Renwick 7 BBC 3 – Fullerton signs up – Legend to return?

BALLYMENA (Reuters / SWS) Renwick this evening completed the signing of an official team commentator. The role of commentator has been conspicuously lacking this season, but with Steelo apparently eyeing up the role, Jonny was dispatched to secure someone else so he wouldn’t be distracted from his goalkeeping duties by having to repeatedly ask what the late Steve Irwin was doing playing for Renwick. SWS are therefore delighted to confirm that Renwick have secured the services of Northern Ireland commentating legend Jackie Fullerton.

Jonny and Jackie
“Can you believe it?”

Fullerton, 65, will be a welcome edition to the Renwick backroom staff. Now all we need is a kit-man and we might get dry kits for a change! :-P

Jackie signs Jonny's glove
Jackie also took time out to sign Jonny’s glove, leaving the ever-present Renwick stopper with the dilemma of will he ever wash it again?

Related: Renwick complete Healy signing (nearly 2 years ago to the day! check out the comments! :D)

DURBAN (Tyrone Courier / SWS) And if that’s not enough news for you, with Renwick set to lose a number of key players for their vital clash with the Law Society on the 17th of December, club representatives last night flew out to Durban to try and secure the services of Renwick legend (well, just legend in general really), Walker “Wocca!” Walker on a one-game loan. Walker dramatically retired from football, rugby and Gary-baiting at the end of the 2006/07 season to get married, which he recently described as “really very pleasant”.

Wocca!

Comparisons are already being drawn between the proposed move and David Beckham’s forthcoming loan to AC Milan, however Renwick’s marketing manager has denied that it’s all about shirt sales, despite a recent surge in South African shirts in local JJBs and reports that Adidas have run out of number 6s.

Negotiations are ongoing, but rumours that Walker is demanding an extra R 24 Million (about Ł10) to turn out on his 24th birthday were said by a club source to be highly exaggerated.

Match report by Philip Dunwoody

RENWICK 7 BELFAST BIBLE COLEGE 3

– Coach hails one of the greatest performances
– McCavery and Johnston in the goals yet again

Another Mark McCavery hat-trick and a four goal haul for Andy Johnston made it five wins in a row this week for Renwick, with a well deserved, professional performance against old rivals Belfast Bible College. Whilst it would do the team a disservice to suggest that the score-line flattered us, BBC provided some stiff opposition for much of the game, but were ultimately outplayed by the RP outfit.
Yet again there were a few changes this week – if we ever play the same XI consecutively it will be a major achievement – mainly due to the fact that Phil and Mark got held up in court last week, prompting a desperate last minute reshuffle. Both players returned to their usual positions. Gavin Blackwell continued on the wing, this week the left, and Conor and Ian remained in the heart of midfield. Sean dropped to centre back, along with Andy Lynch, who was deputising for Steve McCollum, the latter returning from his one-night-in-Glasgow by way of an afternoon flight. Ben Hanna returned to left back. Andy Johnston made a welcome return upfront. Mr Robert Cromie refereed the first half.
Whilst the manager was visibly exacerbated [exasperated? or maybe Phil was already angry! – S] by pre-match tomfoolery (chuckle chuckle) [I blame Simon] the Renwick lads made an excellent start to the game, and gave BBC a few early scares. As I said, they are a good team, and previous encounters with them had yielded mixed results. They were unbeaten for a year, and had perhaps expected an easy match, and so were taken by surprise when they found themselves 2-0 down inside ten minutes. Gavin was causing early problems on the left flank, and from one of his spurts up the wing Mark took the ball to the by-line before crossing along the floor into the box. Phil couldn’t reach it but the cutback found AJ unmarked nine yards out, and with the ‘keeper stranded he comfortably smashed the ball into the net. Minutes later we doubled our lead; some good work in the middle by Ian allowed him to play a dangerous ball through the BBC back-four, which they failed to deal with, and Mark punished them with a great shot into the top left of the goal, again well beyond the ‘keeper’s reach.
All over the pitch Renwick were fighting for first and second balls and meeting BBC in the tackle. They were showing their ability as well however, and gave our relatively untried back four a few scares. Fortunately for us Jonny was on form, decisively coming off his line and getting his hands on any loose shots. Nevertheless, BBC pulled one back on twenty five minutes, when we only half cleared an attack, and their player hit a good shot from distance beyond Jonny. BBC continued to push forward, and after half an hour they were awarded a penalty when Sean was adjudged to haul down a striker. Their captain stepped up to deliver a cool finish into the bottom corner, and we were left ruing some missed opportunities at the other end and reminded that we still had work to do.
We tried to attack with a bit more urgency again, and had some good chances, particularly for Mark and AJ, who were working hard upfront. One such move resulted in a corner, which Phil swung in from the left. AJ met it at the far post with a great header into the top corner to restore our lead. We kept things tight and held our lead until half time, and the goal proved to be the turning point of the match.
Across the road, Steve had touched down smoothly, and was brought on for Ben, to restore some composure and leadership in the defence, with Andy Lynch moving to his more familiar left back berth. We had talked at half time of making a strong start, and we delivered, with everyone staying sharp and contesting the tackles again straight from the whistle. After ten or fifteen minutes we got the bonus of a two goal cushion. Phil was sent down the right wing with a clever flick from AJ, and delivered what can only be described as a David Beckham-esque cross (excuse my indulgence, but in light of last week’s free kick comments I feel I need to redeem myself!). Mark read it perfectly and met it on the volley to get his second of the game, and for the first time in the game it looked as though BBC heads had dropped slightly. Steelo came on shortly after this, in place of an un-well Ian Buchanan. Gav moved into the middle whilst Steelo went onto the left wing. Cromie Robert came on soon after in place of Gavin, and Renwick house-mate Peter Gillespie made his debut at right back, replacing Andy Mo, who can feel hard done by after yet another great performance. Thankfully the changes didn’t upset the balance too much. Another great piece of team passing resulted in our fifth goal: Andy Lynch tidied it up at the back, played it on to Conor at the halfway line, square ball to Phil, and a ball over the top for Mark to run in for his hat-trick. Shortly after AJ got his third after a swift counter-attack down the right involving Phil and the two strikers once again, which AJ finished in style! His fourth was another great team goal, with the midfield [as in Steelo – Ed] playing AJ through down the left, and the EP man putting it into the far corner from a narrow angle. Somewhere along the way BBC got a third, and did always look a threat going forward, but left themselves too much to do and looked a beaten side for much of the half.
It was a great team performance, and continues our unbeaten 2008-09 season. Most pleasing, players are getting more familiar with each other every week, and improving their games all the time. We should have plenty of confidence going into our future league matches if we can continue passing and tackling like we did this week. Thanks to Naomi and Kathryn for the support and pictures [well, it’s the thought that counts!], and let’s hope we can keep up the good work next week, when the opposition will be – Church of Ireland.

Team (4-4-2): J.McCollum – A.Morrison (P.Gillespie), S.Sorohan, A.Lynch, B.Hanna (S.McCollum) – P.Dunwoody (c), C.Hyndman, I.Buchanan (S.Steele), G.Blackwell (R.Cromie) – M.McCavery, A.Johnston

6 thoughts on “Renwick 7 BBC 3 – Fullerton signs up – Legend to return?

  1. Do the kits not get on too well with the tumble-dryer, then? =)

    Aw, what happened to the photos? Kathryn had some good ones!

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