Match Reports - January 2007

Dunstable Town 1 - 2 Rushall Olympic

British Gas Business Football League Division One Midlands

Saturday 27th January 2007

Rushall Olympic picked up another three hard earned points with this workman like performance at Dunstable Town's Creasey Park.

Both defences were excellent in this robust encounter, but Rushall started the better of the two teams and after just nine minutes Dean Perrow sent out a warning to the host's of what was to follow with a crisp low drive from twenty five yards that the home 'keeper did well to save.

With the next attack on fourteen minutes Rushall took the lead when the dangerous Perrow was hacked down from behind by Dean Buss and the striker got to his feet to send the 'keeper the wrong way from the penalty spot.

During the remainder of the half Dunstable fought hard to try and get back into the game and they had a little help from the referee in the forty-fourth minute. A good tackle by Richard Brown saw Stuart Strange hit the floor like he had been shot, but the referee gave him the free kick and when the ball was floated over Mark Burfoot headed home the equaliser from eight yards out.

From the first whistle of the second half Rushall went looking for another goal and Neil Kitching and Dean Perrow caused all sorts of problems for the home defence as they turned them inside out on a number of occasions.

A great move down the Dunstable left saw Neil Perrin finish off a four man move with a blistering drive from twenty yards out that, thankfully for Rushall, flashed past the wrong side of the post.

Dunstable did a lot of hard work without really causing Ryan Price to make a single save. However in the seventy third minute Dean Perrow scored a brilliant individual goal when from just inside the Dunstable half he took the ball on his chest, turned and ran at the defence passing two players and then nutmeged the third before hitting a thunderous low drive into the bottom left hand corner of the net.

Rushall had a big scare in the eighty-fourth minute when a breakaway by substitute Scott Dennis saw him hit both posts with a tremendous drive from the edge of the box, however Rushall kept their cool and played out the final minutes to earn three very valuable points that takes them away from the relegation zone.

Dunstable Town: Levy, Baldry, Dorman, Deaton, Buss, Pratt, Hanley, Picknell, Burfoot, Perrin, Strange. Subs: Campbell, Shadbolt, Boyle, Dennis, Nolan.

Rushall Olympic: Price, Gough, Holdcroft, Brown, Wood, Vassell, Twigger, Allen, Kitching, Perrow, Maguire. Subs: Porter (for Kitching 83), Brindley, Smith, McFarlane, Mason.

Referee: Mr. N. Field (Northants)

Rushall Olympic 0 - 3 Aylesbury United

British Gas Business Football League Division One Midlands

Saturday 20th January 2007

A second half collapse saw Rushall Olympic fall to their heaviest home defeat in Southern League football, at the hands of high-flying Aylesbury United, as new manager Paul Holleran experienced at first hand the true magnitude of the task in front of him at Dales Lane.

The Pic's went into the game buoyed by last weeks solid single goal victory at Rothwell Town that arrested a sequence of four straight defeats and despite playing conditions being made difficult by a blustery wind they more than matched their lofty opponents from Buckinghamshire for most of the first period.

With the contest confined to an essentially midfield battle, attacking opportunities for both sides were somewhat few and far between, however as Aylesbury launched arguably their first worthwhile spell of pressure of the match on 31 minutes it led to a crucial opening goal. As the ball was played into Rushall's penalty area, 'keeper Ryan Price attempted to make a claim, but with one hand shielding his eyes against the strong winter sunshine and the other aiming a punch, he made a complete hash of the situation. Although the danger ran temporarily clear, a centre back into the danger zone was met by Ducks' skipper Enzo Silvestri who, despite being the smallest player on the pitch, was allowed to rise unchallenged to loop a header into the left side of goal from 10 yards.

The home side went close to restoring parity on the stroke of half time when Tim Jackson's free kick from the right flank was repelled towards the edge of the box, but the same player picked up possession in a central area and fired a low 22 yard drive towards the bottom right corner, forcing 'keeper Tom Vincent into a fine full length save to push the ball around his near post.

Six minutes following the commencement of the second period and Rushall's defence quickly found themselves at sixes and sevens as Aylesbury ruthlessly got behind their opponents in a wide position and with a pin-point centre from the bi-line, the danger twice had to be scrambled clear in quick succession.

As play moved rapidly to the other end Olympic's Leon Allen somehow managed to hook well wide of the target from close range as the visitors defence halted in anticipation of a unforthcoming offside decision as the midfielder stole a march on his marker.

Just after the hour mark Neil Barnfield was clattered by a crude shin high challenge from his opposite number that resulted in a caution, but from the free-kick award Tim Jackson's ball into the far post was headed well over the woodwork by Neil Kitching when the striker should have done so much better.

As the Pic's continued to apply some meaningful pressure, a minute later Dean Perrow side footed marginally wide of the right post from the edge of the area as a conclusion to good move from the home side. In the 65th minute another set-piece from Tim Jackson almost bore dividends when his corner from the left provided Neil Kitching with a free header some 10 yards out, but the clearly out of sorts striker sent the ball well over with the target at his mercy.

It was then United's turn to press home their slender advantage when on 70 minutes defender Adam Wood conceded a free kick by hauling down an attacker from behind just outside the edge of the box, but Danny Mead's curled the resulting free kick wide of the target.

As Rushall countered two minutes later substitute Anthony Maguire played a delightful ball into the centre of Aylesbury's penalty area that was only partially cleared into the patch of the in-rushing Lee Gough who drove towards the bottom left corner from 15 yards. However, stopper Tom Vincent once again pulled off an excellent save at full stretch to divert the fierce low effort wide of the target.

That incident turned out to be the defining moment of the contest as in the 74th minute Aylesbury launched a counter offensive that saw Luke Melsi carve his way all too easily through Olympic's hesitant defence and past the last man. Although Ryan Price did well to advance off his line to make a partial block, the Ducks' front runner regained his composure and picked up the loose ball before rolling home from relatively close range into an unguarded net.

Conceding the second goal appeared to have an adverse effect on the home side and within three minutes the situation had gone from bad to worse when Kevin Mealor found himself in acres of space on the left bi-line and proceeded to lift the ball over 'keeper Ryan Price from the acutest of angles to claim the simplest of goals for the visitors.

During the aftermath of the goal celebrations Rushall also found themselves down to 10-men when Tim Jackson was dismissed for apparently berating the assistant referee for not giving an off-side decision in his sides favour.

All-in-all it was a disappointing way to mark the new management regimes debut on home turf, but the outcome went a long way to highlighting the problems that will certainly need to be addressed during the coming three months.

Rushall Olympic: 1. Ryan Price, 2. Lee Gough, 3. Tim Jackson, 4. Richard Brown ©, 5. Adam Wood, 6. Rob Vassell, 7. Neil Barnfield, 8. Rob Holdcroft. 9. Neil Kitching, 10. Dean Perrow, 11. Leon Allen. Subs: 12. Chris Brindley [for Wood 74], 14. Ben Porter, 15. Anthony Maguire [for Allen 64], 16. Ben Smith [for Perrow 79], 17. Jason Barton.

Aylesbury United: 1. Tom Vincent, 2. Julian Old, 3. Danny Mead, 4. Carl Kavanagh, 5. Nick Leach, 6. Liam Smyth, 7. Ben Stevens, 8. Enzo Silvestri ©, 9. Luke Melisi, 10. Kevin Mealor, 11. Matt Butler. Subs: 12. Nathan Liburd, 14. Justin Gordon, 15. Danny Jones, 16. Shaun Carr [for Melisi 83].

Referee: Mr. R.J. Steans (Loughborough)

Rothwell 0 - 1 Rushall Olympic

British Gas Business Football League Division One Midlands

Saturday 13th January 2007

Rushall's new boss Paul Holleran got off to an ideal start with a good win at Home Close that ended a run of four straight defeats for the Pic's and gave them three welcome points.

The game was played in very blustery conditions that made good football near impossible as the ball was blown all over the place. Within the first twelve minutes of the kick off there were two incidents of controversy when after just four minutes the Rushall skipper Richard Brown was elbowed in the face by Justin Jenkings who escaped without a single word from the referee. Another seven minutes later and Dan Thompson did the same to Lee Gough, this time busting his lip open, but again no action from the officials.

Rushall's first chance at goal came after fifteen minutes from a long throw by Gough and Neil Kitching set up Dean Perrow to shoot narrowly wide of the upright.

A free kick by Richard Brown just inside the Rothwell half was headed on by Leon Allen and this time it was Neil Kitching who forced a great save from the home keeper as he turned the shot round the post for a corner.

On twenty-four minutes Leon Allen rattled the Rothwell crossbar with a fierce drive from fully thirty-five yards out that had the keeper well beaten.

Rushall took the lead on twenty-nine minutes after another foul on the dangerous Lee Gough, who was causing the home defence many problems down the right hand side. Tim Jackson took the free kick to the back post and the smallest player on the pitch Dean Perrow out jumped everybody to head home.

The remainder of the half was all Rushall as they had the wind at their backs but they could not increase their advantage and went in at the break leading by a single goal.

Having to defend against a very strong wind for the second half new boss Paul Holleran changed the formation from 3-5-2 to a 4-4-2. This proved to be a master stoke as not only did Rushall contain the home side they also managed to create a number of attacks themselves. While the home side were limited to a few half chances Ryan Price didn't have a save to make throughout the whole game. Indeed it was Rushall who had the better chances in the second half with Neil Kitching, Tim Jackson, Leon Allen and two good chances for Dean Perrow going just the wrong side of the post.

However this proved to be the final score in a very entertaining game played in poor conditions, with Rushall giving a good all-round team performance that will boost their confidence over the next few weeks as they were well worth all three points.

Rothwell Town: Smith, Rice, Thompson, Flannigan, Ingram, Darby, Botle-Chong, Sturgess, Difante, Jenkins, Miller (64). Subs: Bewer, Cossie, Blackie (64), Richie-Smith, Keddy.

Rushall Olympic: Price, Gough, Jackson, Brown, Wood, Vassell, Barnfield, Holdcroft, Kitching, Perrow, Allen. Subs: Maguire, Porter, Brindley, Smith, Barton.

Referee: Mr. R. Trinder (Dunstable)