Sat, 25 Aug 2007 @ Dales Lane, Rushall. vs Rushall Olympic (0-1). British Gas Business Football League Midland Division. By D Hucker. In a scrappy first half short on flowing football, Brakes were forced to defend in depth for long periods, leaving only Ben Mackey and Richard Adams up front. Both Stuart Herlihy and James Husband had to play deep to bolster the defence and there was, as a result, a lack of creativity in midfield where Jon Adams had been so effective in past seasons.
Mackey went closest to scoring, drawing good saves from home 'keeper, Tony Breeden, in the 13th and 31st minutes. However, it was Rushall who went into the interval in front, thanks to a Damien Charlie strike on 25 minutes after good work down the right by the lively Lee Gough.
They could easily have had a second on the stroke of half-time after Ryan Parisi had lost the ball, but Richard Morris got down well to deny Matt Hawker.
Hawker again had a chance to double the lead on 57 minutes, but he shot wide with only Morris to beat. The steep slope in the pitch from side to side didn't help Brakes' natural passing game, but they were their own worst enemy, relying too much on long balls into the Rushall half which were capably dealt with by central defenders Richard Brown and Lee Barrow.
Substitute Josh Blake had a couple of efforts saved by Breeden and, perhaps, should have done better with his attempted lob on 66 minutes. Brakes did find the net when Russell Dunkley got a head to Marcus Jackson's cross but, having first given a goal, the referee disallowed the effort for a foul on the 'keeper.
Rushall finished with ten men after Chad Sheppard was sent off for a foul on Ryan Parisi, having been booked in the first half, but they had just done enough to clinch all three points.
There were also bookings for Parisi and Rushalls Chris Brindley for handball.
For Brakes, assistant manager, Darran Tank, described the performance as "simply not good enough". He added:
We didnt compete well enough in the first half and gave away a poor goal. We changed things around after the break and, if Josh had scored with only the keeper to beat, we might have got something out of the game. We will have an early opportunity to put things right against Sutton Coldfield Town on Monday.
Brakes Richard Morris, Marcus Jackson, Arron Parkinson, Adam Cooper, Ryan Parisi, Tom Fountain (Josh Blake 56), Craig Dutton [Capt.}, Stuart Herlihy, Ben Mackey, Richard Adams (Russell Dunkley 66), James Husband.
Subs Not Used: Adam Knight, Liam Reynolds, Chris Gibson (G/K)
Rushall Olympic
Tony Breeden, Lee Gough, Richard Beale, Richard Brown [Capt.], Lee Barrow, Niki Preston, Chad Sheppard, Phil Rowe, Matt Hawker (Chris Brindley 65), Damien Charlie (Duncan Willetts 47), Neil Barnfield
Subs Not Used: David Waple, Karl Johnson, Mark Gayle (G/K)