10/10/2015 – Cinque Port FC versus Gas Recreation FC Reserves

ESSEX & SUFFOLK BORDER FOOTBALL LEAGUE – DIVISION ONE

 

CINQUE PORT FC:          7.       GAS RECREATION FC RESERVES: 1.

 

Date:   Saturday 10^th October 2015.           

Venue: Regent Road Recreation Ground, Brightlingsea.

 

A short drive last Saturday took me into Brightlingsea to watch recently promoted, Cinque Port FC who won Division Two last season in their first foray into the ESBFL and good to see Kevin Murphy involved in football again. Their opponents for this Division One clash were Gas Recreation FC Reserves who usually are a match for most teams however on this occasion they were without their Manager and several players names were notable absentees from the published team sheet. To be fair to the Acting Manager, this paperwork had numerous alterations due to him not knowing who was going to turn up and eventually two players signed on before the game started which gave them just eleven players of which one, the shortest, had to volunteer to play in goal!

 

The Match Official for this game was Andrew French and with the necessary paperwork explained we prepared for kick-off with the now mandatory “Respect Handshake”. If you feel I’m labouring this point each week in my reports it is because not every club, player or official has grasped that this handshake is now mandatory for every game played in the ESBFL, so now you know, I might not mention it again!

 

The pitch at the Regent Road Recreation Ground, Brightlingsea is probably the smallest playing area in the league but being flat it is still ideal for playing a passing game. Despite Gas Recreation kicking-off it was Machin who worked the first opening and shot at goal from a pass by Moss and with only three minutes gone Rolfe, the diminutive Gas goal-keeper had a rush of blood to the head, advancing way out of his penalty area to try to tackle Redfern who fell to ground without any noticeable contact although the attempted tackle was rightly deemed unfair. Norman swung in the free-kick, defender Brooks headed away but only as far as GLEN LINNANE who fairly rifled the ball back past everyone and into the back of the net from the edge of the area. Upon the restart Watts took out Ayling but with play continuing with Munston in possession the ball was returned to Ayling who controlled the ball before passing to Kelly who blasted wide of the goal with only the keeper to beat. A cross from Machin from the left wing found Linnane, in space, but after making contact with the ball it curled harmlessly wide but after just ten minutes it was fairly clear that the visitors would be up against it this afternoon.

Keeper, Rolfe picked up a short back-pass inside his six yard box as Linnane threatened to get ahead of Webb with the referee awarding an indirect free-kick, Gas pulled everyone back and lined up along the goal-line, Machin played the ball short to Linnane whose goal-bound shot struck the large frame of Brooks who then chased the loose ball wide to the touch-line where he fouled Linnane who had similarly given chase. Keeper, Rolfe held the ball well from a corner but his clearances were generally short and misdirected and in one instance led to a free-kick thirty yards out, when Wilson fouled Norman but again Brooks led his defensive line with a strong clearance down-field. Cinque Port, were knocking the ball around comfortably with Rolfe and Brooks defending desperately at times as the home team threatened. Brooks climbed all over Redfern in his enthusiasm to win a high ball, Norman took he free-kick with Rolfe showing a good pair of hands for a non goal-keeper who already was the busiest player on the pitch! When Norman won a corner, Machin took the kick and saw the goal-bound header from Yarwood get cleared off the goal-line by Brooks, once again well positioned to clear. It had been mentioned to me before kick-off that Cinque Port have had trouble scoring this season and with chances created so far they should have been well ahead of the one goal margin they held. On a rare Gas attack Yarwood tracked back to foul Ayling just outside the penalty area with Munson taking the free-kick.

Now I have been involved in local football for over forty-five years and save for one strange incident at the old Severals Hospital ground where an inmate emerged from the undergrowth with a ball and proceeded, to walk onto the pitch and place the ball on the centre circle, today’s incident involved an elderly lady who proceeded to ride her mobility scooter straight through the whole recreation ground and across the pitch whilst the game was still in play heading for the open gate on the far-side, she was clearly oblivious to the fact that a game was in motion, referee French stopped the game and ushered the offending vehicle and driver off the pitch. So poor had Gas been that even throw-ins were badly executed and each time they conceded the ball to the home team they took advantage to put more pressure on their opponents who were defending very deep. Rolfe expertly tipped the ball over the cross-bar from an effort by Moss, Yarwood took the corner, Linnane flicked, the ball up and over Rolfe but Brooks acrobatically cleared the ball off the goal-line with an overhead kick with the referee standing in-line to adjudicate on the goal attempt. It had taken Gas thirty five minutes to mount a serious threat to the home goal, Munson drifted wide of the defence to send in a cross towards Kelly and despite a slight nudge from Huggins the ball was chased down by Ayling but defenders had recovered to crowd out the lone striker.

On forty minutes Yarwood started the next home attack finding Machin wide on the right side and from his cross GLEN LINNANE rose to head goalwards but with Rolfe unable to catch the ball cleanly at the foot of the post the ball rolled into the net. Two minutes later and Gas struck back, Brooks sent a long ball forward to Ayling who played the ball inside to ANDREW KELLY who ran at goal and slotted past the advancing keeper, so is a come-back realistic! Cinque Port had probably had seventy-five per cent of the ball possession but had found scoring difficult again in this match just as they had all season. As half-time approached Yarwood shot wide when free on goal and when the home team conceded a free-kick on the edge of the centre-circle in the Gas half, Brooks hammered an adventurous shot at goal with home keeper Lloyd standing on the penalty spot, fortunately for him the ball just cleared the cross-bar.

 

HALF-TIME:       2 – 1

 

Immediately at the second half restart the home team replaced Moss with Daly who was clearly going to be asked to run at a tiring defence, a foul followed, Yarwood crossed from the left hand side, Huggins headed back across goal where MARK NORMAN headed home from close range. Redfern lobbed just wide having chased down a bobbling ball forward and then Daly used some neat footwork to ghost between two defenders and cross to Yarwood who should have scored with his header but only found the arms of Rolfe, the keeper. Minutes later Hunt put Daly through, he found Linnane who could not believe that the keeper had saved on the goal-line at point blank range with his feet to deny him a hat-trick. When Ayling put in a poor challenge on Norman he received a verbal warning from the match official but from the resulting free-kick, Cinque Port increased their lead. Brooks, whilst trying to play the ball out of defence was dispossessed by Redfern who played the ball to QUENTIN DALY who easily beat Rolfe from close range and I suppose we thought that it had to be damage limitation by the visitors from now on.

Brooks in the Gas defence had played well to stem the constant flow of home attacking and from one long ball forward Ayling found sufficient space to test keeper Lloyd who was pretty much a spectator to events in front of him. As the hour mark arrived Daly was given too much space down the right and from his cross Linnane again made good contact only for Rolfe to save the day with another reflex save with Hunt just short of connecting with the rebound. Right on sixty minutes Cinque Port scored their fifth goal when from a poor defensive clearance HARRY BURNETT struck a fine left footed shot that beat every one as well as the diving keeper at the near post. The home team replaced Norman with Gallagher, Brooks struck another free-kick straight to Lloyd but when Machin received the ball he set QUENTIN DALY scampering away to score number six at which point Brooks took over in goal from Rolfe, not that he could be faulted for any of the goals conceded!

Burnett and Ayling had a spat in the centre circle with the free-kick going to Gas and with Burnett receiving a caution despite the game being played in a decent manner although Ayling did earn his caution for a rash challenge when trying to stop the flying Daly, well he was after the unfair tackle came from behind. Brooks earned a verbal warning for berating the referee at the previous incident and prepared to defend once again. Linnane was substituted with Budd making an appearance but Ayling tried a long shot that drifted high and wide from forty yards and then tried again from a dead ball situation thirty yards out, neither attempt testing the keeper though. Redfern almost set up Yarwood whose back-flip improvisation almost caught out the Gas defence whilst Burnett tried another long effort that was held by Brooks.

With ten minutes to go Yarwood grazed the cross-bar with a dipping effort but a minute later Burnett crossed from the left and CHRISTOPHER GALLAGHER slotted home from close range for number seven. Daly once again showed excellent control to beat four players with Ayling having to cover his over-stretched defensive colleagues. Yarwood, once again in the thick of the midfield with Machin sent in a low driven cross but Daly, on a hat-trick, blasted the ball wide of the gaping goal with the keeper totally stranded and the game finished with the visitors having been rarely able to get into the opposition half such was the overall dominance in play by Cinque Port.

 

FULL TIME:        7 – 1

 

As the result suggests, Cinque Port had found their shooting boots and had totally dominated proceedings throughout and probably could have doubled their goal tally but for some desperate defending and an inspired display but a “stand-in” goal-keeper. Gas, on this day, clearly had problems due to non appearances but managed to fulfil the fixture and must look to steady their teams fortunes at this early stage of the season.

 

For my weekly Man-of-the-Match choice, I could easily have chosen either Brooks who led his beleaguered team from the back or his keeper Rolfe who made numerous telling saves to keep the score down. That leaves the home team who dominated throughout so with their defence being rarely troubled my choice has to go to a midfielder or a forward so despite Machin and Yarwood being the main creators and with Linnane being lively in attack I’m choosing Redfern who quietly got on and did a lot of work tracking back not only to win the ball but also getting forward to support the attack whenever necessary.

 

Teams:

 

CINQUE PORT FC:                                                                     Colours: All Yellow

Ben Lloyd., Danny Hunt., Billy Huggins., James Watts., Harry Burnett., Samuel Moss., Aran Yarwood., Mark Norman., Glen Linnane., Garry Machin., Tom Redfern.

 

Manager:                        Ian Newman.

Used Substitutes:             Christopher Gallagher., Quentin Daly., Jacob Budd

Unused Substitutes:         Ian Newman., Ashley Sauka.

 

GAS RECREATION FC RESERVES                                     Colours: All Orange

Shane Rolfe., Deane Stone., Lucas Webby., Louis Freeman., Gary Wilson., Robert Brooks., Andrew Munson., Todd Ayling., Konnor Oughton., Gareth Harrison., Andrew Kelly.

 

Acting Manager:              Calvion Firkins

 

 

Referee:                        Andrew French                (Halstead)

 

 

Man of the Match:          Tom REDFERN                                (CINQUE PORT FC)