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Matchbox - Rugby Town
(A) Rugby Town 6:1 Massey Ferguson Video; 6 of the 7 goals from the Rugby Town fixture. The Massey consolation was scored by Phil Chesters while Rugby Town's Martin Crawford and Seb Hamilton were amongst the goals. Video; Massey Ferguson goalkeeper Paul Shepherd made a string of fine saves in the game against Rugby Town, here are some of the highlights from an excellent goalkeeping performance. Match Massey Ferguson suffered their first defeat of the pre-season campaign against a very strong Rugby Town side. Once again Massey manager Kev Kingham traveled with a large squad and opted to field two sides during the game. The preparations were hampered by the loss of Martin Gormley to injury following the midweek win against Cov Amateurs and the situation worsened when Ryan Dowsing pulled up during the warm up leaving the team without a recognised striker. Despite the lack of an out and out forward Massey enjoyed a decent first half and could have taken the lead twice as Shane Brassington found himself in good positions on a couple of occasions but was thwarted by the home goalkeeper. At the other end Paul Shepherd was in fine form to deny Rugby on two occasions while wayward finishing cost the hosts on a couple of occasions too. Rugby did have the ball in the net midway through the first half but the referee awarded Massey a free-kick for a push during the build up. The sides ended the half level and their was little indication of what would come during the second period. Both sides made changes during the break with only Paul Shepherd in the Massey goal, Phil Mortimer and Shane Brassington returning to start the second half. Amongst the Rugby substitutes were former Romulus trio Seb Hamilton, Nick Heath and Chris Charles. The opening goal came just minutes into the second half as Paul Shepherd parried a 20 yard shot and a Rugby player reacted quickest to the loose ball, cutting it back across the face of goal where a team mate was waiting to bundle the ball into the net. The second goal followed almost immediately and it was a great finish from Martin Crawford. The Rugby striker made himself a little space 25 yards from goal and curled the ball into the top corner of the net, leaving Shepherd with no chance. The third Rugby Town goal was slightly contentious, it came from the penalty spot after the referee adjudged that a Massey player had fouled a Rugby Town forward in the penalty area, however the linesman had flagged for an offside in the build up to the foul. The referee consulted with his assistant but chose not to change his decision and Rugby capitalised as a coolly taken penalty sent Shepherd the wrong way. Massey pulled a goal back though as Phil Chesters capitalised on some sloppy defending and finished superbly from close range. If Chesters finish was sublime, what followed was ridiculous! A long clearance from the Rugby Town goalkeeper was flicked on by a forward and Massey defender Waggy unleashed an unstoppable 40 yard looping volley which beat Paul Shepherd, much to the amusement of the Rugby fans who had gathered on the embankment behind the goal. A remarkable own goal! The fifth and sixth for Rugby were both scored by Seb Hamilton. The former Stafford Rangers man first volleyed home from close range after an excellent cross from the left wing. His second was a simple close range finish following the best passing move of the game which saw the hosts complete 15 passes before the ball was eventually rifled home. After the game manager Kev Kingham reflected on a useful run-out for his side and was full of praise for the first half performance while stressing that neither the second half display, nor the scoreline, were of major concern to him; "When we scheduled this fixture we were expecting a very tough test and that is exactly what we got today. Rugby Town are an excellent side with some fantastic players but I thought that in the first half we looked good, played some football when we could and looked solid defensively. I was proud of the way the lads upfront battled and on another day Shane Brassington might have got himself a couple of goals there." "The second half was obviously a different story! We changed things around at half-time, the plan was to give everyone at least 45 minutes, and my last words to the lads before they went out was not to worry about the result! They clearly took that on board judging by the final score!" "There were no complaints from me though, we're still feeling our way back in and I felt there were plenty of positives to be taken from the game. I feel we're starting to get one or two partnerships developing within the squad and the hard work people are putting in on the training ground is starting to pay off. The big disappointment today was Dowsy pulling up before the game. He's been excellent in training and was one of the outstanding players against Cov Amateurs. Hopefully he will be back soon because his attitude and form since coming back from pre-season has been first class and he looks like making himself a key player for us next season." Massey Ferguson are back in action on Tuesday night when they travel to Daventry United, a game which Kingham believes will be another strong test of his sides credentials; "Daventry United are in the league above us and we expect another tough game. At this stage of pre-season though these are the sort of games that will benefit us. We're playing against good teams and it's forcing the lads to raise their game to be able to compete. We're looking to hit the ground running this season as everyone knows the value of making a good start and I really feel we've got a group of players here that can do something this season."
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Team News Not available for this fixture |
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