Match Report Saturday 3rd October
Sherborne Town FC 0 - 0 Fleetlands
Wessex League
Sherborne Town 0 Fleetlands 0
The odds on this scoreline before kick-off would have been around 100-1. Fleetlands had gone 44 games without contesting a goalless draw, while Sherborne had shipped 10 goals in their last two matches, most recently five against Fareham Town who, three days later, were beaten by today's opposition.
Statistics, damn lies and all that.
Zebras were missing leading goal-scorer Alex Murphy, plus Ant Herrin, Joe Crisp and Ollie Hebbard. The visitors, meanwhile, made only one change from the side that ended Fareham's unbeaten run. Craig Kingswell, on the mark for the Royal Navy in midweek, replaced Oli Page at No 9.
There was an initial eagerness from both teams but the ball spent long periods in the air, not ideal for a Zebras forward line lacking height. In a game of head tennis against the Coptermen there was only going to be one winner, namely a huge central defender.
There was a miserable 24-minute wait for the first shot of the game and it came from the visitors, who were attacking the Clubhouse end. Kingswell teed up Kelvin Robinson who managed to chip the ball not only over keeper Jack Marshall but also over the cross-bar. Robinson took a knock in the process and needed comforting from the magic sponge, as did Kingswell later when his surge down the left was halted by a well-timed sliding tackle from Josh Ansell.
The Coptermen kept their intensity high. Joe Briggs tried his luck from distance but a rather weak effort was easily gathered by Marshall.
Incidentally, Jack must be the quietest goalkeeper in the league, the proverbial church mouse in contrast to his counterpart at the other end here, Nico Trojanowski, who wailed like a banshee, especially when one of his team-mates went to ground.
Zebras' best moments came when they were able to get the ball on the floor. Archie Bryce made good headway down the right before crossing into the box where Will Pointon was able to clear. Bryce then played a neat 1-2 with Aaron White but the overlapping full-back was unable to find a forward with his low cut-back.
The hosts mustered only one shot in a dreary first half and it was a long time coming, 44 minutes to be exact. It also emanated from a cross delivered from the right boot of Bryce, but even if Henry Lawrence-Napier's strike had hit the back of the net it wouldn't have mattered as there was an infringement in the box. Ho-hum.
There was another 'first' in stoppage time, a corner for Fleetlands. It was played short and ultimately wasted. It ended an easy first half for both keepers.
Half-time 0-0.
It was a slightly less frenetic Fleetlands that carved out the better chances early in the second half. Kingswell fired over, then on 48 minutes Robinson squared the ball for Will Ayre whose effort clipped the cross-bar.
On 52 minutes there was another scare for the Zebras when Marshall flapped at a corner and Callum Mann's header came back off a post.
The hosts rallied. On the hour mark Ollie Crisp toppled over under a soft challenge in the penalty area as he bore down on goal and not surprisingly the referee waved play on. Almost immediately Josh Williams made an overly robust midfield challenge in which the home captain came off worse. After a lengthy delay for treatment, Williams was probably hoping the referee had toddled off, but he hadn't and finally produced a yellow card.
Neither side were in the groove and the final ball lacked quality. However, a long raking pass from Jake Graziano caught visiting left-back Charlie Merritt unawares and Bryce nearly capitalised, his lob just failing to clear a back-pedalling Trojanowski.
Zebras then finally won their first corner in the 71st minute after Mann had cleared White's cross but it came to nothing.
All both teams lacked was someone to apply the finishing touch to take all three points. It was not as if Liam Nardiello, who fulfilled the role of centre forward in the absences of Murphy and Herrin, was disappointing. There was nothing wrong with the young Glover's application but he was never presented with a goal-scoring opportunity.
The hosts' best chance arrived with their next attack on 72 minutes. Bryce got in behind the left-back before squaring across the goalmouth. It eluded everybody until reaching Dec Cornish unmarked beyond the back post but he lifted the ball over the bar. Zebras were nearly made to rue that miss two minutes later with some slack marking at the back. Merritt picked out Kingswell with a deep cross but the striker's header missed the target.
The arrival of Billy Mullins and Tommy Gaylard off the bench added a bit more zest in the Zebras midfield. On 88 minutes Graziano's diagonal ball was headed across the six-yard box by Gaylard. It caused a degree of panic for the Coptermen but a combination of Trojanowski and Matt Simm blocked Cornish's close-range effort at the back post.
Up until his substitution in the 90th minute, Kingswell was a constant threat, especially with his long throws. The Zebras rear-guard were probably glad to play out six minutes of stoppage time without him.
Right at the death Graziano did well to dispossess the lively Jaydon Keteku, and Williams kept out a low shot with a defiant lunge.
Team: Marshall, White, Graziano, Ansell, Williams, Lawrence-Napier, Bryce (Gaylard 75), McCabe, Nardiello, Cornish, O Crisp (Mullins 68). Subs not used: Watson, Guppy, Hollard (gk).
Booked: Williams.
Attendance: 114.
Man-of-the-match: Graziano.