| Cheshunt
2-1 Rugby Town |
| BGB
Premier Division |
Saturday
17 March 2007
Attendance
| 144
|
Entertainment |
|
 |
 |
Jason
Taylor's 49th minute penalty was his second
against Cheshunt this season |
Town's
atrocious away form continued last Saturday, as
they fell to an eighth successive defeat on the
road in difficult conditions at the Cheshunt Stadium.
The
match as a whole was poor as a spectacle, with
both struggling sides failing to produce much
of any consequence on an uneven playing surface
and in strong winds.
Rugby
skipper Craig Herbert, David Stone and Aaron Stringfellow
were all recalled to the starting eleven, with
Danny Hall occupying the left-back berth in a
4-4-2 formation.
Cheshunt
opted for an attacking line-up, with the lively
Lloyd Opara one of three strikers employed. Opara
had recently returned to the club after a spell
at Coca Cola League Two side Peterborough.
The
Valley's first half performance lacked both passion
and precision, and keeper Farhad Afandiyev was
called into action early in the game to make stops
from Dewayne Clarke and Steve Obeng.
The
home side struck on 25 minutes when Hall made
a hash of Dave Hicks's long ball forward allowing
Clarke a clear run to the touchline and time to
pick out Darrell Cox with his cross. Cox duly
obliged with a well-taken finish to open the scoring.
Town
created little in the opening period, although
Jason Taylor did have a couple of goalscoring
efforts, but unfortunately sent both wide. Stringfellow's
shot on 36 minutes was also off-target, and Stone's
dangerous run down the wing was concluded with
a high, innocuous cross to the far post - when
a low cut-back could have caused problems.
Worse
was to follow for Town just before the break,
when Hicks looped his shot into the top corner
after the ball had been cleared to him on the
edge of the box after a Cheshunt corner.
The
introduction of Jamie Williams in place of Hall
for the start of the second half steadied the
ship a little for Valley at the back, and the
visitors also began to show a little more purpose
in their overall play.
They
grabbed a lifeline in the 50th minute when Cheshunt
keeper Martin Peat was adjudged to have pulled
Herbert to the ground as he tried to get a shot
in from Matt Gearing's cross.
After
successive misses from the spot from Stone and
Gearing in games last month,
Jason Taylor resumed taking
duties - stroking home his fifth penalty of the
season.
Despite
the impetus of this early response and an increased
level of possession, Town struggled to penetrate
a dogged Cheshunt defence from there on, and the
game gradually petered out.
Of
the few chances created, Cox missed a good opportunity
to kill the game off on 81 minutes, before Taylor's
headed past the post from a pinpoint cross from
the right four minutes later
Before
this late flurry, substitute Akin Aladetoun had
been unable to get the ball to sit up from beneath
his feet in the box, and a Williams' free-kick
was also comfortably dealt with by Peat.
Report
by Jon Venner.
Links
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the League: Cheshunt
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Meetings: Rugby v Cheshunt
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