Frustration
builds for Bones
Rothwell Town 0 -1 Cinderford
Town
ROTHWELL TOWN manager Ian Jackson
cut a frustrated figure at the end of this one and it was not hard
to see why.
Jackson had just seen his side slump to their fourth successive
league defeat in Division One Midlands after a sluggish display
against equally lacklustre Cinderford Town.
After a strong start, the Bones – the FA Cup notwithstanding
– have resembled an old boiler in need of servicing over the
last month. While the Rothwell machine is reliable enough, it spluttered
and stalled enough throughout this game to have you worrying about
it's long-term longevity.
Bones can point to their energy-sapping midweek FA Cup replay at
Enfield Town as a reason for their slow start.
The long return trip to Essex, extra-time on top of a hard 90 minutes
and then the galling despair of defeat on penalties was always going
to take time to get out of the system. But Cinderford also had a
midweek FA Cup replay defeat as their warm-up for this game so it
was the same for both sides up to a point.
Neither side really threatened for the first half an hour. But then
Richard Kear brought a good save out of Bones keeper Tom Smith
before Ben Gascoyne's 34th-minute cross was flicked home by Jimmy
Cox. By then Faizal Koriya,
who looked largely disinterested at times, had missed one good chance
for the Bones and spurned two more.
He did better soon after half-time, connecting sweetly with Robert
Richie-Smith's cross, but Foresters keeper Matt Bath saved well.
Up to the hour, Rothwell were the better side but both Michael Boyle-Cong
and Adam Sturgess both failed to finish from another Richie-Smith
cross while Pete Sneddon was denied by the post.
But as the half wore on, though, the
Bones' sharp edge was steadily blunted by a combination of poor
passes and defensive Cinderford tactics that made hard viewing for
everyone, not just the home bench.
Thanks to the Evening
Telegraph.
Rothwell:
Smith, Tolton, Purton (sub Richie-Smith, h-t), Sturgess, Rice (sub
Collis, 63 mins), Greasley, Flannigan, Boyle-Chong, Byrne, Bridgeford
(sub Sneddon, h-t), Koriya. Subs not used: Stead, Brown.
Cinderford: Bath,
Gascoyne, J Addis, Griffiths, Lewis, Thompson, Cowe, Toit, D Addis,
Kear, Cox (sub Knight, 53 mins). Subs not used: Wilkinson, Jukes,
Hammonds.
Referee: Mr S Barrow
Goal: Cox (34 mins, 0-1)
Bookings: Smith, Kear (both fouls)
Attendance: 108
Chairman's man of the match: Ben Greasley (solid
at the back)
Match rating: 4
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