Radford 4 v Radcliffe Olympic 4 - EMCL

Tuesday 29th December 2015

East Midlands Counties League
at Selhurst Street
Radford (1) 4
David Udoh 29, John King 70
Jahred Russell 73, 83
Radcliffe Olympic (2) 4
Jan Yeomans 32, Ryan Smith 42
Conor Moore, 48, Ryan Perkins 58
Admission £5. Programme £1. Attendance 77

Radford:
Callum Dunning, Ashley Miles, Matt Hopewell, Hesham Ramadan, Simon Hore, Joe Meakin, Carey Knight, Frazer Campbell, John King, David Udoh, Kadeem Brown
Subs - Phil Hinton, Jahred Russell, Harrison, Wolfe, Richard Stanisby, Joe Harrison, Joel Wolfe
Radcliffe Olympic:
Chris Bennett, Kieran Davies, Connor Moore, Liam Motson, Luke Parsons, Liam Smallwood, Jan Yeomans, Ian Marley, Jack Smith, Ryan Smith, Ryan Perkins
Subs - Jake Morris, Sam Brindley, James Spence, Thomas Rashaw, Alex Hales

An action and incident packed game, that had yellow cards galore, goals disallowed for both teams, a missed penalty inside the final five minutes and a dramatic comeback from the home side, who had looked well beaten for a while when the visitors went into a 4-1 lead just before the hour.
Radford's goalkeeper Callum Dunning was busy during the opening exchanges as Olympic pushed forward from the outset, but the Pheasants didn't take long to find their rhythm as John King and Carey Knight exchanged passes on the edge of Radcliffe's goal area, but Luke Parsons blocked Knight's shot.
Moments later King surged past Parsons through the middle of the visitors defence and Chris Bennett got down well to tip the home side's number nine's shot round the post.

Kadeem Brown's right wing corner pinged around in the goalmouth and when Radcliffe could only half clear their lines, the ball fell to Knight who rasped a shot narrowly over the bar.
Radford were rewarded for their spell of pressure when David Udoh opened the scoring with an angled shot from twelve yards out in the twenty ninth minute.
Radcliffe went in search of an immediate equaliser and only a great save by Dunning stopped Ryan Smith from finding the net.
Just three minutes after the home side had taken the lead it was all level, when Jan Yeomans beat Dunning to the ball on the edge of the area, nicked it past him and rolled it into the back of the net.
Radford ought to have regained the lead, when King's right wing cross picked out Udoh right in front of the goal, who headed the ball down (like what it tells you to in coaching manuals) only to see it whip up sharply in front of him and over the bar.

Jan Yeomans tested Smalling but the Pheasants keeper got behind the shot and deflected it wide from a corner. Radcliffe took the lead from the flag kick when Ashley Miles put the ball back across the face of goal at the back stick, for Ryan Smith to provide the finishing touch from close range.
HT: 1-2
The second half was only three minutes old, when Conor Moore got the decisive touch, amidst a goalmouth scramble in Radford's area and the visitors were 3-1 up.
The Pheasants thought they had pulled one back, but when Simon Hore's goal bound shot was helped over the line by Udoh, the flag went up and it was disallowed for an offside infringement.
Ryan Perkins crafted a goal out of nothing with a great strike from distance in the fifty eight minute.
It looked like it was over for Radford when Perkins netted again, but he was adjudged to have been in an offside position when he scored and it didn't count.
The verbals from the Radcliffe players towards the match officials reached about nine on the Richter scale at this point. Their own goalkeeper Chris Bennett shouted to his team mates "Leave it, keep your heads, keep your discipline we're winning four one for ****'s sake!"
He did have a point.

King advanced towards the visitors goal area through the left channel and struck a peach of a shot past Bennett to give his side a glimmer of hope... and that was all that they needed.
Substitute Jahred Russell entered the fray and bolstered Radford's attacking intentions.
Dunning saved a long range shot from Ian Marley at one end and the Pheasants were straight on the attack again. King danced past two attempted challenges out on the left wing and crossed to Joe Meakin, who slipped a pass to Russell through a crowded goalmouth and he nudged the ball into the bottom corner of the net.
Radcliffe again ganged up verbally around the referee and one of his assistants. It was a shame, because they had already proved that they were a half decent and capable side and were still winning, so they really ought to have been concentrating their effort elsewhere.
Russell netted from an offside position as the clock ticked down and his effort was chalked off.

But the sensational comeback was completed when Russell did slot home his second and Radford's fourth goal, after King had dribbled across the front of the box before setting up the chane.
There was more late drama when King was upended inside the penalty area by Liam Motson.
Russell stepped forward, but missed out on his hat trick and a winning goal when he crashed the ball against the top of the right hand upright.
King and Udoh both had half chances in stoppage time, but from being in a really healthy position after 58 minutes, Radcliffe managed to hold out for a point.
Great entertainment!
FT: Radford 4 v Radcliffe Olympic 4