06/02/11: The Victory Club (0) v (3) Chaplins FC
Scorers: None
Team: Swan (GK), Lewis (Rodgers), Hudson, Bunyan, M. Dryden, Collins, Lamb (c), Mountford (Fisher), Jackson (Stores), Harding, Smiles
Unused Subs: Robson
Yellows: None
Reds: Collins
The Victory Club slipped to a first league defeat in 2011 as they were beaten 3-0 by Chaplins FC in a game that will not live too long in the memory
Heavy rain for a couple of days leading up to the game had threatened the playing of the fixture but referee, John McDowell, turned up and seemed undeterred by the monsoon like conditions and passed the pitch as playable – no doubt thinking that only receipt of his full match fee would have been a good enough reason to be outside in that weather. It was a borderline call and one which some other referees would have seen differently. The players were all quite happy not to see their early morning wake up to be in vain and got ready to get it on.
Lee Hermiston elected to persevere with the 4-2-3-1 formation but made three personnel changes. Lewis Swan just about passed a late fitness on his ankle and replaced Alex Rodgers, who was to arrive late after spending the night in Carlisle, in goal. Skipper, Greg Davison, was also absent attending what seemed to be his tenth christening of the season, meaning a defensive reshuffle was required. Regular right back, Nathan Hudson, was pushed into the centre alongside ever present, Paul Bunyan, while Jonathon Lewis dropped back from midfield to fill in at full back. This all meant a midfield replacement was needed and that came in the shape of Steve Jackson, who had overcome the effects of a tight hamstring.
Both teams struggled in the early stages although most of that was down to the pitch which even before the game kicked off was clearly not going to suit flowing passing football.
Chaplins almost took the lead just after the ten minute mark but their forward, who had done well to work himself half a yard, could only fire the ball wide of the target.
A couple of minutes later and Chaplins really ought to have gone ahead. A ball was crossed in from the left wing and found a player ten yards out from goal. He diverted the ball forward first time but to his horror just as the ball was about to cross the line it got stuck in the mud and this allowed Swan to dive on the ball and prevent it from going in.
The Victory were leading a charmed life and they had another stroke of luck on sixteen minutes when the referee deemed a header from a Chaplins player not to have crossed the line before Swan clawed it out. Replays were inconclusive partly due to Mark Dryden’s big frame obstructing the cameras view but from the referees position outside the box he could be unsure so probably made the right call.
As the first half reached its midway point, Hermiston was forced into making his first substitution as Simon Mountford limped off and was replaced by Chris Fisher.
With twenty five minutes gone, Chaplins pressure finally paid off but the Victory had only themselves to blame for going behind. A sloppy attempted back pass from Anth Collins put the Chaplins forward through on goal and this time he was not to be denied, stroking a shot past the oncoming Swan and into the bottom left hand corner of the net.
The Victory tried to respond and put together their best moment of the game so far when Jackson’s through ball put James Smiles clear. However, his fierce shot was well tipped over the bar by the keeper.
The remainder of the first half was played out in the middle of the pitch with both goalkeepers not required to get their gloves any dirtier than they already were.
As the whistle went to signify the end of the first half, the Victory were still very much in the contest and having seen out the early storm it was a shame that in the end they gifted their opposition such a soft goal. Injured midfielder, Scott Hunter, attempted to rally his team-mates at the half time interval encouraging them to have more shots and test the Chaplins keeper, who had been a virtual spectator up to this point, out a bit more. As much as the advice was helpful it was a bit rich coming from Hunter who has managed only one goal in the 881 minutes he has been on the field so far this season and that was a flukey cross which sailed in against Billingham.
The second began how the first half ended with both teams struggling on the heavy pitch to put any move of note together. Swan was forced into a couple of comfortable saves from distance and that was about it.
Injury struck again ten minutes into the second half as this time Jonny Lewis was forced to come off. Alex Rodgers, who had only arrived midway through the first half, was sent on in his place.
Just before the hour mark and the game sprang back into life as Chaplins went 2-0 ahead. The Victory failed to clear a corner properly and the loose ball was stabbed goal wards by a Chaplins player. On route to goal the ball deflected off Rodgers, which only succeeded in taking it out of Swan’s reach and into the back of the net. Once again the Victory had conceded a goal from a set piece.
Moments after the concession of the goal and things became an awful lot harder for the men in red as Anth Collins was given his marching orders. A Chaplins player had the ball on right on their touchline just inside his own half when Collins charged across and slid into a tackle. The Victory player missed the ball and caught the opposition player which sent the Chaplins touchline up in arms. Referee, McDowell, sprinted over and immediately brandished the red card. While there can be no question that it was a foul everyone, including people associated with Chaplins, were surprised when the referee deemed it to be a sending off offence and not just a booking. Was the referee influenced by the fact the incident happened right in front of the Chaplins touchline – only he will know the answer.
Despite now being at a numerical disadvantage the Victory continued to plug away and for a spell retained possession at ease.
Hermiston gambled with twenty three minutes remaining and threw on Ben Stores instead of Steve Jackson in the quest to find goals to get the team back into the game.
The change almost worked as a good flick by Stores put Dryden in on goal but sadly the Victory left back suffered a nose bleed on entering the box and skewed his shot miles wide.
Then, with just over a quarter of an hour remaining came another talking point as the Victory were denied what appeared to be a stone wall penalty. After some good work by Smiles on the left he squared the ball across the box to Fisher, who was unmarked. In spite of a less than perfect first touch, the Victory man had the ball under control and was about to pull the trigger when a Chaplins defender attempted to tackle him from behind but only succeeded in taking his legs from underneath him. Incredibly the referee signalled that the player had got the ball. Even the offender himself could not believe his luck as the referee failed to penalise him. It was to prove a key moment in the game as by the letter of the law had the referee correctly awarded the spot kick then he would have had no option but to send the player off for denying a clear goal scoring opportunity. Who knows with a penalty chance to make it 2-1 and 10v10 the Victory may well have stood a good chance of getting something out of the game. As it was instead they now still faced an uphill battle. On a side note given his ever increasing reputation of being a diver the Victory might have hoped that it was Smiles and not Fisher who was fouled in the area as Smiles’ expertise in the art of simulation might have made the foul look even worse than it was and persuaded the referee to give the penalty.
Not long after the non award of the penalty, the Victory went close again through stand-in skipper, Graham Lamb, but unluckily just as he was about to shoot the ball got stuck in the mud under his feet and he could only drag his shot wide.
With a little over ten minutes remaining, Chaplins all but sewed up the game as they went three goals clear. The Victory had gambled and gone three at the back and Chaplins picked them off on the break. Despite the first shot being blocked the ball rebounded to another Chaplins player who fired the ball home from twenty yards into the bottom left hand corner agonisingly out of Swan’s reach.
Still the Victory kept plugging away and they almost snatched a consolation with a couple of minutes remaining but Smiles curling effort from the left edge of the box was narrowly wide of the far post.
At the final whistle the weary Victory players were left to reflect on another league defeat. On another day if refereeing decisions had gone in their favour we could be left talking about a different result. However, it would be wrong to blame the official for this loss because the end result was more down to the sub standard performance from the players on the pitch which again was not quite up to scratch against what in truth were poor opposition. As it stands, the Victory are up against The Golden Lion FC next week at the Fulwell Mill Arena although attempts are being made to reverse the fixture to try and give the Arena pitch a chance to recover after this weekends encounter made it resemble more of a muddy bog than a place for football.
