Fry Club v Wrington Redhill

Saturday 2nd May 2015

Wrington travelled to Fry Club with a threadbare side and one sub and nearly pulled off a stunning victory. Following Tuesday nights home fixture that Wrington lost 0-2 to the same opponents Manager’s Smith and Probert made a change to the team’s formation. However, surely even they could not have foreseen the difficulty these changes would inflict on an excellent Fry Club side.

The game kicked off and it settled into a pattern of Fry Club trying to play through the Wrington midfield five where the evergreen Rich Lucus and Leigh White (combined age of 80) fought and scrapped for every ball. With the wing backs of Thomas and Andow working hard and the imperious Mike Rowcliffe giving the team defensive as well as offensive structure Wrington were well set for the battle.

With Cheeseman playing the lone role up front Wrington got themselves into the game as the home were unable to find any answers to the Wrington formation where it was clear for all to see that a couple of tactical adjustments would have made it a much tougher afternoon for the away side. Those changes thankfully never materialised and what was a hard game became just a little easier to manage.

On 29 minutes the away side took the lead. Good play on the right between Cheeseman and Andow led to a mistake in the home defence that allowed Mike Rowcliffe to become free in the box. Rowcliffe struck a firm shot from 10 yards out across the Fry keeper into bottom corner.0-1

The game remained tight as we reached half time leading by the odd goal.

The second half followed very much the pattern of the first with a well organised Wrington defence proving difficult to break down.

A number of corners for Fry club were well dealt with and Wrington still created a few half chances on the break. Then on 61 minutes a controversial refereeing decision left the away bench feeling very frustrated. The ball was played between the two Fry club centrehalfs and Cheeseman was clear through on goal when he was pulled back with goal at his mercy. The referee inexplicably only issued a yellow card for what was a clear red card offence.

The game continued and as the match went into extra time an unlikely victory looked on the cards but on 91 minutes Matt Brown found a way through for the equaliser that led to scenes of wild jubilation on the home bench.

FT 1-1

A fighting display by the team that so nearly led to a deserved 3 points.

Make no mistake Fry club have some excellent players and in Matt Brown they possess a potent attacking force and it is a shame that they were not able to apply and take their place in the western league where I am sure the players would give a good account of themselves.

The Wrington players should take all the credit and plaudits for an excellent effort and it shows that Managers Smith and Probert are alway able to analyse a defeat and make the necessary tactical changes to give the team a better chance of victory in the return fixture.

MOTM Mike Rowcliffe. Masterful display and is playing his best football of the season