Roy of the Rovers – Return to Glory?

Part 5

* * *

Roy Race shook the hand of every one of his players and backroom staff, as well as the officials and Melboro’ players, before turning swiftly down the tunnel and into the visiting dressing room. A derby defeat was always hard to take, but this time Roy was angry, some of his players were not pulling their weight, some had given up, seemingly consigned themselves to relegation already. That was not on, Roy may have changed the traditional Rovers tactics, but his past Melchester teams could never be accused of not giving their all, there were no excuses.

Roy tore into them, highlighting individuals, “Cleary! You let N’Diaye have far too much space, you’ve got to work harder to track back after out attacks break down. You must never jog, if I see you jog on that pitch again, you’ll never play for this club again!” Roy did not usually take this approach, but he had never really needed to before, even his more difficult players, ‘Superbrat’ Vic Guthrie or Mozzie Mostin, no-one could ever question their commitment to the cause.

“Jacobs, you’re a winger, play like one! Run at your man, hit the line, cross the ruddy ball!” Roy went on, “Dickson, I know I told you to be the target man, but you’ve got to offer more. Try closing down the defenders. You let Johnny White play the ball out too many times, twice is too often. Don’t ever rely on Lyons or any other team-mate to do your running for you!” Roy stepped back and looked slowly around the dressing room, “It is a privilege to play for Melchester Rovers, there are millions of others who dream of doing just that! If you are not willing to work hard for this club, then I will find people who will!”

In a calmer manner Roy concluded, “Day off tomorrow, then in on Monday, we’ll be preparing for the F.A. Cup Quarter-Final against Ramsden. They’ve pulled off some shocks already this season, but they won’t be surprising us, like they did Kelburn and Weston Villa. In a month’s time Melchester Rovers will be back at Wembley in the Semi-Finals of the F.A. Cup!” Roy left, to conduct his post match interviews, a part of the job he certainly had not missed.

Assistant manager Geoff Giles, was livid, he had captained Melboro’ after leaving Rovers in 1980/81, in the same season as the only relegation of Roy Race’s career and lowest point. Giles understood the rivalry more than any other, even Roy. “I expect better than that!” the fiery former England midfielder continued, “I have never seen a derby performance so devoid of energy and aggression. Not one of you put in a tough tackle, you let Melboro’ bully you. “

He continued, “Now listen hard - Roy’s right about Ramsden, they have caused some shocks, but we’re determined that won’t happen again. But if you play like that again, even against League One opposition, we will lose! Do you want to go down and be a giant-killing victim all in one season? Or do you want to fight for your lives and play at Wembley Stadium? Show me, show the boss, and in training on Monday, I will see some fight, believe me!”

Jake Cheetham, the youngest captain of Melchester Rovers since Roy Race, had had a quiet game and was never particularly vocal in the dressing room, but he felt like he should speak up now. “Drew, shall I say something?” he asked his best friend and midfield partner, “Dunno, boyo, it’s up to you.” Cheetham unlaced his boots and rolled off his socks, thinking. He thought about Roy Race and how he had coped with so much pressure and expectation during his career. He looked at Powell again for some support, “I think I’ll leave it today,” he said shaking his head slowly.

* * *

Training under Roy Race was never particularly complicated or groundbreaking, for the players this was a refreshing change. Derek Mostin was known as one of the leading coaches in innovative

methods around, it was why Vernon Eliot had originally hired him. Unfortunately for Melchester Rovers, Mostin’s style and training sessions were not entirely suited to a team in the middle of a relegation scrap.

Roy Race and his long-time coaching partner, Mervyn Wallace, kept things simple. Their core belief was clear; preparation and replication; prepare for the opponent and imitate their game. Therefore the chances of being surprised during the match were greatly reduced. In the 70s and 80s Roy was ahead of his time. His vast collection of video tapes provided everything he needed to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition. Training would then focus on dealing with the strengths and exploiting the weaknesses.

This morning Roy would introduce the Rovers to Ramsden Athletic’s typical game plan. Ramsden were unusual, for a League One side they played a tidy passing game, balanced neatly with two big battering ram centre-forwards. They could keep the ball for long periods and dominate possession even against superior sides, as was shown in the upsets at Kelburn and Weston Villa. This could lead to frustration and excessive pressing, causing the midfield to lose shape. But it was Ramsden’s swift ability to switch from a deep possession based game to direct aerial attacks that had shocked the Premier League sides earlier in the competition.

Both strikers stood over six feet four, were heavy and strong, but surprisingly quick for such big men. They lacked stamina and technique, but were certainly more than a handful for even experienced international Premier League defenders. Kelburn had the meanest defence of any Premier League side, but Ramsden had scored four times in West London; a remarkable feat.

So Roy and Mervyn set about replicating this unique style. As the two tallest and burliest members of the Rovers squad, Mike Burgess and Kelvin Dickson would play the parts of Jack Balance and Johnny Mitson. Roy instructed Lyons, Cheetham and Powell to press only in twos, if they could not press with a partner they were to hold their positions and allow the opponent to pass sideways across the pitch. This would be allowed until the midfield had regained shape, then high-tempo pressing would begin. It was at this point that the ball would be launched long towards either of the strikers. The exercise was repeated again and again, with many different results. The aim was not to do it correctly, but simply become accustomed to the style of attack that they would be facing that weekend.

The second part of the Race/Wallace training style involved attacking play. Ramsden played a simple, but narrow, 4-4-2, the full-backs rarely ventured forward, the defensive pattern was closer to playing four centre-halves. Quick and decisive wing-play would surely unlock the immobile Ramsden defence. Against Melboro’ Piedra and Cleary had been exposed on the counter-attack, but versus supposedly inferior opponents this would not happen. Roy insisted that the full-backs overlap at every opportunity, get towards the goaline and cross the ball behind the defensive line. Lyons and Dickson were both sharp in the box, so this attacking method would create untold chances.

Again the first-team repeated the exercise, mixing early crosses with those from overlapped positions. The key was the direction of the cross, too deep or on a diagonal and the big defenders would smother Lyons and outnumber Dickson. All four wide men repeated Roy’s instructions until the great man was satisfied, “That will do for today, well played and see you tomorrow!”

* * *

Ramsden Athletic's fairytale run was brought to an end as Melchester Rovers sealed an emotional Wembley return for Roy Race.

A Kelvin Dickson header and deflected Declan McKaffree shot in the opening nine minutes set the Premier League side on the way to a comfortable quarter-final win. Ramsden's Fabio Miranda was sent off for a high challenge on 63 minutes and Richie Lyons scored Melchester's third shortly after with a neat low finish.

Rovers will face FA Cup holders Portdean at Wembley on 18 or 19 April.

Melchester took control straight from the first whistle, hardly giving Ramsden a kick in the first five minutes. Dickson gave them an ideal start, rising to score with a near-post header from Drew Powell's sixth-minute corner.

The impressive McKaffree – Clearly enjoying the management of his father-in-law - doubled the lead three minutes later with Bobby Lake's side still attempting to regroup. The winger cut in from the right to beat keeper Will Benjamin from just inside the area with a shot that took a big looping deflection off Alan Foyer.

A fine save from Benjamin prevented Melchester's Harry Jacobs from adding a long-range third before half-time.

League One Ramsden, who made six changes to the side that drew with Farndon on Tuesday, retained hope of a second-half comeback, after recovering from two goals down in round four to beat Kelburn 4-2 in West London in one of the competition's greatest-ever shocks. But the tired-looking Latics never appeared capable of a repeat of their heroics, which had also seen them knock out Premier League Blackport Rovers and Championship side Norboro’ during a memorable run.

Their task was made even harder when Miranda was harshly shown a straight red card for a high challenge on Jake Cheetham - the Portuguese winger's foot connecting with the Rovers captain's midriff as they contested a high ball.

Melchester, who retained the same starting eleven from the derby defeat by Melboro’, pressed home their numerical advantage, Cheetham releasing Lyons to fire past an exposed Benjamin.

Home fans celebrated on the pitch after the final whistle, having had time to savour the success in a one-sided contest. Ramsden were left with the consolation of £180,000 prize money for reaching the last eight. They will bid to end the season on a high by winning promotion to the Championship, with Melchester still needing wins in their battle against relegation.

Melchester Rovers manager Roy Rovers told BIG Sport: "It's a long time since I've been to Wembley, but before that we've got some important games in the league. We need to get some points. It's another big day for a club that's not had enough in recent years. Everyone connected with the club thought we'd be challenging at the top of the Premier League. That's not happened for whatever reason and we'll hopefully avoid relegation and be more competitive next season. The players are delighted but I don't know if there'll be too many celebrations at this stage."

Ramsden manager Bobby Lake told BIG Sport: "We got off to a bad start and it was difficult to come back from that. We gave them a huge lift and they deservedly went through. Our players have to be immensely proud of what we've achieved this season. We have to take this through to the last 11 games in the league to see what we can achieve. We just couldn't get going after that start we made, and the sending off didn't help us. After that, it was damage limitation."

Next – The MLS season is underway and Rovers continue their relegation battle

Storky Knight