Due to injuries, work commitments and Geoff & Kats Wedding ( Congratulations ! ), it was a new look team that took to the field in this Centenary Cup First Round Tie at The Field of Dreams.
Many players lined up in unfamiliar positions and this was probably the main reason that we started slowly, with misplaced passes and incohesive team play.
However, we slowly managed to obtain a foothold on the game and began to create a few good chances.
Despite a few Rowfant attacks, countered by a couple of excellent saves from Dave Angell, Ben and Zaks pace were beginning to trouble the opposition defence.
Zak in particular was on the wrong end of a couple of robust challenges and it was one of these particularly reckless tackles that led to the games most controversial moments.
Chambers was crudely tackled just outside the area and the referee played an advantage which led to nothing. It seemed as though he was letting the foul go unpunished which infuriated our keeper, Dave Angell, who shouted ' What the f*** was that ref?'
The referee stopped play and summoned Angell to see him while Zak was receiving treatment.
Then to the amazement of players from both sides, he showed Dave a red card for foul and abusive language. He also evened things up by giving Rowfants defender a straight red too.
Surely a bit more common sense and a couple of yellows would have sufficed.
We rearranged by putting Bricey in goal and playing 3 at the back and the half ended goalless.
We began the second half the brighter of the two teams and following good work from Dan Jones on the left, the ball was knocked back to Joe Kinton, who beat his man and rolled the ball sideways for Dave Fisher to sidefoot the ball home expertly from the edge of the box. 1-0
Rowfant attempted to get back into the game but solid defensive work from Dom Henly and a couple of good saves from Bricey, including a one on one with Rowfants nippy striker, kept them at bay.
With a new found belief, we began to knock the ball around and started to impose our authority on the game, creating further chances.
Then in the 62nd minute, Jonesey provided a great cross to the far post that was knocked back across goal by Adam Parton for the lurking Ben Whales who finished from close range. 2-0
' Dolly ' then inexplicably managed to head over a goalbound effort from underneath the crossbar which made Torres miss at Old Trafford last week look difficult!
Chambers then seized on a defensive mistake and fed Whales who used his pace to get away from the defence before finishing superbly into the corner of the net. 3-0
Game over. The final 20 minutes were played out with PG keeping possession and concentrating on not making any defensive mistakes. Whales had a decent chance for his hatrick but just put his effort wide of the post.
Stand-in manager Andy Whibley was delighted with the result and the performance of the team but awarded the Man of the Match award to Zak Chambers. Despite suffering foul after foul, he never gave up and was a constant threat.
Well played everyone. On the Green!
