For the purists who love a ‘football pun’ they would have been delighted with this classic ‘game of two halves’ as Villa surged into a 3-0 half time lead only to be followed by a woeful second half performance where they were lucky to escape with a point.
Following the previous weeks exertions against Valley Green where a hardworking shift throughout the 90 minutes earned 3 points, Villas lads looked out on their feet in the second half as Bell surged forward time and time again which the home team struggled to cope with. True, Villa were missing the energy and pace of the previous weeks star men in Matt Davies and Darrren Douglas, but it wasn’t enough to save Villa from a few stern words on 90 minutes from the manager.
Those words looked to be a million miles away as Villa took an early lead in the 7th minute with Tris Woolfenden netting his first of the season latching on to a Wayne Pike through ball. The Villa man twisting and turning in the box before lashing the ball in off the Bell keepers left hand post.
On 2o minutes Woolfenden doubled his and his teams tally with a virtual carbon copy finish this time finishing after Cracknell had done well to set his strike partner up. 9 minutes later it looked to be game over when Scott Collins scored with what is becoming a trade mark strike this season from the edge of the box. Cracknell again adding another assist as Collins rifled shot flew straight through the Bell keeper. Then the wheels fell off !
The team knew they hadn’t played well as they possibly could and that there was room for improvement, their words to each other as they left the field confirmed this, which pleased the manager. The following 45 minutes however did not.
Bell got a footing back in the game following a catalogue of errors from virtually every single Villa man in their own penalty error. A harmless looking ball into the box caused panic with Villa men swinging legs in all directions with no one getting the ball anywhere. As the ball fell kindly to Bell danger man Matt Knowles he coolly rolled the ball past the helpless Woolfenden in the Villa goal.
With that goal coming on 58 minutes, 7 minutes later the score was reduced further as a long hopeful clearance fell kindly to Ellis Carter whose pace was far too much for the only covering defender Wayne Pike. Leaving the Villa man for dead and no other defenders giving chase Carter finished in style leaving the Villa keeper helpless again.
It was now backs to the walls as Bell were running riot, defenders were coming out with the ball unchallenged, midfielders were picking balls up from deep and evading countless challenges, sometimes 3 and 4 at a time. The managers team talk of not giving away cheap free kicks had long gone out of the window as desperate lunges were giving Bell countless set pieces and the chance to load long balls into the Villa box.
Bell thought they had equalised on 80 minutes but the goal was correctly chalked off as Woolfenden had the ball kicked out of his grasp when going down at a Bell forwards feet.
With 90 minutes up on the clock it looked as if Villa had got out of jail but the referee had other ideas by adding a further 5 minutes of injury time. With neither physio having entered the field of play it was hard to understand where he had found it from. Bell players were accusing the Villa team of timewasting and that this was where the time had come from, although it could be said Villa were trying to slow the game down they certainly had not done so by 5 minutes. It was to be the crucial 5th minute of this time that proved costly.
Villas serious lack of communication played a big part as Knowles escaped any form of marking down the left hand side and finding himself in acres of space his cross into the 6 yard box caused danger. In what was now a lottery as to who would get a touch, a Bell player found the winning ticket with the faintest of touches taking a deflection off of a Villa defender. The ball agonisingly left Woolfenden wrong footed and for all his efforts he could not stop the ball crossing the line for what was a deserved equaliser for the away team.
Villa had not troubled the Bell keeper at all in the second half but they had the final effort of the game when Tris Woolfenden flicked on a Scott Collins freekick into the path of Dave Cornwell. The linesman however correctly ruled the Villa full back was offside but even then the Bell keeper wasn’t troubled as Cornwell could only managed a scuffed effort. Within a few seconds the referee ended the game much to the relief of all those in Orange who had escaped with a point.
