It was less Nightmare on Elm Street and more bad dream in Bingley for The Revs on Halloween night. The headlines are that the goal drought continues, but the effort on the pitch cannot be faulted.
Pathetic Athletic are one of the top teams in the league and The Revs pushed them all the way. So on trick or treat night it ended up been trick for the boys in blue. However, it was more down to the fact that The Revs mistakes were punished whereas Pathetic’s mistakes were not capitalised on. Pathetic were much more clinical.
The first half was the busier of the halves for Steane in goal, pulling off a brilliant double save to deny the opposition the lead, with The Revs on the back foot straight away from kick off. However going forward The Revs also looked dangerous with some brilliant link up play.
L. Evans gave the ball away that lead to the first goal and Allen lost his marker for the second, but as I said, blips that Pathetic capitalised on. It was still clear that the two teams were evenly matched with The Revs defence brilliant for 95% of the game.
L. Evans had his now customary long range effort that sailed out on the full and landed some ten minutes later, but that was the story from everyone in front of goal. A little composure missing at times, snatching at shots or snuffed out by the keeper who produced a number of good saves.
The best passage of play came in the second half with Allen, Tyman and Beardall linking up but seeing Beardall’s shot palmed away for a corner. The Revs very much shaded the second half but could not find that break through.
L. Evans, with a few games under his belt, was finally starting to make a difference defending from the front and generally causing problems for the opposition. Beardall’s passing range was also key as he unlocked the defence on several occasions.
Unfortunately, as The Revs pressed for a way into the game, the opposition broke on the counter and D. Pinkstone nicked the ball only to see the rebound fall into the path of the attacker who smashed the ball into the far bottom corner to make it 3.
The Revs did get the ball in the net with a cool finish from J. Evans but the ref disallowed it after L. Evans slid into a tackle after nutmegging an opposition player. Them are the breaks as they say!
So 3-0, a harsh score line considering the effort that went into the game, but The Revs still pushed on forcing the opposition into scrappy defending at times. J. Evans had a turn and shot that the keeper got down well to and D. Pinkstone went through and was snuffed out by the keeper. Who, in all honesty, wasn’t tested enough. The opportunities were there.
And so the run of poor results continues as The Revs end the first half of the season. Recent form has been demoralising but taking the positives it is still a massive improvement on the first half of last season. Everything is there for The Revs to make an impact bar the finishing touch.
We keep going, into the second half of the season, knowing that if the effort remains high the results will come.
