Rushall Olympic FC - Match Reports - October

Match Reports - March 2003

Oldbury United 4-6 Rushall Olympic (Midland Football Alliance) Saturday 29th March 2003 This incredible game of football had just about everything for the neutral spectator: ten goals; three penalties; two hat-tricks and two red cards. Meanwhile, Rushall Olympic supporters nerves were left in tatters as they watched their side, who were never behind at any point during the game, take the lead on four separate occasions, only to see an incredibly resilient Oldbury United outfit peg their guests back three times before finally being edged out at the death by two clear goals. Olympic got off to the best possible start when after only seven minutes Dave Read set up Lee Booth who used his strength to charge through the Oldbury rearguard. Despite being forced out to the by-line on the left hand side of goal, he held the ball up before cutting it back to the in-rushing Carl Palmer who had made a surging run up field and the midfielder lamped the ball home into the roof of the net at the first time of asking. However, the visitor's joy was rather short lived when two minutes later Steve McCartan conceded a free-kick just inside his own half and from a harmless looking position on the right flank Oldbury ultimately scrambled home an unexpected equaliser. As the hopeful kick was launched into the Rushall penalty area 'keeper Danny Watson uncharacteristically misjudged the flight of the ball and was forced to tip it at full stretch on to the crossbar. As the ball rebounded off the woodwork Dave Read challenged striker James Wood, but Olympic's commanding defender appeared to strike the left hand post and crumpled to the ground as the front runner fired home into an empty net from close range. After almost ten minutes of treatment the unfortunate Rushall man was stretchered off the pitch and taken to hospital by ambulance with a suspected broken collar bone. As the visitors regained their composure after receiving the double blow, in the eleventh minute they had a strong penalty appeal turned down when a good cross from the right was headed down by Lee Booth and the ball was latched on to by Ian Long whose snap shot from just inside the box was blatantly handled by a home defender before his follow-up shot from eight yards was gratefully smothered by 'keeper Matt Ford. Despite Rushall enjoying much the better of the exchanges, six minutes later they were pushed on to the back foot when Oldbury's James Wood attempted a powerful thirty yard free-kick that 'keeper Danny Watson did well to push firmly away for a corner that was ultimately cleared. However, it was Olympic who took the initiative in the nineteenth minute when a long ball pushed up field into the Oldbury half bounced awkwardly on the hard and unforgiving surface to wrong foot the home defence and allow Scott Gennard to chase it through and make a telling challenge. As the back line made a real hash of an attempted clearance the ball eventually bounced past the home custodian who had raced off his line to intercept and Lee Booth could not believe his luck as he ran clear to head the loose ball home unchallenged into an empty net from twelve yards. With the interval fast approaching, the Pic's had seemingly put the game firmly out of reach of Oldbury on forty three minutes when Jason Barton clumsily upended Ian Long twenty yards out from goal and Steve McCartan majestically curled the resulting free-kick into the top right hand corner of the net past the flat footed stopper Matt Ford who didn't even move. A couple of minutes later and the visitors spurned a golden opportunity to extend their already commanding lead further when Steve McCartan's free-kick from the right wing to the far post was inexplicably handled by an Oldbury defender to concede a penalty kick. However, the York Road side were fortunate on this occasion when the usually reliable Lee Booth elected to hit his fierce conversion attempt straight down the middle of the goal where 'keeper Matt Ford stood his ground to block the ball with his legs and then watched as the Rushall striker blazed the rebound over the bar. After going into the interval three goals to one down, Oldbury emerged for the second period plainly determined to quickly get back on level terms and within six minutes of the restart a deep free kick from the right was met by the head of Mark Freeman who forced 'keeper Danny Watson into a terrific save as he pushed away the point blank effort. However, in the fifty seventh minute Rushall's custodian was powerless to prevent Kevin Brookes' vicious first time half volley from 15 yards flying into the net, despite getting a hand to the effort, after the striker had connected with an accurate right wing cross. Although the visitors suddenly began to look decidedly shakey, they responded five minutes later when fancy footwork from Ian Long saw him create the space to unleash a twenty-five yarder that rose narrowly over the bar following good work by Rob Holdcroft . However, Olympic's apparent inability to cope with the home sides' slick passing inevitably saw them relinquish the lead when on sixty-nine minutes skipper Richard Brown conceded a free-kick right on the edge of the penalty area that also saw him booked for his troubles. With Oldbury now firmly in the danger zone striker James Wood lined the ball up and struck an unstoppable thunderous low shot straight into the bottom right hand corner of the net around the defensive wall to pull his side back on level terms at three goals apiece. Although the equaliser manifestly shook everyone concerned with Rushall, the Dales Lane playing staff still showed great belief in themselves and they quickly went about repairing the damage by regaining the lead for a third time of asking when a spell of pressure resulted in a scramble in the Oldbury penalty area. Ian Long managed to pick out Lee Booth, who in turn threaded the ball through to strike partner Scott Gennard from where he stabbed an effort home from close range past the despairing dive of 'keeper Matt Ford. Going behind again would have firmly dampened the desire and enthusiasm of many a lesser side, but incredibly Oldbury were far from finished. In the eighty third minute another spell of sustained pressure from the home side resulted in a clumsy defensive trip on striker Kevin Brookes in the Rushall box that gave the referee no other alternative but to award a penalty. Front runner James Wood confidently strode up and converted the resulting kick with consummate ease into the bottom corner of the net to complete his hat-trick and bring the game level for the third time of the afternoon at four all. The amazing nature of the match saw the tide turn once again when three minutes later the hard working Scott Gennard got behind the home defence and set up fellow front runner Lee Booth who confidently slotted home past 'keeper Matt Ford from twelve yards with a low stinging drive. On this occasion Oldbury had no answer to Rushall regaining the lead for the fourth time in the game and with barely a minute of the contest remaining the visitor's were awarded a penalty when from Carl Palmer's telling cross from the right flank, Scott Gennard was hacked down in the box by Russell Dodds, who was eventually dismissed for his reckless challenge. Olympic's top scorer Lee Booth stepped up once more to take the kick, but this time he made no mistake and rifled the ball firmly into the bottom corner of the net to complete the second hat-trick of the day and claim his twelfth goal in the space of eight games. With only stoppage time remaining on the watch, Oldbury's misery was complete when substitute Luke Yates was deservedly dismissed for a horrendous knee high challenge on Richard Brown who was advancing down the right wing.

Rushall Olympic 1-0 Boldmere St Michaels (Midland Football Alliance) Saturday 22nd March 2003 Rushall Olympic left it late to take all three points from a spirited young Boldmere St Michaels outfit with a goal in the second minute of injury time from Ian Long that sealed the game and maintained their push for title honours. Olympic began brightly and as early as the sixth minute Lee Booth created himself some space in the Boldmere box but could only fire a rising drive over the crossbar from ten yards when well placed. Six minutes later and once again Rushall's top scorer went close to opening his sides account when he expertly brought down the ball under control and hit a first time volley from the edge of the visitors penalty area that flew agonisingly past the right hand upright. As the home side continued to dominate proceedings, a good run by Scott Gennard was intercepted by Mikes 'keeper Matt Knight, although the ball eventually fell to Lee Booth who could only manage to drag his powerful low shot from thirty yards wide of the left hand post. During the first period the visitors had rarely threatened the Rushall goal, but they returned from the interval in a clearly more determined mood. Indeed, within four minutes of the restart the ball was picked up by Duncan Ferguson who broke through Olympic's rearguard down the left flank and unleashed a potent first time drive from twelve yards that 'keeper Danny Watson did extremely well to push away to his left for a corner. As Boldmere maintained their early pressure, Nathan Gough let fly with a speculative dipping shot from fully 35 yards that went narrowly wide of the woodwork, but certainly had the Rushall custodian frantically back pedalling to cover. In the 56th minute when Olympic had eventually weathered the storm, a good interchange of passing between Steve McCartan, Aaron Skelding and Carl Palmer saw the latter make progress towards the by-line and cut inside, but instead of pulling the ball back the midfielder went for glory and blazed a stinging effort marginally over the bar from twelve yards. With Rushall looking to push forward at every available opportunity, Scott Gennard's pace saw him escape Boldmere's defensive clutches to make his way into the opposing penalty area, but after his first time shot was well blocked by 'keeper Matt Knight, he couldn't quite connect with the rebound and the danger subsided. Four minutes later and the visitors custodian once again came to his colleagues rescue as he pushed away Lee Booth's sixteen yard snap shot for a corner kick after good work by Ian Long on the edge of the box had set up the Rushall front man. As the Mikes responded on 72 minutes, Nathan Gough used his pace to outstrip Olympic's off side trap down the left flank, before cutting inside and forcing 'keeper Danny Watson into another outstanding save as he parried away a crisp shot at his near post for a corner kick. With the game seemingly drifting towards a stalemate a last gasp push forward by the home side forced a throw-in twenty-five yards from the Boldmere by-line. Skipper Richard Brown's subsequent long throw was hoisted into the visitor's danger area causing a chaotic scramble from where the ball was eventually threaded through to Ian Long who took the opportunity to blast home from eight yards into the roof of the net with a rising drive. Straight from the restart Rushall still had time to create another opportunity as a clearly dejected Mike's defence allowed Carl Palmer to power his way through and hit a tremendous thirty yard effort that ricocheted off the wrong side of the left hand upright for a goal kick.

Rushall Olympic Ladies 3-0 West Bromwich Albion Ladies (West Mids Regional Womens Premier) Sunday 16th March 2003 Rushall: Nixon, Price, Milburn, Watson, Luke, Lockyer, Oliver, Lane, Wright, Knight, Ponsford. After two defeats in a row Rushall were looking to get back on track today and push Albion further down the table. Olympic kicked into the sun in the first half and quickly settled to play their game the way they like to. Olympic were in full control of the initial 45 minutes, yet only had one goal to show for it at half-time. A fabulous run by Lockyer to receive an inch perfect pass from Wright ended in the keeper sprawling. 1-0 to us! Manager Lane lifted spirits with an inspiring team talk and out came the Rushall team hungry for more goals. Yet more pressure went unrewarded until a free kick was given on the edge of the penalty box. You would have bet your wages on it being converted by defender Watson....... but if you had, you would have lost! A well taken shot but inches over the cross bar. An excellent chance wasted. Rushall continued to press forward. Another free kick was awarded on the left hand side of the park. Knight stepped up to deliver a perfect cross for Watson to head home. 2-0 to us! The final nail in the Albion coffin was knocked in by Ponsford who rounded three defenders to slot home an excellent individual goal. 3-0 to us ! Albion kept fighting and with five minutes left they were unlucky not to get one back when they hit the cross bar. Apart from that chance though the Rushall defence were not really troubled. A superb team performance from the Rushall squad who defended and attacked as a unit. If this performance is repeated again this week when we take on Stratford at home (23.03.03 @ 2pm), we will be pushing TNS hard for second place come the end of the season. Meanwhile Albion , along with their male counterparts can reflect on a season that may well be their last in the Premier League for sometime! Rushall Olympic Ladies F.C. Sponsored by H.T.P. Electricals

Cradley Town 1-3 Rushall Olympic (Midland Football Alliance) Saturday 15th March 2003 Three goals in the space of six second half minutes sparked the revival that got Rushall Olympic out of jail after lowly Cradley Town threatened to upset the form book by taking a shock lead, despite being on a roll of nine consecutive defeats. Rushall appeared to be suffering from the hangover of their midweek Walsall Senior Cup exit at the hands of lower league Tividale when in the 12th minute Cradley caught their guests cold. With Olympic's defence flat footed, veteran Albert Johnson flicked the ball on to strike partner Seb Hamilton, but his shot from the edge of the penalty area went well wide of the left hand upright. As the visitors began to regain some composure, the 28th minute saw Nick Campbell make a good run down the right flank to feed Scott Gennard whose shot on the run from 15 yards went wide of the right hand post. However, with Rushall once again failing to settle completely into their natural rhythm, Cradley went close to opening the scoring on a couple of occasions when they were given far too much time and space, but thankfully their half chances were fired high and wide of the woodwork when well placed. As the first period neared a conclusion, Olympic's Steve McCartan was finally able to play a telling ball into the danger area when he received a return pass from his own corner kick and delivered a cross from the left that dropped at the feet of Jason Dyer whose point blank effort was somehow deflected by 'keeper Tim Beech over the crossbar for another corner. Rushall made a double substitution during the interval, but the second half began in the worse possible fashion for them as their hosts took a surprise lead. A poor pass back towards his own goal by Wayne Thomas was misjudged by team mate Dave Read and Cradley's Albert Johnson reacted quickly to rob the defender of possession and went on to side step 'keeper Danny Watson before slotting the ball home into an empty net from just inside the box. Fortunately, conceding the goal had the desired effect of unleashing a proverbial kick up the backside for the Dales Lane side and within four minutes of going behind a well worked move saw Wayne Thomas thread the ball through to Nick Campbell who in turn fed Aaron Skelding down the right flank. Upon reaching the by-line the midfielder cut the ball back to Ian Long, but he only managed to scuff his first time shot from just inside the box wide of the left hand upright. Despite pushing menacingly forward at every opportunity, Olympic had to wait until the 65th minute to restore parity to proceedings when a free kick from the right by Nick Campbell picked out Steve McCartan fifteen yards from the Cradley goal and the playmaker swept the ball home at the first time of asking into the bottom left hand corner of the net past the despairing dive 'keeper Tim Beech. Three minutes later and the complexion of the contest changed completely as Rushall surged into the lead thanks to the goal scoring prowess of top scorer Lee Booth who was fed by Steve McCartan on the edge of the Cradley box and the striker went on to unleash a tremendous low drive that flew into the bottom left corner of the net. With Cradley now visibly a demoralised outfit, Olympic's quick fire comeback was complete on 71 minutes when the ever influential Nick Campbell set up Ian Long whose excellent cross to the far post was nodded down by Lee Booth, but despite the Cradley stopper parrying away the initial effort, it fell into the path of Rob Vassell who slotted home into an empty net from close range. As Rushall began to turn on the style, with ten minutes remaining they almost extended their advantage when Steve McCartan released Nick Campbell down the right, who cut inside and rifled in a low drive on the run from the edge of the penalty area that was well held by 'keeper Tim Beech.

Rushall Olympic Ladies 0-2 Stoke City Ladies (West Mids Regional Womens Premier) Sunday 9th March 2003 Rushall: Nixon; Millburn, Price, Watson, Lane, Knight, Lockyer, Wright, Justice, Ponsford, Marshall. Subs: Luke, Oliver. From the kick off Rushall were facing an uphill battle ........literally! They kicked against the strong winds and tirelessly worked to clear their lines. Stoke used the wind advantage and played the long ball tactic to constantly keep Rushall pegged back. However, it was a breakdown in communication between defender and 'keeper that lead to the first goal and Stoke were invited to shoot and score. Rushall did manage to break a few times as they attempted to play the ball on the ground which is their usual style of play. It was to no avail though and Stoke added a second with another wind assisted shot to beat Nixon in the Rushall goal. Olympic's desperate defending resulted in some strong, but fair challenges which ended up with Stoke's centre forward being knocked out and taken to hospital! A clash of heads being the offending challenge. The second half saw Rushall attack Stoke constantly and create several good openings. The final shot though always being to weak to trouble the Stoke 'keeper. Rushall had four corners in succession and almost scored off them all. The 'keeper being hospitalized in her attempts to keep Rushall at bay! Rushall hammered away at Stoke with them hardly leaving their own half. Though Rushall has several good shots on target the substitute 'keeper for Stoke pulled off some excellent saves to prevent he ball from crossing the line. The game ended 2-0 and Rushall will be disappointed with the result. Rushall Olympic Ladies F.C. Sponsored by H.T.P. Electricals

Wednesfield 0-3 Rushall Olympic (Midland Football Alliance) Saturday 1st March 2003 It was a case of Wednesfield nil, Lee Booth three as Rushall Olympic eased up into second place in the table thanks to a hat-trick from their irrepressible top marksman who registered his seventh goal in three games. Had the game been a boxing match the referee would have stopped it at the interval, such was Olympic's overall dominance of a Wednesfield outfit who at times illustrated why they are in their current position. However, the basement club gamely frustrated their high flying opponents during the second period and the only surprise was that the final score line wasn't by a greater winning margin. Opening with the wind at their backs kicking down the slope, Rushall were quickly into their stride and in the 13th minute Ian Long, in his 100th start for the club, skilfully weaved his way past his marker and a second defender into the Wednesfield box before placing the ball agonisingly wide of the right hand post. Three minutes later and a high ball into the Wednesfield area was chased through by skipper Richard Brown, who won a header that dropped to Lee Booth, but his first time volley from ten yards was well smothered by 'keeper Lee Cooke. The visitors deservedly opened their account on twenty-one minutes when an excellent through ball by Wayne Thomas down the right channel sent Richard Brown clear, whose run into the outskirts of the Wednesfield penalty area was unfairly halted by Nathan Jackson's clumsy challenge. The referee had no hesitation in awarding a penalty kick that Lee Booth consummately drilled into the bottom left hand corner of the net by sending Lee Cooke the wrong way. Two minutes later and Rushall threatened again as a good run and cross by Wayne Thomas reached Ian Long, whose shot from the edge of the box was well held by the Wednesfield custodian. As Olympic continued to dominate proceedings on the half hour mark, Ian Long played through an excellent defence splitting pass that Lee Booth quickly latched on to and raced clear, but with the weight of expectation of the visiting supporters seemingly upon his shoulders the striker carried the ball too far and 'keeper Lee Cooke, who was alert to the imminent danger, narrowed the angle and made a superb blocking save. However, the ball fell nicely to Wayne Thomas who immediately fed Lee Booth, but this time an attempt to strike the ball through the legs of the Wednesfield stopper was again thwarted. Six minutes later and good work down the right by Carl Palmer set up Lee Booth, but his initial close range header was blocked and the follow-up effort was pushed away for a corner. However, Olympic's top scorer was not to be denied and from the resulting kick Rob Vassell intelligently headed the ball into the danger area where Lee Booth confidently rifled home into the bottom corner of the net from ten yards to double his sides advantage. With Rushall now overrunning Wednesfield's defensive ranks at will, the home side failed to even register a worthwhile shot on goal and with six minutes to the interval the visitors again threatened as Lee Booth took the ball down the left flank before laying a pass off to Ian Long who ran menacingly into the home box, but could only fire his effort just wide of the intersection of the woodwork. In the 41st minute the Pic's were again frustrated as Wayne Thomas cleverly released Carl Palmer down the right wing, who made his way to the by-line before cutting the ball back to Steve McCartan whose first time shot from the edge of the Wednesfield box was well blocked by 'keeper Lee Cooke. Following the interval Wednesfield returned to the fray determined not to be given the run around for a further 45 minutes and their ploy of quickly closing down their guests certainly paid dividends. When Rushall eventually began to come to terms with the change in tactic, Carl Palmer's 55th minute run down the right flank saw him reach the by-line and swing the ball into Wayne Thomas whose first time snap shot from ten yards was again blocked by 'keeper Lee Cooke. Four minutes later and when Jason Dyer's progress was unfairly halted thirty yards from the Wednesfield goal, Dave Read saw his pile driver free kick go marginally over the crossbar. With openings becoming few and far between as Rushall's approach play was continually being broken down by a combination of poor passing and shear Wednesfield effort, the game was finally sewn up in the 71st minute when the ball was cleverly played into the feet of Lee Booth, who drew the 'keeper before firing home into the bottom corner of the net from eight yards to complete his first hat-trick for the Dales Lane club. As the game petered out to a conclusion Rushall's luck in front of goal was typified when with a minute to go Carl Palmer ran through on goal, but his shot under a defensive challenge from just inside the Wednesfield box sailed over the bar. However, at the end of the day, the result was far more important than the score line and it was another important three points for the Olympic as they begin the final two months of the campaign in second position.