Saturday 11th August 2007 - Polymac Services Midland Football Alliance

Rocester 0 Studley 1

Rocester can count themselves lucky to have only lost this opening day encounter with Studley by a single goal margin.

This was to say the least an inept performance from the Romans, who were easily sliced open at the back several times by the visitors while at the other end of the pitch they were unable to create a single worthwhile opening all afternoon.

Both teams gave as good as they got for the first thirty minutes but it was a very rushed and scrappy affair with neither side showing any composure on the ball or threatening to break the deadlock.

Then in the fifteen minutes leading up to half time Rocester completely lost their way, conceding the only goal of the game and somehow surviving three other near misses.

The first real chance of the game fell to Craig Pountney just before the half hour mark, when he received a ball in from the left completely unmarked inside the area. His low shot looked destined to find the net until Dean Latham got down superbly to touch it away.

Studley’s next attack produced a neat passing movement in from the right, and Latham could do nothing to stop a cracking 18-yard drive by Dan Styles finding the back of the net.

Barely two minutes after that another break down the right almost resulted in a second goal for the visitors, but Andy Keenahan’s low angled shot sped just inches past the far post.

Rocester countered briefly through Liam Sowter and Paul Milward, who combined well down the left before the ball was bundled away for a corner as Millward looked to get his shot in.

Then Keenahan almost extended Studley’s lead just seconds before the interval but he couldn’t quite get his toe to a ball that skimmed across the six-yard area.

It took 58 minutes for Rocester to test goalkeeper Steve Grogan. Neil Bennett broke up an attack just outside the Rocester area; he carried the ball out before sending it forward to Nick Ward who in turn found Lee Bagley out on the right. Bagley turned into the area and fired in a decent shot but it was straight at Grogan and he held it comfortably.

Moments later Ward stretched to head over a long cross from Carl Allen, but that was as much as Rocester could offer as they tamely tried to find a way back into the game.

Pountney should have punished Rocester further in the 66th minute when he was once again completely unmarked deep in the area, this time his shot beat Latham but came back into play off the post.

There was another escape five minutes later when an unmarked Keenahan headed Ian Mitchell’s free kick into the net, but his celebrations were cut short by an offside flag.

Goals: Studley – Styles (31)

Rocester: Latham; Soane; Allen; Brown; Bennett; Owen (Sheridan 60); Sowter; Ward; Bagley; McMahon (Maxwell 60); Milward (Heath 82). Subs not used: Ruddock; Johnson.

Studley: Grogan; Cross; Leggatt; Hall; L.Edwards; Savery; Styles; Mitchell; Keenahan (Ager 89); Pountney (Field 78); D.Edwards (O’Brien 82). Subs not used: Dankenbring; Walsh.

Yellow Cards: Rocester – Milward. Studley – Savery.

Referee: Mr. A. Bradshaw (Stoke-on-Trent)

Attendance: 94