Stafford Town Mens 1sts vs Redgate Clayton
1 - 2
27 July 2021 · North West Counties<br>South
Home friendly match played on 27 July 2021.
Kicked off at 6:30 PM
1-2
vs Redgate Clayton
Home friendly match
Not an awful lot to say about this one apart from lessons will I'm sure be learned particularly regards being more penetrative. Town enjoyed large spells of possession in their own half with the hosts holding a very disciplined shape, retreating bodies behind the ball to minimise available space and opportunities to exploit. This they'd do well for the duration.
The visitors went ahead from a decent long range free kick from Sean Kinsella which should have settled things down.
Quite the contrary panned out however with Town regressing and Redgate going on the offensive. The equaliser came before the interval and under frustrating circumstances from a Town perspective. Ryan Taylor who had another decent game appeared to have his feet taken from under him resulting in a turnover of possession in the middle of the park. Redgate to their credit were focused on the attack and took full advantage countering at pace down their right flank. Harry Bowers bought the dummy and was unbalanced enabling the winger to pass him and then launch a fierce drive into the top corner from the edge of the box giving Joe Morris little chance.
Town were denied what seemed a clear penalty when skipper Charlie Swingwood was tripped from behind whilst running to head a floated free kick, 'Chris' the ref quickly waving play on.
Both sides enjoyed spells of the upper hand however it was the hosts that would strike the decisive blow. Jake Shelley failed to clear his lines just inside the six yard box and the indecision brought a last ditch block from fellow centre half Chris Anderson who would take a blow to the knee as a consequence. The resultant corner was met with a free header for what would turn out to be a very avoidable and deciding goal from a Town perspective.
Decision making in the final third was the biggest differentiator in this contest with the hosts simply being better at this aspect. Lessons continue to be learned from this Tow squad and this disappointing final friendly shouldn't deter from what has overall been a progressive 6 game pre season campaign.
Some footage can be seen using the link below that will take you to our YouTube channel StaffordTown TV.
https://youtu.be/EkYIkwWI-x8