Gedling MW vs Ruddington, Tuesday 2 August-- Match report

Special thanks to Mick Booth for writing the following match report.

Gedlings first friendly game was against Ruddington and a lot of new signings were hoping to make a good impression. In fact there were 10 new signings for Gedling and they all got a chance to show during the game. A mention should be made about all the hard work that has gone on at the ground during the close season. It looked fantastic and the playing surface was excellent.

The floodlights were superb when they came on and all the people involved in the ground improvements deserve a big pat on the back. All we need now is a team to go with it. Ruddington attacked from the start but the first real chance fell to Gedling after 7 mins when Wright powered in a header. The Ruddington goalie did well to get a hand to it but the loose ball was pounced on by Nowak whose shot came back off the post. Seconds later Nowak fired in another shot that brought a great save out of the goalie. Hogg was seeing a lot of the ball out on the wing and he was unlucky to see a shot hit the side netting. The Ruddington side were playing some good football but they went a goal behind when a long ball upfield was misjudged by the Ruddington goalie. The ball bounced over him and CARTER reacted well to knock the ball into the net from a tight angle and make it 1-0 to Gedling on 18 mins. Hogg had a shot go just wide and minutes later Nowak held off two players as he ran into the box and hit a powerful shot that was palmed out by the goalie. BULL was the first to react and fired the loose ball into the back of the net to make it 2-0 on 22 mins.

Ruddington were giving Gedling a good game and it was just what Gedling needed before the start of the season. HT 2-0 Ruddington came out for the second half looking for an early goal to get back into the game and within a minute they'd got it. Parlatt, the Gedling goalie, parried a fierce shot but couldn't get to the follow up and Ruddington made it 2-1 on 46 mins. Gedling were improving as a side as the game went on, remembering that this was the first time they had played together, and Westby went close with a thundering shot that skimmed the bar. Jason 'Boomer' Booth won a crunching tackle and played a great ball to Timson who was unlucky to see his shot go just by the post. As is the norm in friendlies the team was being swopped and changed to have a look at the different players and one thing that stood out was the fitness of the players. John Bartlett had certainly whipped them into shape and they will only get better as they become match fit.

HOGG took a pass from Boomer and waltzed through the Ruddington defence and calmly slotted the ball into the net to make it 3-1 on 54 mins. Gedling were well on top at this point and HOGG again went through the Ruddington defence to make it 4-1 on 57 mins. Hogg went on a good run down the line and squared the ball to Lester whose shot pulled a good save out of the Ruddington goalie. Ruddington got a free kick just outside the Gedling box and Boomer did really well to clear off the line. Lester played a nice ball through to Timson but his shot went just past the post. The game ended with a 4-1 win for Gedling and it had been a good game but a much more testing game will be on Thursday when Gedling entertain Arnold Town.

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