|
Dr
Martens Western Division
Saturday,
13th December 2003
Attendance 379
Gloucester
City |
0 |
1 |
Rugby
United |
|
|
|
Marsden
63 |
Star
Man | Jason Pearcey |
The
team defended particularly well without anyone
playing particularly well, but Jason's handling
and command of his area today were immaculate,
and kept Valley in the game at the vital times. |
Jason
Pearcey returned to the United starting eleven after
missing two games with a thigh injury, but Robbie Beard
kept the captaincy while Nathan Thompson replaced the
suspended Jamie Williams in an otherwise unchanged Rugby
side.
Gloucester
got off to a stormer, roared on by the vocal home support
who were eventually subdued by the final whistle, and
Jason Pearcey was immediately called into action, tipping
a shot round the post from the highly-rated Jimmy Cox.
The
home side were clearly confident, and this time top-scorer
Andy Hoskins, who scored a hat-trick in the week, threatened
to open the scoring early on, while Adam Hart made a
terrific challenge to deny Martin Wilkinson a clear-cut
chance.
However,
despite the early pressure, Rugby weathered the storm
and settled into the game and the first notable opportunity
came when Craig Dutton could only head into the arms
of Gloucester keeper Matt Bath from Michael Hegarty's
free-kick.
Nathan
Thompson then saw his effort from outside the area whistled
past the far upright before the Tigers had more chances,
but Pearcey was equal to Hoskins' looping header and
Cox could only stab his chance wide.
Gloucester
started the second half very much as they started the
first, and had two early opportunities, with Cox firing
straight at Pearcey and Tom Webb sliding his effort
just past the post.
However,
Rugby were looking dangerous on the counter-attack after
stifling Gloucester attacks with men behind the ball.
The pace of Robbie Beard and Justin Marsden is well
documented, and Hegarty exploited that of the latter
with a precise ball inside the defender, but Marsden's
effort was well blocked by Bath inside the six-yard
box and the ball deflected up and over the bar.
In
the 63rd minute, all hell broke loose in midfield after
Dutton's mis-placed pass as one foul after another was
ignored by referee Singh before Rugby gained possession,
much to the disgust of the home support. Justin
Marsden picked up the ball and started one of his
trademark runs towards the box, before driving the ball
low into the net from the edge of the area to send the
traveling fans into jubilation.
Nathan
Thompson could have sealed the game minutes later when
he was setup by Beard, but his drilled shot was superbly
saved by Bath.
The
next twenty minutes were a test of Rugby's fighting
qualities and they passed it with a little bit of luck
as Gloucester pressed for an equalizer.
United
had nine men behind the ball at times and blocked shots
were a frequent occurrence in the Rugby area, but the
home side's only threats seemed to be from deep crosses
- most of which were dealt with by Pearcey.
Pearcey
was required to make numerous saves in the last ten
minutes, including a fantastic reflex save down to his
right to tip away a Hoskins header. The pick of
saves came with five minutes to go, as the Rugby number
one produced a superb full-stretch to deny Webb.
Rugby
United | Pearcey, Moran,
Thompson, Hart, Kattos, Commander, Squire, Dutton, Beard,
Marsden, Hegarty Subs | Thomas (gk), Pearson,
Wesley
Bookings
| None |
