CCK FC's impressive run of form was halted abruptly by AFC Falmer Falcons. A physical game on a difficult pitch ended in a 3-1 defeat.
The game started brightly for CCK, who were in confident mood ahead of the clash. They took an early lead with a spectacular strike from Mike Morrison. A headed clearance was chested by the tall midfielder who then unleashed a dipping left foot volley from thirty yards. the ball flew into the top corner leaving the keeper motionless. The goal seemed to shock the Falcons and CCK played some neat football. The pitch was awkwardly bobbly, having been cut up in recent weeks of wet weather, before a dry period solidified the uneven surface. As a result the ball was in the air frequently and controlling the ball was a nightmare. Tackles started flying in as the Falcons were clearly at an advantage with the less technical nature of the game. Unpunished tackles just encouraged their over-zealous challenges and the game followed that pattern. Kit Perkins making his CCK debut in goal, performed well to claim crosses and pull off routine saves maintaining the Badgers lead. That was until a lack of concentration in the defence allowed Jimmy Hunt to tap the ball past the Welsh stopper just before the break.
Entertainment was not really on the cards for the spectators of the game who had to watch a game with few chances, but too many refereeing inconsistencies. Dangerous tackles went unpunished while some legitimate ones were blown for. The unwillingness of the referee to stamp his authority on the game allowed Falmer to bully CCK out of the game. Danny meredith slammed home from the right side of the CCK box to give AFC the lead. Three substitutions later, none of them for injury reasons surprisingly considering the nature of AFC's tackles and nothing much changed. Dan Harnden was replaced by Nathan Wriglesworth, Tim Rose by Ben Tucker, and Doug Reid by Gary Walke. Dave Jones saw an effort go over the bar after good work from Josh Rumble-Brown, and Mike Morrison had effort go wide as CCK tried in vain the get back into the match. Their fate was sealed minutes from time, when slight hesitation and a breakdown in communication between the goalkeeper and centre back allowed Joey Edmonds to slide tackle the ball home.
CCK supporters were at the centre of some controversy at the final whistle as the match referee was involved in some heated discussions with several fans near the tunnel. The referee took offence to some comments and threatened to report the club for its failure to control their supporters. An allegation that has since been dropped. Tim Rose was keen to defend the conduct of the fans when he spoke with 5Live's Ian Green after the match, "CCK fans are the best in the world, they have supported the club through thick and thin. This episode is due to the fact that the ref had a bad game. He has a good reputation in this league, but he didn't seem to control the game well today, and the boys certainly felt their safety was not protected. The fans had every reason to be unhappy, and it is a bit unproffesional of a referee to single out fans for opinions they make of his performance. As for the game, it was an ugly one, with few chances. We are normally better than that, but lots of factors contributed to the loss today, mainly the pitch and the lack of protection from the referee I feel." Captain Dave Sewell also spoke with the media after the game, and he was keen to talk about the future, "This game has gone, we were a bit hard done by with some inconsistent decisions. It is tough to win games like that, when you feel like you are being kicked off the park. It's the late ones and off the ball ones which do your head in especially when the ref doesn't do anything about them. We can't dwell on the result. We lost, we need to get over that and move on. We are a quality side and need to keep playing good football if we are to finish high up the league." The next test for CCK comes against fierce rivals Ampito who narrowly beat the Badgers last time out.
