Roy of the Rovers - Total Football - Part 10

7/25/2019 Roy of the Rovers - Total Football - Part 10

1/14

Roy of the Rovers Total Football

Part 10


2/14


3/14


4/14


5/14


6/14

* * *


7/14

Before kick-o Trevor Brinsden and the Melboro chairman along with threelegends from each club gathered on the touchline. David Roth had the idea ofdesignating this Derb as the !rst cancer awareness da. Trevor and his o""ositenumber both held che#ues for $%&&'&&& written out to a "o"ular researchcharit. Trevor gave a s"eech while the legends' Ro Race' Duncan Mc(a and)oft eak from Melchester Rovers and eter Beck' Bill Bennett and +ohnn

Telford from Melboro' circled the "itch collecting cash donations. The "ress andbroadcasters commended the gesture as a wonderful occasion and hailedBrinsdens courage. Roths "lan had worked' dealing with the intensit of the liehad become too stressful for the "air' ho"efull the would not have tocontinuall "rovide answers now that the !rst Derb of the season would alwasbe cancer awareness da. The two devious businessmen could handle awkward#uestions for one da a ear.

The match had failed to live u" to e,"ectations' esare Ranas had set his side u"not to lose' as had +ohan eegrun. Radio shows and social media were full ofcriticism' fans bemoaned the lack of attacking football. The most common theme

harked back to the great derbies between Ro Races and /nd +acksons teamsof the late 0&s and earl 1&s. Race and +ackson would never had settled for adraw.

2n the e,ecutive bar at full-time' Ro Race told the stor of his favourite derb34Mid-5ebruar %61&' wed 7ust been knocked out of the 895/ u" b 2celandic"art-timers :eklavik; robabl the biggest shock in 9uro"ean football ever; /nwa we faced Melboro in the 5/ u"' 7ust three das later' a massive game.

Their fans were taunting us' chanting


8/14

+ackson scoed sending a mouthful of lager over the back of Bill Bennett' hisformer ca"tain. The crowd' mostl Melboro su""orters did not turn awa' stilllistening intentl to Ros tale. 4+acko was lost the "lot' screaming and shouting

nonsense at me and his "laers. The


9/14

9verone in the room' bar +ackson' stood to a""laud. ?enerall the Derb was"laed in good s"irits with little of the crowd trouble associated with othergrudge matches in 9nglish football. /nd +ackson had done his best to stir u"hatred during his ten ears "lus in charge of the Boro' but in Ro Race he hadfound an o""onent unwilling to engage him or incite his fans to res"ond to"rovocation. +ackson had mellowed towards the end of his s"ell and that waswhen he knew it was time to resign' it was %616. :is re"lacement was +ackassid' the Aalford manager' another !rebrand with a brash re"utation' but hecould not re"licate +acksons success and was sacked after less than two ears tobe re"laced with another controversial !gure' Ral"h ?ordon.

Toda though' +ackson was back to his red-faced best' he was boiling over'4Race' can 2 tell m tale now This is m club after all' ou Melboro fans shouldbe ashamed gushing over Ro Race;= The rotund !gure' now in his seventies' did

not have the same gift for "ublic s"eaking as Ro' but the crowd still wanted tohear his retort.

4%61&H1% the ear "ower shifted across the River Mel and its never been back;The best transfer in 9nglish football' to this da' 2 signed ?eo ?iles fromMelchester Rovers. 9ven Ro would admit that 2 hel"ed ?iles to become an evenbetter "laer; 2 saw what Ro Race couldnt' that ?iles was naturall an attacking"laer and gave him freedom' he showed what a world-class "laer he was in his!rst Derb on the Melboro side;=

Ro nodded in agreement' he had allowed ?iles to 7oin his rivals "rematurel' he

had not antici"ated ?eos continued develo"ment as a "laer. 4Tell us more'/nd;= Ro shouted.

4Rovers were in disarra' Ro had allowed his !rst-team s#uad to dwindle' he letme have Roger Di,on too' while he had a kid in goal. 2 can remember the Roversside' name for name3 in goal was Aalter Ailliams' making his debut' he wasshort. /t the back the had Ba,ter I"ast itJ' ?uthrie Ia nutcaseJ' Mc(a Iout of"ositionJ and lade Ialso out of "ositionJ. The looked ver weak defensivel andthe were. The mid!eld wasnt much better' ?ra I"ast itJ' Aallace I"ast itJ and)nch Ia rookieJ' m mid!eld' led b ?iles could easil out work and out skill thatlot; Rovers greatest strength was their front three' DiaE' 9liot and Race' all threeabsolutel irre"laceable' the best of the best; 2 sa that 7ust in case ou think 2

was being harsh on the others;=


10/14

/gain Ro 7ust nodded along' +ackson had alwas been honest and in realit thatMelchester side was weak' Ro knew it in %61& and did everthing in his "owerto tr and strengthen it. 4M Melboro side was one of m best. (enned'Bennett' )ace' Britten' :edges' Di,on and ?iles' formed the core' we werestrong and 2 was con!dent' 2 could sense Races nerves;

42 told ?eo ?iles to go out and "la with freedom. :e was such a good "laer 2never needed to give him s"eci!c instructions. 5rom the ver start ?iles tookcontrol' running with the ball' taking on his marker. :e had never done that forMelchester Rovers' it was a new "art of his game and it took Rovers b sur"rise.Koel Ba,ter' who 2 alread said was "ast it' sliced his "ass wildl straight to ?eowho barged through ?uthrie and slammed it home;

Before Rovers could recover hed scored a second' this time a deection ofBa,ter wrong-footed the shrim" in goal; Ae were cruising at L-&' Rovers couldnt

create anthing3 we dominated. Ailliams made four or !ve good saves to kee"the score down' ?eo couldve had four or !ve goals himself. Rovers didnt havea decent shot until the ver end3 Ro scored' but it was the last kick of the game;Ae had won L-% and beaten Rovers at Mel ark for the !rst time since the Aar;/nd if ou had forgotten Melchester Rovers were relegated at the end of thatseason;=

Those were 7ust two great matches between Melchester Rovers and Melboro'through the ears the rivalr had "rovided man s"ecial memories for fans ofboth clubs. The rivalr would reach new levels in the late 6&s when Ros ownson Rock would follow the "ath of ?eo ?iles and sign for the blues.

* * *


11/14

Rock Race' head coach of Baltimore Bullets' was en7oing another record-breaking season in the M). :is Bullets team were now nicknamed 4The2nvincibles= after an amaEing maintaining an amaEing unbeaten run stretchingover a full calendar ear. Rocks worldwide re"utation was growing' withrumours of 7ob oers from the 9nglish remier )eague as well as a !rm oer totake over the 9ngland 8nder-L%s. Rock had re7ected an a""roach3 he wassettled and unbelievabl ha"" in the 8/.

Baltimores form was un"recedented' Rock of course was con!dent going intothe onference 5inal against Moosehead Timberwolves.

Moosehead Timberwolves 0,Baltimore Bullets 2 | MLS

Conference Finals MatchRecaSAINT JOHN N.B.After last week's scoreless first-leg draw between the Baltiore

B!llets and the "oosehead Tiberwol#es$ it was to!gh to tell who held the

ad#antage heading into S!nda%'s &() "*S +!, la%offs estern +onference /inal

second leg in "oosehead. As it t!rned o!t$ the Tiberwol#es' fail!re to grab an awa%

goal in "ar%land ,ro#ed costl%.

In S!nda%'s atch at The ol#es0 *air$ once Baltiore's "att Thatcher str!ck

the cr!cial awa% goal for Baltiore$ the Tiberwol#es were forced to score two to

s!r#i#e the aggregate-goal series. B!t the% co!ldn't e#en get one.

B!llets idfielder +arlos /ig!eroa added a second fo!r in!tes into second-half

sto,,age tie as Baltiore ran o!t &- winners on the night and on aggregate$

contin!ing their !nbeaten defence of their "*S +ha,ionshi,$ which will c!linate

when the% challenge S,ringfield Sharks in the "*S /inal in Baltiore on 1eceber

2.

Both teas were in attack ode fro the kickoff$ with "oosehead ,!shing hard for

the earl% breakthro!gh in a breathtakingl% fast-,aced start.

"oosehead's 3ieh /accon flashed a shot 4!st ,ast the right ,ost si5 in!tes in and

he cae e#en closer three in!tes later$ crashing a low dri#e off the left ,ost and off

the back of goalkee,er Allan Tinn for a corner.

Baltiore created chances on the co!nter and Bor4a Jes!s c!rled one wide fro

distance in the (6th in!te.


12/14

The 'ol#es chances in the series were dealt a serio!s blow idwa% thro!gh the first

half when /accon rolled his ankle$ li,ing off in the &)th in!te to be re,laced b%

#eteran "atias Tinto.

Not for the first tie this season$ "oosehead's earl% doinance ,rod!ced no end

res!lts$ and after withstanding intense ,ress!re$ Baltiore took control of the

series with Thatcher's o,ening goal in the 7(st in!te. The striker b!ried a Jes!s

c!tback fro the end line high into the Tiberwol#es' net.

"oosehead tried to regro!, and 'ol#es forward Oscar 8aire9 cae close to

le#elling in the 66th in!te$ with a loo,ing header fro a Tinto free kick that Tinn had

to ti, o#er his crossbar.

The second half ,la%ed o!t in siilar fashion$ with "oosehead tr%ing to initiate their

attack and Baltiore looking cofortable in ,ossession.

And aside fro a ,enalt% sho!t fro the Tiberwol#es earl% in the second half$ it

was half chances for both teas$ and not an% of those.

Tiberwol#es goalkee,er 1an Og,let had little to do all e#ening$ aside fro

reo#ing the ball fro his own net$ tho!gh he had to react :!ickl% in the ;(st in!te$

as a Baltiore free kick cae in !nto!ched.

"oosehead seeed resigned to their fate$ one sealed fo!r in!tes into sto,,age

tie. A :!ick Baltiore co!nterattack saw /ig!eroa t!ck awa% a ,ass to do!ble the

B!llets' lead$ ens!ring the%'d ad#ance to a date with S,ringfield Sharks.

!rmchair !nal"st#s Ta$e

If %o! can0t score$ %o! won0t win. And the "oosehead Tiberwol#es ,rett% !ch can

not score right now$ which is wh% their season is o#er.

How bad is it< The%0#e been sh!t o!t in fi#e of their last si5 across all co,etitions$

and se#en of their last (. The%0#e scored !lti,le goals 4!st once in the last two

onths. The onl% forward on the roster who0s scored since earl% Se,teber is 8oger

inter$ and he0s not the g!% who0s going to win %o! a ,la%off series at this stage in

his career.

As for the B!llets= it sees like the%0#e fo!nd another big-gae ,la%er. "att

Thatcher has been getting the ,ress and +arlos /ig!eroa is rightf!ll% considered one

of the leag!e0s ost in#enti#e ,la%ers$ b!t it all r!ns thro!gh Bor4a Jes!s at this ,oint

in tie. He is dictating where the gae is ,la%ed with his abilit% to hold the ball !,

and ake ,la%s.

And beca!se of that Baltiore are were on co!rse to defend their "*S title.


13/14

Rocks !rst task' once he returned to the teams smart ocean-front hotel' was tocall his father and give him the good news. The "air had worked so well togetherto bring home the L&% ham"ionshi" and Rock was sure that Ro would wantto attend the !nal this ear too. 4Dad; Aeve done it' back in the !nal;=

42 know' son. 2 was watching. Reall solid "erformance' the side has matured somuch' the dont 7ust blow awa the o""osition now' but can win ugl; Couvedone everthing right this season' 2 have to sa' it looks faultless from this sideof the "ond;=

The two didnt discuss much other than football' so Rock alwas found it diNcultto a""roach famil matters. 4Dad' can ou convince Mel and Diana' at least Mel'to come out for this game Keither of them have visited me here et' 2ve beenhere so long' the house is amaEing now and theve never seen it; +eanettewants to have a big "art' in fact a whole week of "arties' its traditional here3the week before the u"erbowl is the same. Aeve got more than enough roomfor everone' well have barbecues' "ool "arties' a countr and western night' itwill be a right laugh; lease Dad' get the girls to come out;=

Ro knew it would not be that sim"le' Mel would have to take her son out of

school' Diana was in )ondon now with Declan' who had his commitments with


14/14

Aalford. 42ll see what 2 can do' son; But ou know 2 will be there to su""ort theBullets; ?o Bullets;=

The Race famil' although miles a"art' were "robabl the closest the had beensince enns death. But Diana was doing well in )ondon' her fashion store

turning a small "ro!t. Mel was leading a #uiet life' well out of the s"otlight thatshe had grown to hate during her time as Managing Director at Mel ark. AalfordRovers biggest fan' the oungest Ro Race' was !nall allowed to go to footballmatches and an s"are time he had' once he had com"leted his homework' wass"ent in the garden shooting into his goal and dribbling u" and down' u" anddown' until he was e,hausted. 5ootball had driven so man wedges between theRaces' but Ro and Rock were determined that football could bring themtogether into one big ha"" famil. Mel and Diana must go to Baltimore for the!nal' Ro thought' now he had to make it ha""en.

Storky Knight

%&'T ( Lea)ue Cu *thRound action and the MLS Cu Final+

Documents

Roy of the Rovers - Total Football - Part 10