22/08/10: The New Demi (2) v (2) The Victory Club
Scorer: Smiles 2
Team: Swan (GK), Mountford, Bunyan, Davison (c), M.Dryden, Hunter (Hudson), Jackson (Rodgers), Lamb, Robson, Smiles, White (Collins)
Unused Subs: S.Dryden, Stores
Yellows: Rodgers, Davison
Reds: M.Dryden
The Victory Club began the new campaign with a hard fought 2-2 draw against The New Demi despite playing the majority of the second period a man light following the dismissal of Mark Dryden.
The Victory, sporting their new red tops, began the opening period sluggishly and for long periods struggled to get out of there own half. However, from one of the few Victory attacks in the first half, they had an appeal for a penalty rejected when Stephen Robson’s left footed effort appeared to be charged down by the arms of a New Demi defender. At the other end goalkeeper Lewis Swan was proving equal to anything thrown at him by the opposition, making a string of fine saves, the best being one with his face to keep out a full blooded right footed shot. At the half time interval the game remained goalless - a score line which will have pleased The Victory more than their opponents given their below par first half performance.
Manager, George Ross made one alteration at the break replacing David White with new signing Anthony Collins to freshen things up in attack. The second half got off to the worst possible start for the men in red as within minutes of the restart they found themselves down to ten men when left back, Mark Dryden, was given his marching orders for exchanging pleasantries (swearing) with the referee. An immediate tactical change ensued as Steve Jackson was sacrificed for Alex Rodgers, who came on to plug the gap at left back. Things got even worse for the Victory moments later as The New Demi took the lead. A left wing corner was flicked on at the near post and a Demi player had the simple task of diverting the ball past a helpless Swan from close range.
It was looking desperate for the Victory but they refused to give up. Rodgers was then cautioned for deliberate handball after he misjudged the flight a high ball forward. Around five minutes later and from almost out of nowhere the Victory hauled themselves level. There seemed to be little on when James Smiles collected the ball on the left wing but within the blink of an eye he had beaten two defenders and was then curling the ball into the top right hand corner to send the Victory touchline wild.
The game was completely turned on its head a couple of minutes later as incredibly the Victory surged ahead. Simon Mountford’s long ball forward was latched onto by Smiles, and while the New Demi defence stood like statues appealing for offside, he ran forward and cleverly lofted the ball over the stranded keeper and into the back of the net. Smiles was proving too hot to handle for the Demi backline and Scott Hunter almost increased the gap to two but he could only slice his shot wide following Smiles’ left wing cut back.
The Victory continued to battle hard and restricting their opponents to mainly shots from distance. Swan made another fine score to keep the Victory ahead when he plucked a shot from range right out of his top corner. Greg Davison then also went into the referee’s notebook after his skilful attempts to time waste were looked on disdainfully by the official. With five minutes remaining though, New Demi grabbed an equaliser. A chipped ball from left to right found a Demi player and he took one touch to control the ball before lashing a right footed shot across Swan and in. Replays clearly showed that the player in question was at least three yards offside when the ball was played but this wasn’t spotted by the referee - a mistake which left the Victory bench furious. The game threatened to boil over right at the end following a few crunching tackles but the game ended deadlocked at two goals apiece when the referee blew for time.
