GRAPPED BY THE BALLS!
...Or were we? First defeat at The Sewerage Works, The Stadium of Shite, but not so much grapped by the balls, but beaten by Grappenhall Sports.
After winning the toss Barnstoneworth opted to play from the Copse End and take full advantage of the slight down hill and the wind, and it paid off. A great ball into the box 20 minutes into the game saw Stevie Echo with his back to goal chip the keeper at close range to take Barnstoneworth into the lead. Continual pressure from Barnstoneworth and 10 minutes later Stevie Echo prematurely celebrated his second goal only to find that when he’d turned around his shot had spun off the right hand post and hadn’t crossed the line. Later in the first half Wakey hit a great ball in which hit the cross bar and to be fair Barnstoneworth should have been at least 3-0 up before half time, but failed to convert their chances. And Grappenhall weren’t without theirs, but were continually denied by Stan, “The Cat”, and MOM who read Grappnehall’s game perfectly. The back four held pretty firm, but Grappenhall did break through on the right wing and put a superb cross in which would have been a sure goal if it hadn’t been for Big Phil who launched himself horizontally 4 foot in the air to intercept, a bit like John Terry’s dive in front of the ball against Slovenia in the World Cup, but only feet first.
With Barnstoneworth in the lead 1-0, the 2nd half kicked off with wind and rain. On came Fitzy, Mal and Toddy and Grappenhall put on the pressure from the off and holes started to appear in mid field forcing Jono to drop deeper. Grappenhall took advantage and forced an equaliser which "The Cat" was too small to stop followed by a header 15 minutes later to take the lead 2-1. Then the game took a bit of a more serious turn with Grappenhall putting in a few choice tackles which resulted in a red card. Despite being down to 10 men Grappenhall continued to attack Barnstoneworth and forced an absolutely fantastic goal line shot stopper from Sir Cuthbert who has now been given land in the South of England to go with his title. Then on came Pete the Toe who within 5 minutes dirtied in his box and gave away a penalty which Grappenhall duly sent "The Cat" the wrong way to take the game to 3-1. Pete is now on the FREE transfer list!!!
Despite the set back, Barnstoneworth battled on against the wind and rain and 10 minutes later were awarded a penalty for hand ball. Stevie Echo stepped up and drove the ball to the left forcing the keeper to make a great save. However, and not for the first time, the penalty had to be retaken for encroachment into the box. Echo stepped up, and again the keeper went the right way and saved again, but was powerless to stop the rebound.
With the game at 3-2 Barnstoneworth had a draw in their sights which would have been a fair reflection of the game, but unfortunately Big Phil was substituted for Robbo, who after watching Pete soil himself in the box decided to take out their striker with a very well timed professional foul and take one for the team. A red card offence or what!!! But Robbo said to the ref that yellow was his favourite colour and was lucky enough not to have been sent off. "The Cat" poised and ready for the penalty save was unfortunately sent the wrong way, and with not enough time to claw back the margin the game finished Barnstoneworth 2, Grappenhall 4.
Although this was Barnstoneworth's 2nd only league game we were certainly not grapped by the balls and only just beaten by Grappenhall Sports.
Beers, curry and chips were consumed in The Pen after the game whilst watching Liverpool get beaten by United and Pete the Toe went on to dirty himself again by winning the £10 scratch card! Two injuries to report - Echo with a ballooned ankle and Croucher with a pulled calf.
