jonah and Byron like terriers and Skips cleaning up the second balls really well. Noah was a pain down the left hand side and Chis and Adam continued a fine partnership in defence to keep the Cricklade forward line restricted to long range shots which Ash dealt with well.
Zac and Jason proved a real challenge to Cricklade who looked very heavy legged and it took some last ditch defending by Cricklade for it not to be 2-1. However, Ramsbury got their reward with another decent through ball, lets just say by Skips as I am not sure if honest, over the Cricklade defence which was pounced on by Sam who won the foot race and got his big toe to the ball first and squirted the ball into the bottom left corner to make it 2-1.
Dan and Charlie came on for Leigh and Zac and Sean made a number of changes throughout the match that did not change the team dynamic and which was adapted quickly and great to see. Players stuck to their tasks and cleared when needed and used the width of the pitch well and passed neatly and accurately. Jason continued to cause havoc and could and should have made it 3-1 as he out muscled the defence on two occasions and Sam also went close with a glancing header from a Zac corner.
The game ended with Ramsbury deservedly winning 2-1 and looking much the fitter team in the second half. A really useful match in very windy conditions and against the league runners up last season. Importantly, Ramsbury FC looked the better team and had 16 today and have numbers to have a decent squad and just need 2-3 more players to have a good if not great season.
Great friendly warm up match and although there were some great individual performances, the man of the match award should surely go to the team’s spirit, but I will leave Sean to decide that one.
Good effort – great win – and look forward to the next pre-season match!
Jon
