The 1st XI put in a steady shift in their first friendly against their old friends at Chiddingfold FC today. Two well taken early goals from Ben Kennett and Ryan Moore put the Ruts in to a comfortable 2 – 0 interval lead with OR’s keeper Ed Cornwell rarely tested.
Club leg-end Lee ‘Trigger’ Poulter notched a deft 3rd goal for the Ruts in the second half which enabled him to join the elite ‘200 Goals for the Club’ team. A great achievement, well done Trig what took you so long? 18 seasons!?
25th July: Inter Club Match. 2-00pm KO. Prince Georges
1st Aug: Away v Chiddingfold.KO TBC.
8th Aug: 1st team v Raynes Park. 1-30pm KO. Prince Georges.
8th Aug: 2nd team v Sutton High. 3-30pm KO. Prince Georges
15th Aug: Away 2 games v Woking & Horsell. KO.TBC.
22nd Aug: Away 2 games v Merton.KO TBC. Joseph Hood
29th Aug:1st team v Shaftsbury Town. KO. 2-00pm. Prince Georges
29th Aug:2nd team v Shaftsbury Tn Res. KO. 2-00pm. Prince Georges.
Club Coach Marc Skinner is running extra Training Sessions on the next 2 x Saturday’s 11th and 18th of July. All Players are encouraged to attend and should make the effort to do so if possible.
Showering facilities and refreshments will be available back at the Old Ruts Ranch afterwards.
We are pleased to inform you that Training will commence with our new Club Coach Mark Skinner on Tuesday the 7th of July at 7.00pm sharp. The venue for Pre-season training will be Joseph Hood Recreation Ground, Martin Way, London, SW20 9BU
New players of a Senior or Intermediate standard are welcome to join us and are encouraged to contact our 1st XI Manager Jim Boxall on 07738 057914 or Club Coach Marc Skinner on 07984 437748 for further details.
We have excellent private playing facilities with a truly superb newly refurbished Clubhouse at the Old Rutlishians Association, Poplar Road, Merton Park, SW19 3JS.
Please note that we are a PAY TO PLAY Club and therefore Signing on Fees and Match subs are payable to the Club.
Sunday 13th April 2003, Poplar Road
Scorers: Old Ruts – Jimmy Wilkes (2), Lee Poulter (2), Jones Bamfo
AFC Wimbledon – Glen Mulcaire
Attendance: 550
Old Rutlishians won a proverbial game of two halves in a Charity Match against an AFC Wimbledon XI on Sunday 13th April.
A crowd of 550 including the Mayor of Merton flocked to Old Rutlishians’ ground in Merton Park to witness an Old Ruts Past XI beat an AFC Wimbledon XI 2-1 in a lighthearted first half. AFC’s team included manager Terry Eames, his assistant Nicky English, Commercial Manager Ivor Heller and a number of backroom staff.
The emphasis was very much on fun as the crowd lapped up the beautiful weather and watched Glen ‘Trigger’ Mulcaire open the scoring for AFC before Old Ruts hit back with two strikes from Jimmy Wilkes.
AFC’s new signing Peter Smith made his debut and the former Shelbourne player (who appeared recently on ITV’s ‘Popstars: The Rivals’) impressed with some good touches.
The second half was more serious as the Old Ruts first team took to the field against a much stronger AFC Wimbledon XI. Aided by a guest appearance from ex-Chelsea and Spurs star Jason Cundy the Ruts scored three times without reply through Lee Poulter (2) and Jones Bamfo.
But the scoreline was almost irrelevant as the most important result of the day was that £7,000 was raised for the Hedley Atkins Ward at Guy’s Hospital. This is the charity chosen by Old Rut David Murphy who sadly lost his wife Nikki to cancer in December 2002 at the age of 33.
“This has been a truly fantastic day,” said Murphy, who earlier led the teams onto the pitch with his three-year-old daughter Niamh as mascot. “I would like to thank the Mayor of Merton and the players, staff and fans of AFC Wimbledon and Old Ruts for supporting this worthwhile cause. And of course to the many Old Ruts who helped organise and staff the event.”
Old Ruts (first half) – David Williams, Lee Caffell, Graham Larcombe, Jeremy Capper, Iain Worley, Howard Meredith, David Morris, Simon Hithersay, James Wilkes, David Murphy (captain), Darren Knott. Subs: Steve Rowlands, Scott Hawley, Danny Poulter, Nigel Watford.
(second half) – Roland Heal, Matt Coulson, Philippe Rivet, Alan Whiter, Jason Cundy, David Cundy, Steve Nicola, Phil Rea (captain), Lee Poulter, David Murphy, Leon Trowbridge. Subs: Iain Worley, Jones Bamfo, Che White.
Manager – Graham Clayton
AFC Wimbledon squad – Dennis Lowndes, Marc Jones, Brendan Farrell, John Egan, Glen Mulcaire, Peter Smith, Ally Russell, Neil Robson, Ivor Heller (captain), Nicky English, Ray Merry, Matt Lowndes, Daniel
Couch, David Fry, Chris Philips, Terry Eames.
Our AGM is in the Memorial Lounge at the Clubhouse on Friday the 29th May. 7.45pm.
We need to elect your Committee and Managers for the new 2015/16 Season and look forward to planning a successful future with you.
Old Rutlishians ‘A’ 2-1 Weston Green
Surrey Lower Junior Cup Final
Monday 9th May 2005 at Molesey FC
Team: Stuart Bedford, Craig Lyle, Graham Winter (c), Piers Capper (Simon Hithersay), Tom Hughes, Simon Minihane, Steve Rowlands, Steve Nicola, Russell Nixon, Erol Yilmaz (Darren Knott), James Fenton Unused subs: Danny Poulter, Matt Payne, Pete Day
Manager: Erol Yilmaz Assistant Manager: Roland Heal
Scorers: Erol Yilmaz (20 mins), Simon Minihane (87 mins)
By Steve Nicola
Old Rutlishians ‘A’ showed tremendous character and desire to battle back from a goal down and win the Surrey Lower Junior Cup.
Erol Yilmaz’s troops were determined to become the first Ruts side to win a Surrey Cup but they got off to a terrible start when a mis-hit cross deceived keeper Stuart Bedford and flew into the net after just five minutes.
Weston Green naturally had their tails up and had a couple of half chances to add a second as they rained crosses into the Ruts penalty area.
Teams with less self belief and heart than the Ruts would’ve folded but they soon put the goal out of their minds and got to grips with their task, matching their physically superior opponents with as much gusto as they could muster as they fought and battled for every ball.
They came close to levelling when Piers Capper connected well with a volley from a corner but his effort flew wide and then Steve Rowlands almost scored with a clever header.
James Fenton was playing as a lone striker and his hard work and non-stop running gave the Weston back line a torrid time and the Ruts a good outlet. On 20 minutes he ran at the defence before slipping a clever square pass to Yilmaz who drew the keeper and slotted home the equaliser.
The game was back in the melting pot and on a rock hard pitch impossible to play attractive football on it was going to come down to who wanted it most.
The Ruts were now in the ascendency but their plans took a hit when Yilmaz was the recipient of a diabolical challenge which fractured his ankle. Darren Knott was an able replacement however and almost scored with his first touch when he hit a left foot volley over.
Moments before the break the Ruts had a glorious chance. Knott played a ball to Fenton who allowed it to run onto Steve Nicola on the edge of the area. He cut onto his right and played a superb pass across the six yard box for a lunging Fenton who was inches away from connecting and surely giving the Ruts a halftime lead.
The second period followed the same pattern as the first as every tackle was keenly contested and a few tasty challenges were being meted out by both sides. The ref was strict but fair and generally did well in testing conditions as both sets of players queried every decision vehemently.
Ruts centre back Tom Hughes had to be alert to clear off the line before Weston had their best chance of the match when their striker found himself clean through only to shoot over the bar when he should’ve at least tested Bedford.
The Ruts had opportunities too as Fenton and Russell Nixon shot wide before Nicola struck a low drive which the keeper kept out.
However this tight game turned on 70 minutes when a Weston player stamped on Hughes and was shown the red card. Despite the extra man and space the Ruts found it hard to break down Weston until the 87th minute. Rowlands – who was rock solid in central midfield before moving into the back four – played the ball up the left wing to Knott in acres of space. He cut onto his right foot and floated a wonderful cross to the back post where Minihane arrived just ahead of Fenton to nod home for 2-1 and send the Ruts players and supporters wild.
By now the wise old head of Simon Hithersay was on the pitch and he played a crucial part in organising the Ruts as Weston threw everyone forward. Unfortunately Weston lost their discipline and had a man sent off for kicking the ball at the Ruts dugout in an incident in which Ruts sub Matt Payne also saw red for his angry reaction.
And in the dying moments of the seven minutes injury time another Weston player got his marching orders as the ref finally lost patience with his persistent moaning.
The Ruts came through the nervy closing stages unscathed though to claim a famous victory that owed everything to character, determination and an excellent team spirit that has earnt them a deserved place in Old Ruts history.
Our vets player Ed is raising money for Mind and the NSPCC by taking part in 2015 Virgin Money London Marathon. Please sponsor Ed at http://www.virginmoneygiving.com/EdReynolds
HSBC 1 v 2 Old Ruts Vets
Where do we start? We all saw Charlie Adams goal last week……well the game was poised at nil all when the ball fell to Lines (R) a yard inside the oppo’s half and BANG on the half volley flying over the stranded keeper into the back of the net to put the Ruts one up.
With the wind against in the second half the Ruts actually created more chances but couldn’t convert. We were punished for the misses when HSBC broke the defence down the wing and crossed for a tap in to equalise the game. The Ruts dug deep and continued to make chances and with 5 left a nice one two with Murphy/Lines allowed Murphy to bundle home a winner.
It was a satisfiying solid performance espically from the back four, on a big pitch, world cup willy goalies and with only one sub and multiple drop outs it was a nice way to end the season.
Old Ruts Football Club 