Paulton Rovers

Posted by ChrisB on February 24, 2008, 4:35 pm

Both sides went into this match on the back of a defeat by Farnborough and were looking for points to get their promotion-push back on track.
City were the quicker into attack on an unusually dry and sandy pitch for this time of the year that made control difficult for much of the afternoon, and the combination of Errol Tellemaque and home-debutant Michael Lyon looked very lively. Tellemaque hooked a cross from Mark Bell wide of the mark early on before Lyon shot past the post after linking well with Tellemaque.
Dan Cleverley chanced his luck from distance, but didn’t test Steve Smith; and Rob Claridge broke through but was pulled up by an off-side flag, before Lyon sidefooted a pass from Tellemaque just wide of the post with keeper Dave Dyson beaten.
On seventeen minutes an on-target shot from Tellemaque was pushed behind for the first corner of the afternoon and a good delivery from Bell produced a brief period of head-tennis before a looping header from Darren Pond cleared Dyson and dropped into the net via the post. Vehement protests for offside against Pond were waved away by Mr Shilston and City had their noses in front.
City continued to press strongly. Lyon was just offside when chasing a defence-splitting pass from George Redknap; Lyon picked out Tellemaque at the far post with a fine long pass which Dyson did well to claim as the City striker tried to bring the ball under control; and Tellemaque had the ball in the net from a position that looked less offside than Pond’s, but which drew a flag.
At the clubhouse end Ricky Hulbert’s pass to Pete Shepherd, ominously unmarked near goal, lacked accuracy and was well dealt with by Mark Avery, and Andy Gunn did well to react sharply and clear the danger when Paulton’s first corner of the game around the half-hour mark bobbled invitingly around the penalty-box. Claridge was again foiled by the assistant’s flag as he broke clear, and Hulbert’s curling shot from the edge of the box was not too wide of the mark.
As the half slipped towards the break some of the play had become a little more ‘physical’. Tellemaque was on the receiving end of two back-to-back overzealous tackles, the second, from Peckham, after the whistle for a free-kick to City had already sounded, and his retaliation, when an unnecessary number of players from both sides promptly became involved, drew a red-card from the referee after lengthy discussions with both his assistants. Mark Bell put the resultant free-kick just over the bar.

HALF-TIME: City 1-0 Paulton

Hulbert went close with a low shot as the second half got under way while good skills allowed Liam Malone to create a shooting opportunity for himself but his left-footed strike faded past the far post.
Hulbert drew a good save from Smith and then headed wide from a corner minutes later.
15 minutes into the half and the visitors built an attack on the City right and as pressure grew in the City box Marshall went down under a tackle from James Saulsbury and Mr Shilston had little hesitation in pointing to the spot for a fairly clear-cut penalty. Cue further extended disagreement between players of both sides, culminating in the dismissal of Hulbert, presumably for dissent. After all the fuss had subsided Claridge fired home an almost inch-perfect penalty past Smith’s right hand, and as the half developed further both sides had chances to grab all three points.
A tantalising free-kick by Ben Cleverley gave Claridge a chance for a header on goal, but Smith held it cleanly, and Leon Woodruffe, on for Steve Davis, produced a great saving tackle as Sheppard bore down on goal. A few minutes later and Woodruffe almost became the hero at the other end as he cut in from the left and produced a stinging shot that Dyson did well to push away as it almost beat him at the near post.
With time running out Pond broke through the back-four but fired over; Steve Smith got his fingertips to a tremendous header from Sheppard to keep City in the game, and then was quick off his line to cut out a probing cross from Danny Boys.
As the game crept into injury time City went closest to making the decisive breakthrough. Mark Jones found Lyon in the penalty area and he turned in the tightest of spaces to crack a great shot against the base of Dyson’s right-hand post, and a minute later Yashwa Romeo, from a very similar position, curled his shot just beyond the same post.

FULL-TIME: Oxford City 1-1 Paulton Rovers

City: Smith, Saulsbury, Davis (Woodruffe 81), Gunn, Pond, Avery, Tellemaque, Redknap (Jones 85), Lyon, Bell (Romeo 70).

Rovers: Dyson, Marshall, Boys, Hulbert, Peckham, Cousins, Cleverley B, Harrington (Jefferies 57), Claridge, Cleverley D., Sheppard.

Rather a bad-tempered match at times, but it saw City take a point whilst Fleet and Farnborough took none. The home side probably had the better chances to take all the points, but were always going to find it hard with only ten men for half the match.
City now face Newport (IOW) on Tuesday evening. The visitors will be in optimistic mood having gained their first home win on Saturday - 1-0 against Winchester whom we travel to play next Saturday.