Match Report

Rugby Town 2 Clevedon Town 3

Clevedon won their third game on the trot with a battling victory at Butlin Road, home of Rugby Town. After the recent wet weather the pitch was in remarkably good condition although the strong wind made control of the ball difficult for both sides.

Clevedon started the game brightly and went ahead as early as the 5th minute when Kris Witcombe’s excellent cross found Danny Haines who smashed the ball home from 6 yards. The Seasiders continued to apply pressure from the restart, Jack Pitcher found himself clear on goal only to be crowded out by the home defence. Rugby slowly came into the game and created a great opportunity to level the score but hit the side netting after Clevedon failed to clear the ball. The rest of the half saw both teams created a number of half chances, however, the visitors doubled their lead just before half-time when Mitchell Page latched onto a loose ball after some poor defending from the home side and, hammered an unstoppable shot into the top of the net. First half ended with Clevedon deserving their 2-0 lead.

Rugby Manager Billy Jeffrey’s half time talk clearly had an effect on his players as they started the second half in a more determined mood and pulled a goal back in the 50th minute, when David Stone was allowed to turn in the box and fire a shot past Danny Greaves in the visitors goal. On the hour Hanin Romhdane had a great opportunity to extend Clevedon’s lead, however, former Azerbaijan under-21 international goalkeeper Farhad Afandiyev, made a superb save to deny the lively midfielder.

The game was held up in the 71st minute when Rugby’s David Stone suffered a head injury and had to be replace by Andy Commander. Five minutes later it was all even when Clevedon who were defending far to deeply allowed David Kolodynski to equalise. The Valley had a great chance to take the lead in the 79th minute but David Kolodynski shot wide with the goal at his mercy, however, Clevedon scored the winner in the 83rd minute when a volley from Daine O'Conner ricocheted off a defender and the ball looped goal ward for Jack Pitcher to latch onto and smash into the back of the net. Clevedon had a great chance to kill the game off in the 89th minute when Man-of-the-match Danny Haines seemed certain to score, however a combination of a defender and the keeper saw the ball blocked on the goal-line. The final whistle blew with Clevedon recording their very first victory at Butlin Road and leapfrogging their hosts in the league table.

Gallery

Thumbnail panels:

Team Sheet

No:	Name:	Sub:	Goal:
1	Greaves
2	Witcombe
3	Trought
4	Scott (Capt)
5	Hendy
6	Clark
7	Page		1
8	Romhdane
9	Pitcher		1
10	Rawlins
11	Haines		1
12	Jacobs
14	-
15	O'Connor	7
16	Bater	10
17	-
Own Goal	-

Match Details

Date:	10/03/07
Competition:	British Gas Business Southern League Premier Division
Opponents:	Rugby Town
Venue:	Butlin Road Rugby Warwickshire CV21 3ST
Half Time:	2 - 0
Full Time:	3 - 2
Attendance:	206
Match Report:	John Roberts & Tony Merrett
Photographs:	Tony Merrett
Notes:

Downloads

Appearances & Goal Scorers	Word Document
Team Sheet Matrix	Excel Document