Ramsbury FC win again at the Recreation Ground in 11 goal thriller!
Team: Ash (GK) Andy Chris (C) Adam Jonah Rob Aaron Zac Ali Nathan Jas Subs: Dan Joe Harry Mike
The damage was done in a dominant first half display as Ramsbury FC ran in 4 goals to Stratton’s sole response. But it should and could have been more, by both teams, as this end to end game produced numerous chances that were wasted.
Stratton did score first with Ramsbury having a defensive howler that most Man Utd fans have got used to and gifted a soft goal to make it 0-1! However, Ramsbury, with a very attacking 4-3-3 line up responded brilliantly as Zac clipped in a superb free kick to give the keeper little chance and make it 1-1.
Ramsbury were Man City like in their dominance, but with flashes of Swindon Town, as they scored another two goals through Jas and Ali to make it 3-1 and leave Stratton contemplating whether they were going to concede more point than Wales did against Ireland in thee 6 Nations! Ali and Nathan were particularly good at hold off the defenders and holding the ball up and it was good to see Ali finally get another goal…..been a while!
Sean was in dreamland at 3-1 and wondering if he should change his name to Pep Seaniola as his front 3 of Ali, Nathan and Jas continued to terrorise the Stratton defence. But his day dreaming was cut short as Stratton started to get it together and the one less in midfield by Ramsbury was exploited by Stratton as they went for the overload down the right and came very close to scoring twice in a sustained 5 minutes of pressure. I wouldn’t say Jonah was getting in rinsed….but he was definitely having a torrid time trying to manage the overloads!!!!!!
Ramsbury continued with the 4-3-3 formation and it was highly entertaining as the match was end to end and at times completely bypassing the Ramsbury midfield as Stratton elected to go for the long ball over the back four. But Ramsbury held fast and Andy on the right and Jonah on the left had the pace (just) to deal with the Stratton attacks and Chris (again) won most aerial battles with Adam doing a great job as sweeper and clearing his lines….albeit with a few more touches than Sean would like…just saying Adam!. Ash was comfortable in goal and kicking out from hand was much better with little wind and it was good to see him confident.
Ramsbury continued to attack, attack, attack and another great shot by Jas saw the keeper save go to Zac to get a simple tap into make it 4-1 just before half time. Ramsbury went off at half time coasting and Stratton scratching their heads.
The second half….saw Ramsbury keep the 4-3-3 formation and no changes, but Stratton changed their keeper and moved to a 4-5-1 from a 4-4-2. The effect was to put more pressure on the Ramsbury midfield and try and overmatch them. It worked well for about 15-20 minutes as Stratton looked a different side and Ramsbury were on the back foot as Aaron and Zac were working overtime and Rob had to sit deep in the CDM role with little opportunity to go forward. However, Another fine goal by Jas made it 5-1 against the run of play and Aaron scored a sublime overhead kick from an equally sublime pass from Nathan to make it 6-1 and see Stratton have a sizeable challenge to get back on terms.
But as we all know football is a funny old game and even with Andy off for Mike and Joe on for Jonah to give the defence fresh legs, Stratton hit a 35 yard screamer into the top left corner from nothing to make it 6-2 and then followed that with two more goals to make it 6-4 as Ramsbury had a calamitous 15 minute spell that can only be likened to the worst scenes of Hangover 3’s Mr Chow takes over Sean’s body and is making him tell the whole team to do the opposite of what they should be doing; combined with a weekend way at Fawlty Towers where Basil and Manuel are giving the team brief whilst gargling neat gin! It was that bad….and even with Sean putting on Skips for Rob to help Zac and Aaron, which lasted 5 minutes as Skips pulled his hammy, and who had to be replaced with Harry (CDM is not Harry’s preferred position) and Dan on for Nathan….things didn’t get better!!!
It was a proper nosebleed of a session with shades of Stratton could actually get something from this game before Dan had a rampage up front that saw Jas go close and then some last ditch defending by Chris and Adam ensured Stratton didn’t grab another goal….it was not for the feint hearted and Sean was swearing like Jurgen Klopp losing a scouse derby….and it was not in German!
But….and it was a great but….some great tackling by Joe down the left hand side saw the ball get hoisted up to Jas and very unlike his usual No9 tendency, where Jas has Jas vision and only sees the goal, he took the ball to the bye line and chipped in a top class ball to the back post where Zac was on hand to slide in and smash the ball into the roof of the net to make it 7-4 and grab his hattrick. Stratton were broken and Ramsbury were jubilant as the score remained 7-4 and honours even in the second half still saw Ramsbury run out deserved winners and claim all 3 points.
A great result with no shirt of shame this week and man of the match went to Zac for his hat trick!
Lower Stratton away next Saturday and another strong squad needed to ensure the momentum is maintained!
Club Sec and absent minded story teller!
