Saturday 3rd December 2005

ROCESTER RESCUED

Rocester 2 Oadby Town 2

ROCESTER failed in their bid to secure their first Midland Alliance win of the season, instead they had to rely on a last-minute goal by emergency striker Mark Ruddock to salvage a draw against fellow strugglers Oadby Town.

Ruddock's goal gave the Romans their third point of the campaign after they had been subjected to a second half battering by the visitors.

There was little to choose between the two sides on a rain-soaked pitch until the 17th minute when Tony Collins gave the ball away in midfield and Oadby’s Derek Sinclair was allowed a clear run on goal to slot a shot past keeper Paul Wood.

Rocester manager Michael Rowe’s son, Neil, then missed a simple chance to level the scores a few minutes later when he dragged a shot wide from close range, but 10 minutes before the interval Craig Hancox’s powerful angled drive beat Oadby keeper Laurie Pearson to put Rocester back in the game.

Three minutes later, Wood made a fine reflex save from Aaron Butcher’s header following an Oadby corner.

In the second half Oadby upped the tempo of their play and spent long periods camped in the Rocester half. The Rocester defence, however, held firm until five minutes from the end when a missed tackle from substitute Steve Caswell left Butcher free to race away for his side’s second goal.

But the young Rocester side showed their improving team spirit to take the game to their opponents in the closing minutes and were rewarded when Hancox’s free-kick from wide on the right was firmly headed home at the far past by Ruddock.

ROCESTER: Wood, Murphy (Caswell 58), Poole, McCarron, Allen, Ede, Tortoiseshell, Collins, Ruddock, Bayliss-Rowe (Hubball 75), Hancox; subs not used: Gallager, Davies, Richards.

OADBY TOWN: Pearson, Bacon, March, Fenton, Gray, Brockley, Miller, Butcher, Sinclair, Chapman (Warner 76), Orton; subs not used: McCarthie, Moult, Howarth, Pickering.

ROCESTER FORM RATING: Average.