Rugby prove too strong for Town youngsters

IT was all a bit of a learning curve for Stratford Town Youth as they were beaten 5-3 by a more experienced and streetwise Rugby Town Juniors at the DCS last Thursday, writes Bryan Hale.

Taking control straight from the kick-off, Rugby took the lead in only the fourth minute.

Alex Webb burst through the middle to shoot against the advancing Town keeper Scott Martin and Harry Sawyer followed up to head the rebound into the empty net.

As Town struggled to cope with Rugby’s slick movement on and off the ball, Connor Gamble added Rugby’s second ten minutes later followed by Webb hitting their third shortly after, and when Webb struck again to make it 4-0 in the 37th minute it looked all over.

But Tom Rowe’s crisp finish in the final minute of the first half gave Town a glimmer of hope, and as Town went for all-out attack after the restart a quickfire double from Dylan Parker meant it was very much game on.

Eventually though Rugby regained their earlier composure and Cam Barrett extended their lead with a fiercely-struck effort just before the hour mark.

Town battled hard for the rest of the game making sure that Rugby were never as comfortable as they had been earlier, but they were still a threat going forward and Martin excelled with a couple of top class saves towards the end to keep the scoreline as it was.

Town are back in action on Thursday at the DCS when they take on Bromsgrove Sporting in the preliminary round of the prestigious FA Youth Cup. The game kicks off at 7.45pm.