Rovers finish their league programme undefeated.
Beach weather hit Port Soif as spectators and players sizzled in record temperatures as Rovers took on Vale Rec for the second time in two days. Having got the better of Rec at the Corbet Field in a scrappy affair, Rovers were determined to finish the last league game before the Corbet Cup semis on a high note.
Rec sat deep and were content to defend their 18 soaking up the early pressure. Whitmore found some space wide on the left in advanced positions, however a congested midfield made it difficult for Nightingale, Fazakerley and Le Tocq to find the killer ball to Robin and Browning up top.
After a frustrating 15 minutes Fazakerley finally found some space on the right side of midfield and played a ball over the top for Browning, who eased past the last defender and slipped the ball past the advancing keeper to break the deadlock – 1-0 to the Blues!
Vale Rec continued to threaten on the break and Jensen had to be alert to deal with some dangerous long balls, sweeping up the threat with good long kicks down field. Le Tocq snuffed out one or two raids tracking back intelligently to cover for the over worked Howitt and Hood defensive partnership.
Following another long punt downfield by “Sweeper” Jensen to Nightingale’s feet, the ball was quickly transferred to Robin who won a corner on the right. He floated a tantalising ball into the box which Nightingale met on the six yard line with a thumping header which crashed onto the underside of the bar and down past the goal line – all held their breath as the Ref looked across to the Russian linesman “Paddy” (The Red) Le Noury, who said “Het” (niet) which the ref translated as yes and the goal stood to make it 2-0 at half time.
Rec fought hard in the opening minutes of the second half and Jensen, Hood and Howitt were kept busy by a succession of speedy breaks by the Rec forward line. A like for like switch saw Hunt replace Hood at the back, who bravely battled with a forward thrust by Rec, before being fouled and dumped dazed to the ground by the Rec striker. Hood came on while Hunt recovered with a bruised hip and a sore shoulder.
The battle had begun and fresh troops were needed Cooney, Stokes, Netherton, Hunt and Philpott were introduced to stem the yellow tide. However their tails were up and after Rovers midfield lost the ball on the right side, grabbed the opportunity to pull one back, the striker firing past Jensen unchallenged high into the net.
Chances were missed at both ends as the game swung back and forth, Rovers missing their fair share, but with the clock running down it was Rec who took the iniative, raiding down the right and finishing clinically in the corner. There was no way back as the Ref blew for full time shortly after, finishing the league season with Rovers in top spot having only dropped only two points all season, a fantastic achievement that all the players can be justifiably proud of.
"Rovers subdue a battling Sylvans at Les Brehauts"
Rovers came out of the blocks like a rocket propelled speed skater scoring after only 37 seconds, nearly beating Bryan Robson's 27 second record breaking effort for England in the '82 world cup in Spain against France. Netherton, who had a superb afternoon, picked the ball up on the left side of midfield, found Robin scampering through the middle, who transferred the ball out to the right to the on rushing Whitmore who smashed the ball into the corner of the right hand up right, 1-0. Sylvans pressured straight from the restart and after two minutes attacked down the right wing drilling a ball into the near post where the unfortunate Howitt stuck out a despairing boot to intercept before the opposing centre forward slotted into an empty net, but only succeeded in diverting the ball past a perplexed Arrol on the near post - nobodies fault just an unfortunate OG. At least this team's second top scorer isn't "own goals" unlike the infamous Manchester team from Newton Heath that play in red!
This jolted Rovers into action and Robin ran onto a through ball and one on one with the Sylvans keeper, who had a cracking game, saved bravely with his legs. Soon after Robin cut in from the right wing, beat the full back, hit the bye line and squared an exquisite ball for Browning to slide home to make it 2-1.
Sylvans came back strongly and Cooney broke up some promising forages with some tenacious tackling. Hood also began to earn his wages, dominating the Sylvans front line and coolly breaking up their attacks before carrying the ball forward for the midfield to build on, a la Bobby Moore. His partner Howitt also pushed forward and popped up on the right wing to set up another Rovers attack. However Sylvans would not lie down and Arrol made a blinding one handed save at full stretch pushing the ball around the post for a corner, tremendous!
Browning and Robin then combined cleverly playing a one two turning the Sylvans defence around before Robin thumped home to make it 3-1. Almost straight from the kick off a loose ball rolled out to the advancing Whitmore 25 yards out on right, the ball literally exploded off his left foot and fizzed into the net leaving the Sylvans keeper rooted to the spot with his hair on fire and the net melting around him! 4-1.
Rovers pressed home their territorial advantage and Browning was denied by the on rushing Sylvans keeper who saved bravely at his feet. Fazakerley drilled a shot in which looked like it was flying in before the keeper turned it around the post for a corner. Tragedy then struck, the referee broke his pencil and the scribe was forced to give up his pen to ensure the game could continue. However coach Nigel "Nelson" Netherton dug deep into his pockets and managed to pull out a spare, saving the match report for the thousands of avid readers.
Sylvans still threatened on the break however and an alert Arrol cleared from the feet of the Sylvans forward, starting another Rovers attack via Howitt which resulted in a corner on the right side. Robin sent over a long floating ball deep to the left side of the penalty box which was beautifully met on the volley by Netherton, the ball skimming just over the bar bringing to an end a pulsating first half of end to end attacking football.
Second Half:
Within a few minutes Rovers got a dose of their own medicine as Sylvans forged into the penalty box making it 4-2, what a baptism of fire for Jensen between the sticks who had come on for Arrol. Suddenly Rovers were all at sea, a determined Sylvans barrelling down the middle of the park overwhelming the normally dominant Cooney and Fazakerley. Almost immediately Jensen had to clear upfield to deny Sylvans who were clean through, but then from nowhere a shot crashed in from the right cutting the lead to 4-3. However Jensen expertly marshalled the back line with some well chosen words and intelligent kicking bringing some calm to a chaotic 10 minutes.
The match was then sealed by a killer goal from Browning making it 5-3. Robin received a ball into his feet in midfield, back to goal, flicking the ball with his heel giving him time and space to turn and thread a through ball for Browning, who beat the defender with his trademark blistering pace before slotting past the keeper.
Browning continued his good work denied only by an outstretched foot from the keeper. Fazakerley then launched a "Hail Mary" high towards the angle of bar and post sending the keeper back tracking frantically before he tipped it around the post for another corner.
Le tocq then came on for the last few minutes to give Netherton a well earned rest, after he had covered just about every blade of grass on the pitch. Le Tocq soon got involved in the action winning a crunching tackle and quickly releasing Browning only to be denied yet again by the Sylvans keeper. That signalled the end of a hard fought victory against a proud and determined opposition. Special thanks to "lino" Andy "Tabs" Taberner a Rovers legend from a by gone era when Wigan played Rugby League very well and the "round ball" version of the game only fairly well!
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