| MATCH REPORTS |
| 20th March, 2001 Wee Boyz 3 - 0 The Butchers, Champions` League Group A The Butchers` Champions` League campaign ended with yet another defeat. Before the game, The Butchers` looked to have a good chance of emerging victorious but this was not to be the case. A poor clearance by Rhodes, restored to The Butchers` goal, resulted in the opening goal for the Wee Boyz. However, even at 1-0 down, The Butchers still looked capable of winning the game. Their chance was ended, however, when the referee controversially awarded a penalty kick when Spruce was adjudged to have entered the goalkeeper`s area. Rhodes dived the wrong way, taking the score to 2-0 and effectively ending The Butchers` campaign. Things were made worse when the Wee Boyz again found the net, this time with a fine strike into the bottom right hand corner of the goals. Manager Rhodes had this to say: "I thought the decision to award a penalty was ridiculous. At 1-0 we still had a good chance of winning the game and perhaps even still to qualify for the next phase of the competition. The referee has cost us." Team - Rhodes, Samson, T. Hughes, Pyper, B. Hughes (Spruce) (Steinmann) ................................................................................................................................................................ 20th March, 2001 Bigger Boyz 7 - 2 The Butchers, Champions` League Group A Manager Rhodes decided to freshen things up for this game and, for the first time, selected someone other than himself in goals, in this case Pyper, and put himself outfield, with Tom Hughes replacing the injured Samson and Ben Hughes replacing Spruce. Switching himself to an outfield position looked to have payed off when, just a few minutes into the game, the Bigger Boyz` keepr made a weak clearance which Rhodes was able to capitalise on, as he powered a shot in to the far corner of the net. There was no shock on the cards, however, and this simply served to knock the Bigger Boyz into life, as they began to dominate proceedings. Even switching Pyper outfield and moving Tom Hughes between the sticks did not make a difference and a late own goal following a mix-up in the Bigger Boyz` defence was no consolation for The Butchers, who were on the wrong end of what can only be described as a hammering. Team - Pyper, T. Hughes, B. Hughes, Rhodes, Steinmann (Spruce) Sub - Samson Scorer - Rhodes ................................................................................................................................................................ 20th March, 2001 Big Boyz 3 - 0 The Butchers, Champions` League Group A In this, the opening group game of the "Champions` League", the Butchers were once again comprehensively defeated by a stronger team. Team - Rhodes, Samson, Spruce, Pyper, Steinmann Subs - T. Hughes, B. Hughes ................................................................................................................................................................ 6th March, 2001 Unreal Madrid 2 - 0 The Butchers, SVS Cup 1st Round The Butchers were again drawn against the competition`s favourites in the first round and no-one gave them a chance of winning. However, it was not quite as one-sided an affair as the previous encounter between the two. The game, played as an unusual six-a-side game, saw some good, solid individual performances from The Butchers but they failed to link up as well as their counterparts. The Butchers were again defeated but this time there was nothing to be embarassed about, for they put up a good fight and never gave up. Team - Rhodes, Samson, Spruce, B. Hughes, Steinmann, T. Hughes ................................................................................................................................................................ Winter 2000 Unreal Madrid 4 - 0 The Butchers, SVS Cup 1st Round The scoreline says it all. This game saw The Butchers being completely savaged by a vastly superior side. After the slaughtering, Rhodes said: "I was very dissapointed by our performance today - we gave the other team far too much respect. But remember, we`re just a tiny wee part time side and we had no chance of winning." Team - Rhodes, Samson (T. Hughes), B. Hughes, Pyper, Spruce ................................................................................................................................................................ Summer 2000 The Butchers 6 - 2 Harveston, Challenge Match This match saw The Butchers play their first ever match, against Harveston at The Slaughter House. The first half of the game was quite a scrappy affair, with neither team creating a great deal of scoring chances, while both defences looked pretty solid, in particular Evans for The Butchers. The opening goal came following some neat link-up play between Spruce and Steinmann, with the former slotting past opposing `keeper Samson to cap a fine move. Towards the end of the half, however, a blunder by Butchers` `keeper Rhodes let Harveston back into the game, when he dashed off his line to collect a ball but completely missed it, allowing the Harveston player to slot home. The Butchers were soon back in the game, with Spruce going on a fine solo run and again managing to beat Samson. Into the second half and The Butchers were winning courtesy of the odd goal in five, thanks to another Spruce effort, and Harveston were awarded a penalty following Evans` challenge in the box. With a superb chance to draw the game level, the Harveston striker confidently stepped up and struck the ball. Rhodes, diving full-length to his right, was able to hold the tamely-struck penalty, making up for his earlier blunder. The Butchers then went on to score three late goals - one by Steinmann and another two by Spruce - to secure the win. After the game, Butchers manager Rhodes had this to say: "I was delighted to win our first game - I thought we played very well and we got the wee rub of the green that you need to win a game." Rhodes, in his infinite wisdom, had been so impressed by the display of visiting `keeper Samson that he decided he would be the ideal signing and so the `keeper who was left stranded six times was duly recruited. Team - Rhodes, Evans, B. Hughes, Spruce, Steinmann Scorers - Spruce (5), Steinmann |
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| 17 March, 2002 The Butchers 5 - 8 The Cross Keys, Challenge Match The Butchers preformed well in this game and can consider themselves unlucky not to have taken anything from it. Manager, Kevin Rhodes, raised a few eyebrows with his team selection for the match, played at Forthbank, Stirling. Rhodes dropped himself to the bench, handing the captain�s armband to Chris Pyper, whilst Richard Spruce and Mark Rhodes both made their Butchers debuts. Ben Hughes was a notable absentee from The Butchers squad, having been loaned out to The Cross Keys prior to the match. The match started with The Cross Keys looking the livelier of the two sides, with their frontmen forcing Richard Spruce in The Butchers� goals to make some fine saves. After soaking up much of the early pressure, The Butchers hit on the counter and, with Pyper playing a fine through ball, Rhodes marked his debut by slotting home with his right foot, in off the left-hand post, somewhat against the run of play. The score remained 1-0 for a period after this, with both teams threatening but failing to convert their chances, with Spruce again pulling off some fine saves. Eventually, though, The Cross Keys grabbed a deserved equaliser with a rocket of a shot from the left wind, which left Spruce with no chance. The Cross Keys then romped to a 3 goal lead, leaving the score at 1-4. With The Butchers looking dead and buried, The Butchers then came back into the game when Pyper finally opened his Butchers� account, as he coolly slotted the ball home. This goal started The Butchers� revival and Mark Rhodes doubled his tally shortly afterwards with a left-footed toe-poke from close range to bring the score back to 3-4. The Butchers then grabbed a thoroughly deserved equaliser when Pyper swung a corner over from the left which was cleared, allowing Pyper to get the second cross in, this one being met by Mark Rhodes, who bulleted the ball home with a powerful header, sealing his hat-trick. Kevin Rhodes then decided to freshen things up, as he brought himself on in place of Ben Evans, who was beginning to struggle with the pace of the game. Rhodes put himself in goals and moved Richard Spruce outfield, to join his brother in the heart of defence. This tactical switch looked to have back fired when, despite some heavy Butchers pressure at the other end, The Cross Keys hit on the counter attack and again took the lead, Kevin Rhodes left with no chance. The Butchers then continued to press and were finally rewarded when they justifiably grabbed an equaliser, Richard Spruce tapping in from close range to cap off a fine performance. Following that goal, The Butchers looked like the only team who would take the lead, as they hit The Cross Keys with wave after wave of attack, a timely last-man challenge by on-loan man, Ben Hughes, all that prevented Mark Rhodes from notching his fourth of the game. Then, after soaking up all of the pressure, The Cross Keys hit on the counter attack and took the lead with just minutes remaining. The Butchers then threw everything forward but continued to be unlucky, hitting the woodwork and dragging shots narrowly wide. The Butchers goalkeeper, Kevin Rhodes, then decided to come forward in an attempt to salvage something from the game. He had a fine run forward but was eventually halted in his tracks. With The Butchers pressurising, The Cross Keys managed to expose the lack of cover at the back to notch two more late goals. After the game, Kevin Rhodes had this to say: �I thought we played well today and were unlucky not to take something from the game. We pressurised their goal heavily in the latter stages but, once again, we just didn�t get the wee rub of the green that you need to win a game. I though Richard Spruce had an outstanding debut for us and I was also pleased with Mark�s hat-trick.� Team - R.Spruce, B.Evans, M.Rhodes, C.Pyper, A.Spruce Rolling Sub - K.Rhodes Scorers - M.Rhodes (3), C.Pyper, R.Spruce ........................................................................................................................................................ |
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| 7 April 2002 The Butchers 7 - 18 The Cross Keys, Challenge Match The Butchers were out for revenge following their narrow defeat at the hands of The Cross Kyes on their previous meeting. However, The Butchers made a poor start and quickly fell to a 4 goal deficit, which was always going to be near-impossible to claw back. While The Butchers were comprehensively defeated in the end, they did manage to score 7 goals - 5 for Mark Rhodes and one a piece for Kevin Rhodes and Chris Pyper. Team - R.Spruce, T. Hughes, M.Rhodes, K.Rhodes, A.Spruce, C.Pyper, B.Hughes Scorers - K.Rhodes, M.Rhodes (5), C.Pyper .............................................................................................................................................................. |
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