BROMSGROVE ROVERS 1 CIRENCESTER TOWN 1

Southern Premier Tuesday 21st August 2007 7.45pm

No apologies for this being a biggie. Not a great footballing match, but a good contest brim full of controversy so lots to say in this one.. Piccies not great – it was a grey old evening at The Victoria Ground.


The Ciren youngsters again came up against an expensively assembled team and, just as they did on Saturday, showed admirable grit and character as well as a fair bit of good footballing nouse to come through a tough match.

Hitting the Rovers bar in their first attack, when Snaky Stanley lost Lucan Spittle to win a free kick header

Jamie Petty then desperately deflected it onto the woodwork with his 'keeper Davis stranded. Good defending but it put a doubt into The Greenback defence from the off.

Ciren were pushed back for much of the first half but never really looked like conceding a goal despite consistent and sometimes spiteful pressure. Nathan Haisley was immense in midfield, hustling the Bromsgrove playmakers Alsop and Bridgewater and forcing them to play deep.

Up in support of a quick attack on 8 minutes, he collected a loose clearance to burst past Lloyd, steadied and blasted a shot just past the top angle. Aided by a dogged performance from Michael Jackson and Harry Etheridge alongside him in making sure that every second ball was contested, the backline were never really exposed enough to be fatally breached.

Mind you, with their pedigree, Rovers know how to attack. Forced to play long, it seemed they were relying on forcing mistakes rather than creating chances. Reactions had to be quick and it meant that a Hay header on 5 minutes was mistimed and looped gently in to Bulman. While an Alex Stanley header past his own post looked horrible, it was deliberate and prevented Hay from pressuring him within the 6 yard box.

At the other end, on 15 minutes, Nathan got his head onto a well placed Etheridge corner, Lloyd managing to deflect it away with his keeper coming out and stranded. Again, good defending.

It took a remarkable save by Matt Bulman on 24 minutes to keep Ciren in the game. Neil Davis, signed from Conference North Solihull in the summer and previously at Nuneaton, timed his run to get behind Alex Stanley as a sublime pass from Alsop threaded in with Gary Hay bustling in.

Reaching the ball at the same time as Bulman, it broke clear. Already in space because he had gambled, Davis swivelled and hit his fierce shot for the near post from 12 yards. It looked in all the way but Bulman was down and diving the other way and not only stopped it but held on.

Banner hit the bar on 29 minutes with a cute free kick, with Kevin Davies first to the rebound to clear and typifying the Ciren defensive commitment. Next minute Davis had again timed his run to perfection to get on the end of a long punt. Clear in the box, his steered header was sent past the post when he really should have notched. Lucky escape.

When, on 41 minutes, Alex Rigley finally got a moment to spare on the left he freed Nick Stanley who darted behind the statuesque Heeley to smash an unstoppable left peg drive in from 12 yards and drawing applause from all around the ground.

Bromsgrove battered back. Alex Stanley was daft enough to protest an alleged handball against his brother in midfield to get a yellow for dissent. And for a few minutes The Rovers probed much more dangerously than before, all over the midfield, and were now looking to create a goal rather than batter one in.

Sent in behind Kevin Davis, on 45 minutes, Kevin Banner bust a gut to reach a long pass on the left touchline. Surprised by the speed of Davo's recovery, diving in and hooking the ball back with his left peg, he had a petulant foot flick as Davies was up and away again..

Clean tackle at full stretch and then an instant if foolish reaction was certainly full blooded football. But no problem really. Amazing, the ref blows, books both of them and in my earshot tells Banner he deserved to 'be sent off for that'. Not wise.

Ciren nearly made a horlicks of the free kick, Bulman catching the miscued headed clearance from Moly, doing well even to get to the ball with Hay's hand giving him a classic centre forward's shove in the back.

Within 10 minutes of the second half, with Ciren now looking much more to be controlling the game and the defence bossing the Bromsgrove attack, Mr Brown popped on all 3 subs. Taking off both the forwards who had worked so hard but to no effect, he replaced them with 2 more forwards also with a lot of Conference North experience..

Interestingly he also took off Heeley, the huge central defender, put Lloyd back into the defensive quarter, and played veteran John Snape in centre midfield. Older than Nathan and Harry combined, that was one heck of a gamble. It worked. Snape may not run like the youngsters but his positioning in the game was a masterclass and he oozed quality the way he collected, passed and shuffled off into another gap. Class.

The Ciren forwards had been ruffling Heeley and Lucan Spittle's feathers (if they had been able to reach high enough to do so) by running at them and at long last now standing strong and rolling their bodies to deflect the shoves (good coaching there, Oggy) and big gaps were being created. With Dan Hilder now flittering dangerously up the left the Bromsgrove defence looked increasingly nervy.

Heeley may however have taken a knock, though that info was not fortcoming after the game. Certainly, just before he was subbed, Snaky had again embarrassed him. Collecting from Davo in the right corner, and surrounded by 3 defenders he wriggled clear, took a rebound and surged past Heeley clear into the box. With Davis unsure, a arrow for the far post would have notched but Snaky this time pulled it for the near post and Davis survived with a two touch stop.

Again, the ref made a strange decision on a yellow, Jamie Petty failing to control a pass and being hustled off the loose ball by the rampant Snaky. It looked a fair challenge – sure, Snaky came at the lad from around his left hip. He would try and turn, wouldn't he, but the ball was out of his control. Seemed a perfectly justified challenge.

Afterwards, the ref told me the yellow was for persistent fouling. Since it had been him making the sometimes bizarre decisions it was not surprising both teams at times were utterly bewildered. They had no idea what was allowable and what would be whistled. The ref has a part to play in making the game flow and this one was an irritant to the players and not allowing them to play.

An astonishing incident on 61 minutes saw Kevin Davies 'sent off' for a second yellow card which was then, bravely, rescinded.. Davo had again launched himself at Banner. And again got the ball. And again Banner had retaliated and then crumpled like an overcooked balti pie. Except, the lino had already flagged the ball as out of play.

If Davies had been given a straight red it would have been a ref's (questionable?) decision and he was indeed off. But the ref had already got his yellow out and had flashed it at Davo so when the lino intervened it was to point out that a yellow cannot be awarded for that particular situation.

Quite why somebody in the Bromsgrove bench (?), or was it the crowd behind the bench, decided that it was now the time to throw a cup of tea at Adi was daft. Oggy whirled and was all for getting the bench beside him as he was on his way to sort it out. And stopped in his tracks as his youngsters just pealed with laughter and waved him on. Great stuff.

The incident roused the 433 crowd to even greater levels of ire, turning the increasing grumbles against their team now into a much more tasty target. Unfortunately it seemed to affect the referee and he had a horrible 20 minutes before he was back on an even keel.

Within 5 minutes Snape had a yellow, Hilds acceleration proving far too much for him and skipping away with an interception before being tripped

On 70 minutes he awarded a ridiculous Bromsgrove penalty. Dave Bridgewater, by far the most lively Bromsgrove threat, got behind Davies and was into the box. Twisting and turning as he was closed down and slowed, he lost control.

Chris Collins was first to react and was in to get the ball away, even as what turned out to be Sam Alsop was pulling his shirt from behind. The Skipper got the ball out and Nathan banged it clear. Whistle – and I was thinking 'Come on, ref. Advantage. Davo's got it and we are on our way again'

No – the plonker was pointing for a penalty! Absolutely astonishing. Not surprisingly, Chris Collins stalked all the way over to the touchline, to where the ref had retreated. And all he got for his pains was a yellow for dissent. Inevitable, really. Kevin Banner, cool as you like, buried the present in the bottom left corner with Matty guessing right. Timed at 70 minutes, we had already spent 5 extra minutes with all the faffing that had gone on before.

Ciren could, and maybe should, have won it. Hally and Snaky combined to create havoc yet again on 75 minutes. When the despairing Spittle misheaded back and left Hally in the clear on the edge of the box it begged for the killer finish rather than the slightly hurried mistimed shot that reached the grateful, and by now apoplectic, Lewis.

Snaky, with another snap shot after he had dug out a good pass from the increasingly influential Jackson and apparently glided around Paul Lloyd, saw Davis again fumble at the base of his post with no gambling forward racing in to sniff the chance.

Oggy would have had it. Have you ever seen him streak those last 15 yards when a shot goes in on the 'keeps? Yeah right. That's the theory. Doing it after more than an hour of a frantic match is asking a bit.

Jacko and Nathan again combined to snaffle the ball off Snape when he had been given a horrible no-chance pass from the dithering Spittle. Harry E was already haring into the space open outside and Jacko fed him unerringly. Off galloped E, Petty trailing in his wake. Edge of the box, it was shoot or pass to Hilds in the clear to his left. E chose shot but pulled it wide. So close.

As were Bromsgrove as they too upped their effort. Nathan Lamey is a wily fox, good feet and lots of experience meaning that he is a dangerous focal point. And Snape had no trouble in sending in a series of tasty passes, his ability to be in space and collect Ciren clearances making it harder than the midfield would have liked. Steve Robertson made his debut, replacing a Harry E who had again been a Trojan but was obviously now feeling the pace.

Robbo did his stuff well enough, though once surprised by the pace of the game when Lloyd robbed him 35 yards out when he had thought he'd got clear. That one broke on the rock of Collins but it was a nervy reminder that Ciren were now battling to keep what they had.

Twice Lamey sent Jermaine Clarke into the space patrolled by Dan Hilder, once ominously so when Hilds had lost concentration and let the lad get goal side of him. But, that shot whistled wide, as did a Banner hit and hope from 35 yards.

Davo was out-manoeuvred on the right by the impressive Bridgewater whose over-hit cross had been met but then miscontrolled by Hilds and instantly smacked just wide of the far post by Lloyd, now up with the attack. Davo looked a bit disappointed with himself but, at once, Moly was reminding him that it was past now and to keep it going. Positive stuff. Good leadership and team spirit.

The ref left time to play his joker. 52 minutes after he blew to start the half, he blew again. Chris Collins had apparently been too good in his timing to head a long ball away so from the ref's point of view that good a header had to involve a foul.

One foot outside the box? C'mon ref. If you're going to make a mess of it, at least point to the spot and make us all laugh.

Again, Banner lined it up. And then showed he does have a sense of humour (or maybe justice) by banging it not just over the wall. Or the bar. But right over the hugely impressive Shed End. It could well have landed on the M42, humming away in the distance.

I suspect Bromsgrove expected to win, having won 4 – 0 at Bedford and with all that class to call on. But they could not find, or batter, a way through a determined defence. And could not settle against a feisty midfield in which Nathan was truly outstanding in a good display by all three of them in there.

Adi and Oggy would have been proud of the display of the whole squad – the 2 unused subs and the 2 unselected players were all itching to get on. Thursday training will be interesting. What needs to be improved will be worked on. And those who will take it on, at a very good Halesowen on Saturday, now know the standard that they have to play, week in and week out. It is a long season and all of them will play an important part.

The Rovers: Karl Lewis, Chris McHale, Jamie Petty, Carl Heeley (c) [John Snape 55 Y 66], Lucan Spittle, Paul Lloyd, Dave Bridgewater, Sam Alsop, Gary Hay [Nathan Lamey 55 ], Neil Davis [Jermain Clarke 55], Kevin Banner Y44
other subs: Wayne Dyer, Mark Taylor (g/k)

Centurions: Matt Bulman, Kevin Davies Y44, Alex Rigley {Dan Hilder 45], Alex Stanley Y39, Lee Molyneux, Chris Collins Y 70, Nathan Haisley, Michael Jackson, Phil Hall [Lance Lewis 85], Nick Stanley Y 56, Harry Etheridge [Steve Robertson 78]
other subs: Ollie Holder, Dan Wallington

Ref: Mr A Garratt, Walsall Enough said. He was OK really but had a horrible phase that I hope he will learn from. But don't expect Bromsgrove to encourage the FA to appoint him to another game at The Victoria Ground for a very long time.

Att: 433 Impressive. Started to turn on their team after the break before they got another target to cherish

Ciren MoM: Nathan Haisley It could have been any of the squad but, there you go, it was in the end not too difficult a decision for the away speccies who were in the clubhouse to be consulted.