Thrapston Town
4 v Rockingham Forest Youth
1
Those fans who wear red and whose overall footballing fayre
was spoilt this weekend with a sense of injustice that the
wrong team had prevailed needed to come to the fields of
King John today, to see that things do usually turn out right,
with victories deserved, if not defeats always taken in spirit.
Thrapston were sent out with a message to compete for everything, and boy did
they do that today. Rockingham, a physical side, were matched in all departments,
as everything was contested by the yellow men.
Whereas earlier in the season, the foot left in, or the heavy foul has prompted
the side to retreat into its shell; not today. Everyone stood up to be counted,
and after a well contested first quarter of the match, and somewhat against the
run of play Rockingham took the lead.
However, then Thrapston pressure began to tell as a Rockingham defender was pressured
into slotting home past his own keeper. The pace of Rivett and Hodgson was causing
the Rockingham defence problems and soon Hodgson notched the second with a fiercely
struck drive from 12 yards.
Rockingham were rattled, their title ambitions teetering on the thinnest of knife
edges. A Rockingham player was booked (the first in any game Town have played
in) for persistent fouling and late tackling, and this seemed somehow to provoke
the Rockingham crowd into looking for wrong that simply wasn’t there in
every decision.
Half Time, and words of encouragement, mixed with caution about the need to stay
focused. We need not have worried. Within 30 seconds of the restart Chris Gardener
had made it three, and that half time cushion was plumped a little more.
Then the Rockingham keeper picked up a back pass, a free kick was awarded, the
ball crossed and Jordan Davis secured the points for the Town, with a brave header.
So Rockingham’s title ambitions have probably now gone, and this may in
part explain the way in which their disappointment showed at the end. To explain,
but not excuse, would be your correspondent’s assessment of what was observed
in the last ten minutes and after the final whistle.
Final score Thrapston Town Four, Rockingham Forest Youth
One.
MOTM – 14 heroes today, all of whom stood tall and
were counted. However, one was singled out for the award
and that was Kyle Oliver, for his rock steady performance
at the heart of the defence.
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