Mile Oak Rovers 1 v 1 Coleshill Town

[Alan Beckett]

Saturday 22nd April 1972
Midland Combination Second Division
Mile Oak Rovers 1 v 1 Coleshill Town
Scorers:
Rovers: Tony Clure.
Town: John Bown.


Team: Les Owen, Clive Lyons, John Bown, Dave O’Riordan, John Allen, Eddie Hanlon. Confirmed. John Capper GK, Phill Dunn, Tim Clarke, Scott Coleman, Oscar Deeming. Presumed.


CASTLE BROMWICH NEWS WROTE
Defensive Battle
Anyone who missed the first 15 minutes of this match at Price Avenue, missed just about all that was exciting in a dull battle between two local rivals who seemed determined not to be beaten at any cost. With this frame of mind, defences were on top and there was little constructive attacking play. The strong wind which swept from one end to the other did little to encourage good soccer, but that alone cannot be blamed for the mediocre standard of football. The contest opened brightly enough with the two sides doing their share of attacking and when the goals came, most people thought the game would turn out to be a cracker, but what a disappointment. Coleshill had a slight edge in the early exchanges and it was against the run of play when Mile Oak took the lead, Tony Clure glancing home a long Mick Williams throw in. Directly from the restart Town slowly worked the ball up-field and John Bown slammed in a shot to put the sides back on level terms. That was at five minutes and for the remaining 85 neither team seemed unduly perturbed about getting the winner. Eddie Hanlon and Clive Lyons were both cautioned by Referee D. Seabridge for dissent. Defences dominated for the remainder of the game, although neither had much to contend with. Clive Lyons was again was on top form for Coleshill and played Tony Cure out of the game. Mile Oak had little attacking flair and John Hickey was the only Rover who looked like scoring, but too often he had to do things on his own and was beaten by sheer weight of numbers. Coleshill were similar in approach. Their most impressive raider was Dave O’Riordan, making a return after injury. Like Hickey, he revealed enthusiasm and industry, but after a long lay-off he was not fully match fit. In midfield, John Allen for Coleshill and Mile Oak’s Ronnie Llewllyn worked hard to set their respective attacks moving. There was plenty of action and some fine tackling in this area of the field, but poor distribution spoiled moves at their crucial stages. Geoff Statham had a very sound game against his old club and was the stumbling block of many Coleshill attacks. Lyons, who has taken over Statham’s role in Town’s rear-guard, did an equally fine job and found good support from Les Owen. A share of the points was fair for two lethargic sides in a match which was best forgotten.



P29