Ripley Town begin the season with a resounding 8 - 1 victory away to new boys Edwalton Cavaliers
Posted by on 8 August 2021
After a really positive pre-season where Ripley remained undefeated, they clearly had the momentum going into the game against Edwalton Cavaliers despite not knowing much about their opposition.
Four of the new summer signings were in the starting XI eager to impress the manager and it was the away side who started the stronger of the two teams. On the front foot from the off it only took three minutes to create the first chance of the game. Michael Dunne was barged over on the left wing after fantastic work at the back by Luke Masters. The resulting free-kick taken by Jay Barratt landed at the feet of captain Tom Holmes, but the centre back couldn’t manage to divert it past the charging Edwalton keeper.
Edwalton’s first time breaking out their own half saw them win a free-kick of their own but after being dealt with by a combination of Aaron Northmore and Holmes it was hacked away to safety by Jordan Whitehead.
Chance after chance came for Ripley to break the deadlock however a combination of latch ditch defending, and keeper heroics prevented them from doing so. Whitehead with the next chance making a diagonal run in behind the Edwalton defence found by Masters only to be denied by an oncoming defender throwing himself at the ball.
The front three were linking up superbly after the early match irritation of not being able to find the back of the net despite having around 90% of the possession. Dunne swung a ball into the box in which Whitehead expertly flicked on, but the keeper came sliding in saving a certain goal at the feet of Shane Burrows.
Frustration began to creep into Ripley’s play and with it the composure on the ball but still the opportunities came. Masters who was having a solid first-half performance on his debut made a charging run from left-back hitting a strike from distance however was straight at the keeper who in the end dived on the ball after scrambling it to safety.
A rare Edwalton attacked gave them a throw-in deep inside the attacking half but after a mixture of positive play and a lapse in concentration from the Ripley players the shot was slashed high and wide not troubling Sam Linford’s goal.
Another throw-in followed for the home side causing a bit of chaos in the box with the ball finally landing in the grasp of goalkeeper Linford.
A couple of minutes later Linford was called into action with his first test of the game as sloppy play from Tom Kent losing the ball on the edge of the box allowed Edwalton a chance to get the first goal. One on one the racing Linford saved comfortably at the attacker’s feet to defuse any danger.
Finally, Ripley’s patience was rewarded with a goal on the 40-minute mark. Northmore had started of quiet on his debut but was slowly growing into the game and it was a ball down the flank that began the attack allowing Dunne to take the keeper out of the game leaving Burrows to tap into an open net. It was no more than the lads deserved for their dominance.
That wasn’t the end of that as two goals in two minutes meant they went in at half-time with a clear advantage. Dunne getting his second assist with yet another out-swinging ball this time met to perfection by Barratt at the back post to head home uncontested before Whitehead carried on his strong pre-season form with a side-foot volley into the back of the net past the helpless Edwalton keeper.
Ripley started the second half much of the same winning two quick successive corners with chances from Kent and Burrows from distance, but yet again heroic defending prevented them from extending their advantage.
It wasn’t long before Ripley managed to have the ball in the back of the net for a fourth time courtesy of man of the match Alex Crossley. This time Masters putting a ball into the box for Crossley to react quickest getting in front of his defender glancing past the keeper into the bottom ride hand side of the goal making it now four before Burrows grabbed his second of the game to make it five
With Ripley having such a superior advantage it allowed manager Brown to put on some fresh legs introducing James Barry and Lewis Goddard for their league debuts replacing Northmore and Arron Leeman along with Ryan Cumberland on for Burrows
The personnel changes allowed Edwalton to get what turned out to be a consolation goal. A hopeful ball pinged over the top of Linford’s head found the back of the net ruining the clean sheet Ripley had worked hard for with their only attack of the second half.
From then on, the floodgates began to open. An eight-minute hat-trick outlined an outstanding 20 minutes from teenager Goddard off the bench. His first a tap in after Whitehead found him at the back post before two weaving individual runs were finished off from long distance comfortably beating the keeper who had no answer for his brilliance.
Ripley could have easily reached double figures as Whitehead, Dunne and Goddard had chances in the closing stages of the game, but the deficit remained at seven with the final score finishing Edwalton Cavaliers 1 – 8 Ripley Town.
All coaching staff and players will no doubt be pleased with the result and performances but can’t get carried away as they turn their attention to Linby Colliers Welfare next Saturday.
MAN OF THE MATCH – ALEX CROSSLEY
This was a very hard choice as there were a few outstanding individual performances that hard the manager couldn’t pick himself. Alex Crossley caught the eye of the Edwalton manager, therefore has been awarded the first man of the match of the season. Ripley’s players player and managers players of the season carried on his form from last season controlling the game at the heart of the midfield, linking play with the front three and even managed to get his name on the score sheet.
POST MATCH COMMENTS
After the match, manager Jake Brown was asked about his thoughts on what looked like a fairly comfortable victory for the Ripley lads on Saturday afternoon.
“Have to be happy with that as the scoreline reads very favourable towards ourselves. I thought we should’ve started a lot better but sometimes you have to be patient and we did that. I wanted to make sure we were relentless and kept standards high after the break so to go on and score another five was very pleasing. Disappointed not to keep a clean sheet but we can take a lot of positives out of today.”
Credit: Holly Wright (First Team social media assistant)
