Richmond Town 2 - New Marske 7
The final game of the season saw us playing at home in an away fixture due to the original home tie being played away, or something like that! Due to the keeper situation Joe moved from his normal forward position to that of goalkeeper for this game.
Richmond have a habit of playing pretty well against us and what a surprise in the first minute we went a goal down. The ball was cleared a couple of times before being picked up by a Richmond attacker who managed to avoid a couple of challenges before putting the ball into the net. 1-0 to Richmond. Not the start we were after, still there was plenty of time to get back into the game.
We were soon back on the attack and an effort by Danny followed by a scrambled clearance from the keeper saw the score remain the same. An attack down the right saw the ball arrive to Frank, who controlled the ball, and with the excellently placed Liam available chose to shoot instead, but his scuffed shot only ran through to the keeper. On 10 minutes we came closest so far when a lovely passing move finally saw the ball delivered in to the back post where Frank headed the ball toward goal, only to see it clip the post and go wide.
Although we were making some good chances we were looking a bit sluggish, with Richmond finding far too much space in the centre of the pitch. There was a delay in proceedings when Liam received treatment for a knock, and when the game finally restarted we won a corner. The ball landed at the near post where Matthew headed the ball wide.
An attempt by Danny followed by a Richmond attempt couldn't see either team get close to scoring, and we were still allowing Richmond too much space to knock the ball around. Greg was battling really well to get possession of the ball as we tried to impose ourselves on the game, and it led to Liam getting away on the left and hammering a shot at goal. The ball was cleared but only as far as Danny who kept his composure to put the ball into the net to make the score 1-1 on 22 minutes.
We were straight back on the attack and a great shot by Liam saw the keeper tip the ball over the bar for a corner. The corner was hit in and flicked on by Jack to find Andy in the centre who steered the ball into the net 1-2 to New Marske. We very nearly increased our lead when Conor found Frank on the right and he set off on a powerful run passing three or four players before rounding the keeper. Just as it looked like he was going to score another goal he was finally stopped by a combined effort from the Richmond defence.
On 35 minutes we extended our lead to 1-3 when a long ball forward saw Frank out-pace the single defender before rounding the keeper and placing a left foot shot into the net. We nearly scored again a couple of minutes later when Conor found Danny who broke forward, his shot was blocked and looped out to the onrushing Liam who shot his shot just go over the bar.
It wasn't all one way traffic as Richmond very nearly pulled a goal back when a long ball saw our defence caught square allowing the attacker to break clear. Joe in goal came out to close him down but changed his mind leaving him stranded as the ball was lobbed over him, luckily for us it went wide of the goal.
Half-time: Richmond Town 1 - New Marske 3
Although we had had numerous chances as normal it was a sluggish, disjointed first half as we hadn't really imposed ourselves on the opposition, but hopefully we could put that right in the second half. Two changes were made as Josh and Ben Leaper came on for Hubby and Matty. The substitutions worked fairly quickly as two minutes into the second Conor broke away and his shot could only be parried out by the keeper allowing Leaper to put it into the net. 1-4 to New Marske.
Our football was already a big improvement on the first half as we knocked the ball around confidently, leading to another corner. Danny hit it in to the near post where Jack flicked it goal ward but just over the bar. We continued pressing Richmond back with a succession of corners but we were unable to make any of them count.
Richmond broke away and won themselves a corner, and it was delivered with far greater accuracy deep into the box. Joe misjudged the flight of the ball and luckily for him Jack was in the right place and headed the ball clear, leading to a quick break up the other end. Conor got a shot in but it didn't look like it was going to trouble the Richmond keeper at any point. Richmond were awarded a free kick on the left and the ball was hit once more into a very dangerous area. And once more Joe misjudged the flight of the ball as it landed at the feet of a Richmond players couple of yards out near the back post. With what looked to be a simple tap in, the goal never happened as Jack appeared from nowhere to clear the ball brilliantly off the line.
The signs were there that we could really extend our lead but as is our wont, we found ourselves overplaying the ball in the final third of the pitch. Our passing started to improve once again and it was only the final ball that was proving elusive. On 60 mins Richmond got themselves a goal back when Jack got caught in possession of the ball. Richmond attacked and a couple of poor attempted challenges failed to clear the ball as a Richmond player hit the ball just inside the back post to make the score 2-4 to New Marske.
The game restarted and we pushed Richmond back deep into their half and on 63 minutes the next goal arrived as Frank's shot came back off the post and Leaper was on hand to put it into the net for his second goal of the half. 2-5 to New Marske. Liam and Greg were replaced as Dougy and Bash. Followed shortly by Andy being replaced by Tim.
Danny was the next to have an effort at goal, when he drove into the Richmond defence and hit his shot narrowly over the bar. We then had a slight hold up in play as the ball was hit forward to Ben, who had his shirt in his hand after removing a vest. Unfortunately the referee couldn't let play continue although everybody seemed to see the funny side of the situation.
The match restarted again, well only for a couple of minutes as Richmond were awarded a free kick as Tim totally mistimed a tackle and left a Richmond player in a lot of pain. the game restarted after the Richmond player was helped from the pitch. The game got going again and on 36 minutes we increased our lead. Liam played a lovely cross in that Frank headed toward goal. I thought it had cleared the bar but it dipped toward goal where a Richmond defender desperately tried to clear it, but to no avail. 2-6 to New Marske.
The match was now end to end as both sides tried to get a goal in the remaining minutes of the game. We were getting more and more possession as we started pushing Richmond back and it looked like another goal was about to come. Danny came off as Robert came on for the final minutes. Liam was desperate for a goal and wasn't best pleased as the referee pulled him up for offside.
A Richmond break saw a shot go wide of the goal, but it wasn't long before Liam finally got his goal. He broke away and lobbed the ball over the keeper and under the bar to make the score 2-7 to New Marske. There was still time for Frank to have a couple more efforts at goal before the referee signalled the end of the match, and a well deserved win to end the season. That was two draws followed by four wins to end the season on a high.
Roll on next season!
Final Score: Richmond Town 2 - New Marske 7
MOTM:- : Ben Leaper
Other images from the game...
