Written by Zach Keenan, Monday 19th September 2011.
On Saturday 17th September, St. Andrew’s slipped to a first league defeat of the season at the hands of a tireless Clean Slate side. However playing against twelve men has always been St. Andrew’s weaker foot! In a closely fought and exciting game, no side ever led by more than one goal with a dramatic winner being scored in the 90th minute.
With St. Andrew’s still warming their way into the game, they conceded on 3 minutes, after a lucky break for the home side. However they soon equalised after an Andy Malliff corner found its way to the back of the net, after a better spell for the away side. Nevertheless, as would become the pattern in this game, Clean Slate again went in front after a loose ball in the St. Andrew’s ricocheted of a defender and fell kindly for the home side’s striker to tuck it away. After some appalling offside decisions given against St. Andrew’s by a referee and linesman who were behind the play and defensive line, saw them miss out on a host of goal scoring opportunities. Once again however, St. Andrew’s equalised, this time through Matt Sears after he was sent through by 17 year old wonder-kid Zach Keenan. As the see-saw effect continued there was a goal from the Milton Keynes side and from Scott Chapman before the break, a tidy finish, summarising an impressive performance in the striker’s rich vein of form.
The second half should have seen a red card for the Clean Slate centre back, who went in high on Josh Caine with studs showing, but once again the terrible positioning of the referee meant he could not make the right decision. And with official’s decisions being widely but justly disputed, there were rumoured to be chants of “Are you Xavi in disguise?” from the crowd, as he continued to dictate play. However the readjustment of Dave Sheppard to anchor man and Andy Malliff to the wing at half-time, showed in the 55th minute, as Malliff converted Hugh Lynch’s cross with a well-excuted volley at the far post. St. Andrew’s lead for the first time in the game.
As the game continued, Josh Caine at centre back put in timely and valuable defensive work as St. Andrew’s sought to hold on to their lead, but in the 65th minute midfielder Keenan missed his challenge in the box, and Clean Slate equalised from close range. Keenan was then replaced by Watkins as St. Andrew’s sought a winner. In the 70th minute, controversy struck again as Clean Slate were awarded a penalty after their striker went to the ground before contact was made in the box. The referee felt that he could clearly see the incident better than the linesman despite being positioned on the halfway line. The striker stepped up to lash the penalty home, giving goalkeeper Lee Bowles no chance. Once again decisions had favoured the home side, but that should not take credit away from their performance. St. Andrew’s refused to lie down and Matt Sears raced into the box to connect with Scott Chapman’s ball to score his second of the game, an impressive season opener for the striker. But in the end, St. Andrew’s couldn’t not prevent Clean Slate’s 90th minute winner as a lapse in concentration saw clean Slate score from a free kick into the box. The result could have been different on another day but Clean Slate were good value for their win, with an admirable performance, but in the end, this game was decided by the Official.
