13/11/2021 – REPORT – Roman Rovers FC versus Frinton & Walton FC Reserves

ESSEX & SUFFOLK BORDER FOOTBALL LEAGUE

DIVISION FIVE.

ROMAN ROVERS FC:                1.       FRINTON & WALTON FC RESERVES:           0.

Date:               Saturday 13^th November 2021.        

Venue:             Philip Morant School, Colchester.

            Well, I have to say that there is definitely life down in Division Five, a newly formed division for this season, two previously undefeated teams met at Philip Morant School on Saturday and I have to say the football played was excellent, two committed and well supported teams with just a solitary goal from the league’s leading goal-scorer, being the difference between the two teams. Roman Rovers FC have emerged from a former Club, New Field FC, some new players have been added to a youthful but also experienced squad of players, some of whom have clearly played at a higher level, they sat top with seven wins from seven matches. For Frinton & Walton FC, having joined the ESBFL last season their first team now play in Division Two, and demonstrated that the Clubs, Youth policy is bearing some good players to such an extent that this season they entered a Reserve Team, yesterday with an average age around nineteen, only two players were over twenty, they showed remarkable composure in this adult competition with five straight wins to date.

            So, with two undefeated teams, something had to give, or would it, todays referee was another new-comer, a warm welcome to Michael Smith who told me he took up the “whistle” to get outside more and get fit, I know he enjoyed this match and I certainly did. A two-minute silence in remembrance of those who lost their lives in recent and more historic conflicts was impeccably observed by everyone present. Both teams deserve credit for their approach throughout, some heavy challenges but nothing malicious and very little noteworthy dissent, what a refreshing change, let’s see more of that!

            The visitors kicked-off, lost possession and with the ball played high up the pitch, firstly Oughton, then Powell, were denied by smart reflex saves by keeper, Gibson whilst at the other end when Frinton & Walton FC Reserves pushed forward, home keeper, Eles was quickly out at the feet of Duce, a cracking start then! Having seen only a handful of the home team players in previous matches reported upon the visitors were all new and quickly one or two caught the eye, none more so than Adams who showed some deceptive pace and control in early skirmishes to an extent that defender Adcock was going to have a busy afternoon. When Adams gave chase down the right side, keeper, Eles was quickly out of his penalty area to kick clear, then Mullins was forced to concede a corner by Duce, playing alone up-front, Chaplin-Perkins took the corner and keeper, Eles just managed to catch the ball falling backwards having lost his footing in the sticky goalmouth. On ten minutes, Oughton sent Taylor way, one-on-one with keeper, Gibson who narrowed the angles and pulled off a fine one-handed save, low to his left side, we had seen good goal-keeping from both teams already. Oughton forced another corner off Lewis, taken by Taylor, the ball flashed across the goal-mouth, the unmarked Oughton stuck out a leg and diverted the ball over the cross-bar from three yards out, a big miss!

            Mutch fouled Sage inside the centre-circle, the free-kick taken by Reeve was struck too low to be of any danger and Cook stooped to head clear and it was the home team that were holding possession more constructively with their opponents acclimatising to the pace and physicality of this match. The first goal, the only goal, came on nineteen minutes, Preece made a nuisance of himself down the left side, turning Carney one way then the other before firing a shot at goal, keeper, Gibson, dived out to save the ball that was destined for the far corner. When the loose ball bobbled at the feet of CONNOR OUGHTON, he swivelled with his back to goal to fire a low left footed shot past the keeper and a number of defenders, this was the predatory strikers twenty-fourth strike of the season in the league, more than half his team’s total. Immediately from the restart, Adams was tearing down the right side drawing a foul from Adcock, Cook took the free kick, the clearance from Mullins fell to Adams who was stopped by Adcock with a solid challenge. Roman Rovers FC continued on the offensive playing the ball wide to either Preece or Taylor looking to set up Oughton and backed by a solid midfield marshalled by Powell, Dore, and Sage whilst defensively they took no chances, if in doubt, kick it out came to mind as the eager and youthful visiting players pressed forward looking for an equaliser whilst defending well themselves. There were some hefty challenges in various parts of the pitch, they were never malicious with players getting up and shaking hands and getting on with the game. Reeve played the ball long to Taylor whose left footed cross fell somewhat quickly at the feet of Preece whose left footed effort was comfortably saved by keeper, Gibson, the busier of the two keepers so far.

            Frinton & Walton FC Reserves kept going, Adams found Mutch who returned to ball to Adams, running wide down the right side, a fine cross followed with keeper, Eles catching the ball on his goal-line, then another cross from Mutch was diverted by defender, Mullins, the ball fell to Duce who ran on the place the ball in the net, however the flag had been raised for off-side from the initial pass, not from the deflection so the goal was disallowed, much to the annoyance of the visitors management! Another fine pass from Reeve, out of defence, found Oughton who tee’d the ball up before firing a low dipping effort just over the cross-bar. Preece, having been dispossessed of the ball almost let his frustration get the better of him when he dived into a challenge on Attridge, a spoken word followed, Lewis fouled Oughton inside the centre-circle but again the free-kick taken by Reeve failed to clear the first defender. Preece, a tricky player when his mind is set, worked his way into the penalty area to draw a low save from keeper, Gibson. As we approached half-time, a driven cross from Mutch flicked up onto the hand of the unmarked Duce who would surely have scored but for the clear handball incident. Once again, Adams, with the ball at his feet was off on a run leaving defenders in his wake, his high driven cross forced keeper, Eles, to advance and catch the ball only to be whacked by Cook at the same time, great commitment from both players but purely accidental leading to a free-kick on six yards. This entertaining half finished, minutes later, can’t wait for more of the same, this game still had plenty of life, whether any more goals would follow would remain to be seen from two good footballing teams.

HALF-TIME:    1 – 0

            Roman Rovers FC were to restart this match, all to play for in my book, Frinton & Walton FC Reserves needed a bit more composure when in forward positions whilst the home team needed to keep their defence tight for another forty-five minutes. Adams got the visitors forward           finding Duce who dragged his shot wide, Chaplin-Perkins fouled Reeve, Taylor took the kick with keeper, Gibson fumbling his attempt to catch the ball only for Powell to strike his free shot narrowly wide. On fifty minutes Frinton & Walton FC Reserves replaced Chaplin-Perkins with Wharton and Preece went on a run only to send in a cross that was far too deep to cause concern. Adams was clearly the main outlet for the visitors, his control and pace were causing all manner of problems, another fine run against defender Adcock set up another cross that keeper, Eles, plucked out of the air just before Duce arrived. Duce became the only player cautioned when he impeded the keepers, clearance and then put the ball into the unguarded net, frustrating perhaps but the referee had little option! Frinton & Walton FC Reserves had raised their game, they were not going to lie down and roll-over, quite the opposite they wanted the ball, they worked the ball well across the pitch and forced Roman Rovers FC to defend deep in their own half. Adams, Duce, and Mutch got another move going with the latter player having his shot deflected for a corner that was cleared by Lee (K).

            On the hour mark, there looked like there were some tired players, a couple went down with cramp, hardly surprising given the effort shown and Duce who looked like he had pulled a muscle earlier in the game was replaced by Kershaw. Mullins fouled Wharton just on the edge of the penalty area, Kershaw took the free-kick, failed to clear the defensive wall but gained a corner kick once again cleared, this time by Powell. With twenty-five minutes remaining Frinton & Walton FC Reserve replaced Mutch with Belcher who immediately sent Adams away down the right side, the home team doubled up on marking him, but Adams still forced a corner, taken by Belcher who found the head of Cook at the far post, but that header was straight at keeper, Eles, standing centrally on his goal-line, anywhere else, who knows! Such was the commitment of both teams that Preece and Reeve challenged for the same aerial ball with Underwood who ducked and both home players were laid flat out on the ground, recovering enough to continue.

            Roman Rovers FC replaced Dore with Kanani on seventy-five minutes, Oughton who had been quiet this half did steal some space on the left side but rather than square the ball across the goal took aim himself putting the ball into the back of the net, but through the side-netting, the same thing then happened at the other end when Kershaw fired goal-wards from a position wide on the left side. A run by Taylor almost set up Oughton whose left-footed overhead kick flew well wide, this match was end-to-end now, Sage set up Preece who could only toe-poke the ball goal-wards and keeper, Gibson gathered at the near post. A corner taken by Taylor found Oughton who was blocked out by a fine challenge from Witmore at the near post and on eighty minutes Preece was replaced by Lee (E), whose namesake, Lee (K) sent a long ball over the top of the advanced visiting defence, Oughton ran through took the ball first time in his stride only to screw it wide, opportunistic, for sure but this was a player with confidence. As the game came, to a close, Adams, who else, ran at the retreating home defence to set up Wharton whose close-range header fell into the arms of keeper, Eles, game over.

FULL TIME:     1 – 0.

            As I said at the start, this was a Division Five match, two equally matched and undefeated teams at the start and you could see why, solid defences, good team-work with players who could create and score goals, not that we saw many today, that solitary goal was enough but my, Roman Rovers FC had to work hard throughout whilst for Frinton & Walton FC Reserves a first defeat, albeit a narrow one, but both teams are a credit to their club, likewise the League, let’s have more games like this one.

For my weekly “Star Player”, where do I start, both sets of players played as a team, I’ve mentioned many players throughout my report, some not at all but whoever they are they played their part somewhere in two big team efforts. When I pressed another observer for a neutral view, he nominated Adams for Frinton & Walton FC Reserves, that said, I had picked him out as early as the first few minutes as I mentioned in my opening comments.

                                                                           

Teams:

ROMAN ROVERS FC: 

Colours:            Navy-Blue & White Shirts, Navy-Blue Shorts and Navy-Blue Socks.

Team:

Kane Eles., Jack Dore., Kane Adcock., Keiron Lee., Ben Mullins., Brandon Sage., Tom Preece., Christopher Powell., James Reeve., Robbie Taylor., Connor Oughton.

Manager:                      Jake Heap

Used Substitutes:           Ethan Lee., Kieran Kanani.

Unused Substitute:         Blake O’Hara., Thomas Chapman., Adam Mason

FRINTON & WALTON FC RESERVES:            

Colours:            Blue Shirts, Blue Shorts and Blue Socks.

Team:

Jack Gibson., Robert Carney., Jack Witmore., Luke Attridge., Joel Lewis., Jenson Underwood., Nathan Mutch., Connor Cook., Adam Duce., Jake Andrews., Daniel Chaplin-Perkins.

Manager:                      Chris Halls.

Used Substitutes:           Daniel Kershaw., Jack Wharton., Joshua Belcher.

Unused Substitutes:       Chris Halls.

Referee:                        Michael Smith.

Star Player:                Jake ADAMS               (FRINTON & WALTON FC RESERVES)

REMINDERS:

MATCH NOTIFICATIONS

Fixture Secretaries of Clubs are required to notify all match details, date, venue, kick-off time, colours etc, to their opposition and any appointed official/s, at least FIVE days before the match.

KICK-OFF TIMES

November, December & January:                                   14:00pm

February:                                                                      14:30pm

March, to end of season:                                               15:00pm

ESBFL CUP TIES:                                                           30 minutes earlier, if necessary.

ECFA CUP TIES:                                                            Kick-Off as advertised

CUP TIES

There will be NO requirement for “Extra-Time” to be played in Cup Matches, if scores are level at the end of “normal time” the match will proceed directly to penalty kicks.

SUBSTITUTES

The ESBFL continues to allow FIVE SUBSTITUTES to be named before kick-off but only “THREE SUBSTITUTES” may be allowed to participate.

Note:

In Essex County Cups (Premier & Junior) the Rule allows FIVE SUBSTITUTES to be named and those FIVE SUBSTITUTUES may be used on a “Roll-On / Roll-Off” basis.

TEAM SHEETS

Team Sheets should be shown or sent to the Referee and the Opposition team either by text, email etc

The BLUE “League Copy” of the Team Sheet should be sent by First Class Post to reach Mick Willmore by the Thursday after a Saturday match, this is the ONLY item of correspondence that is required by post.

RESULTS REPORTING

Rule 21(B)

BOTH Clubs shall notify/SMS the result of each Competition Match to the Competition within 30 minutes of the finish of the match. This will include Football Association and County Football Association matches. The results of all League and Cup matches in the Competition should be reported by the FA Full-Time “SMS” (text) System. Failure to comply with this Rule will result in a fine in accordance with the Fines Tariff.

FA FULL-TIME

The Referees marks, team, players, substitutes, goal scorers, red / yellow cards, and sin-bin, etc MUST be entered to FA Full-Time by the end of the Tuesday following a Saturday match (ie 48 hours after any match). Failure to complete FAFT correctly and on time WILL incur a League Fine/s.

DISCIPLINE

Since the start of the season there have been 45+ players dismissed and over 600 cautions, there have also been several incidences of misconduct towards players, Match officials, members of the public and county officials. These are situations the ESBFL Management feel very strongly about, and the statistics make poor reading, the ECFA will deal with all these cases as deemed appropriate but bear in mind these actions can be very costly both for players and your, Clubs.

WHOLE GAME SYSTEM (“WGS”)

All Club Secretaries should check “WGS” on a regular basis, if you don’t, the ECFA levy a fine (25%) for late acknowledgements and payments of fines and the Club could be put into a “SINE-DIE” situation meaning they cannot play until those debts are cleared.

Club Secretaries are also responsible for adding the matches missed by players who have been suspended.

Whilst the ESBFL regularly reviews the whole Club contents on “WGS” it is not their responsibility to monitor failures by Member Clubs to follow basic procedure/s.

REFRESHMENTS

Rule 20A

Refreshments for BOTH teams and Match Officials MUST be provided by the home Club at half time unless these are declined before the game. Clubs in default shall be fined.