17/12/2016 – Report – Bradfield Rovers FC versus Mersea Island FC
ANDREAS CARTER ESSEX & SUFFOLK BORDER FOOTBALL LEAGUE
DIVISION TWO.
BRADFIELD ROVERS FC: 4.
MERSEA ISLAND FC: 4.
Date: Saturday 17th December 2016. Venue: The Playing Field, The Street, Bradfield.
Division Two was my choice for a match last Saturday, a short trip to Bradfield to watch the local “Rovers” do battle with the “Islanders from Mersea, both teams had dropped down a division in recent seasons but this season both seem to have picked up and seen better results with Bradfield lying third and Mersea fifth in the table so eventually this keenly fought four-all draw did not affect their table positions.
Referee for this contest was Chris Townes, a local referee, who throughout, displayed and administered his own brand of refereeing, no nonsense, no second chances with an clear answer given for every decision questioned and there were a few!
Conditions for this match, just as probably everywhere else on Saturday were tricky with the soft ground and the drifting mist that hung around before, during and after the match, however with the club linesmen being able to see across the pitch and the referee able to see both goalmouths from the centre of the pitch then the game commenced with the visitors kicking off. First foul came from Hitchman on Bolingbroke with Mersea able to clear comfortably then Curtis fouled Richardson who took the free-kick on the half-way line and Mabaya put in a timely tackle on Lee just outside the penalty area. Another Bradfield attack led to the first corner of the game, taken by Simpson with keeper Green catching inside the six-yard box, and after five minutes his opposite number McFarlane had to punch clear as Mersea threatened through Hark with Dawson launching a long ball forward to Lee who was correctly flagged off-side. On eight minutes Bradfield took the lead when JAKE WHITTINGHAM headed home an in-swinging corner taken by Simpson and with early frustrations running high the Mersea, Manager, Springett questioned another decision but despite being warned to keep quiet he failed to heed the warning and received a red card and was asked to leave the side of the pitch. From the restart Miller was late into a challenge on Elliott to receive a stern verbal warning and with the ball cleared Amass was caught marginally offside despite a fine through ball by Keating.
Bradfield had a goal lead and were pushing forward as often as possible with Mersea slightly out-of-sorts as they defended, another free-kick from Richardson found Lee who controlled the ball, turned and shot over the cross-bar and Curtis was spoken too by the referee for dissent about that decision. It took Mersea twenty minutes to conjure up a meaningful attack and it almost paid off as Hark started the move, finding Hitchman then Amass who found Keating whose first time shot on the turn was smartly tipped over the cross-bar by McFarlane. From the resulting corner a free header by Millar bounced once before keeper, McFarlane pounced on the loose ball on the goal-line. Another long Bradfield free-kick fell at the feet of Elliott but Green was equally quick to smother the ball and Mersea had upped their game with Chivers finding Amass with Mabaya running onto the loose ball but shooting wide. Richardson fouled Amass and from the free-kick Millar tried to force his way goalwards but McFarlane saved at the expense of a corner and the drifting mist had not relented it made visibility poorer as darkness started to descend.
On thirty minutes a driven through ball out of defence saw Simpson chase forward for Bradfield, the linesman’s flag was raised indicating off-side, but with no whistle, I might add the correct decision, THOMAS SIMPSON kept going, rounded the advancing keeper to score and put the home team two goals ahead. Almost immediately Mersea got a goal back winning a corner and although I believe the ball took a deflection off a Bradfield player the goal was claimed by and awarded to ALEX CURTIS who had taken the corner kick. Buoyed by this goal Mersea pushed forward again with Amass, clean through on goal, denied by the feet of McFarlane whilst at the other end Elliott thought he had scored from a cross-field pass by Lee but he was still returning from an off-side position so the goal attempt was correctly disallowed. A goal-bound shot from Passfield twenty-five yards out, hit Sharp and looped over his own goal for a corner but from that corner taken by Curtis, defender BILLY MILLAR stole in to head home the Mersea equaliser and just as at the start, this game was finely balanced for the second half.
HALF-TIME: 2 – 2
Mabaya had an early shot at goal but Dawson stooped to head clear from about three yards out and the visitors looked to start as they had finished the first half, on the attack, but Bradfield also looked dangerous as Whittingham took on the Mersea defence after receiving the ball from Lee. We then witnessed the “miss-of-the-season” from Bradfield, Lee drifted past Hark to cross into the penalty area, keeper Green punched clear to Elliott who centred the ball back across goal where Lee smashed the ball over the empty net from one yard out and fell holding his head in his hands such was his embarrassment! Bradfield tried again and Green saved one shot from Whittingham on his goal-line with Millar getting his body in the way of a shot from the rebound by Lee and the home pressure was eventually rewarded with a third goal. When Simpson took a corner on the right side JAMES LEE ran onto the flighted ball to head home as Mersea stood watching for a second time at a set piece! A long driven free-kick from his own half by Dawson saw Green catch the ball on his goal-line and Millar clattered into Lee to get his second telling off of the game, riding his luck perhaps! Miller defended better at the next attack but did concede a corner kick with the first effort cleared and with Simpson crossing upon the second effort.
For Bradfield, Whittingham had been a constant threat in the first half, with his running with the ball so when he tried to dribble through some defenders his pass to Simpson was good but the consequent shot hit Chivers and was deflected wide. Another break from Whittingham led to Green saving whilst at the other end Mabaya went down injured, probably wanting a breather after all his chasing forward without the ball. After an error by Millar, Passfield made a fine tackle on Bolingbroke who had been quite in this match, certainly not his usual busy self but other team mates had stepped up their game. Another long ball from Sharp led to Green racing out to the edge of his area to collect the ball with Whittingham closing in and then followed a strange occurrence. The referee had been assured and reassured, in my presence that after a pre-match team sheet amendment by Mersea that the rest of the Mersea players had the correct shirts on. So when they wanted to replace Hark with substitute Clarke the referee rightly insisted that the substitute wore the number twelve shirt, as per the team sheet, the correct shirt could not be found only a number three whereas the player who should have worn number three had started the game wearing number fifteen! This led to Hark remaining on the pitch with Clarke resuming his linesman duties with Chivers being replaced by Norman by which time Bradfield decided to replace Griffin with Taylor.
On seventy-five minutes Bradfield surged forward once again with Whittingham causing havoc with his close control and dribbling only to be unceremoniously upended by Millar who held his hands up, a clear penalty, which allowed JAMES LEE to step up and stroke the ball to the opposite side of the diving keeper to put the home team four goals to two ahead. Not to be outdone Mersea surged to the other end and Mabaya found Amass who slipped over just as he was about to pass last defender Dawson who had moved across to block the goal threat. A strong run down the left side by Bolingbroke led to a smart save from Green and once again the visibility was becoming questionable with less than ten minutes to go. Bradfield replaced Simpson with Boyland, visitors keeper Green saved from Lee and then Whittingham and from one of his long clearances Boyland failed to control the high ball and when it bounced clear RYAN AMASS rifled the ball home from the edge of the area to narrow the deficit to one goal. More misery for the visitors followed when Lee dived unfairly into a challenge on Keating, the referee awarded the free-kick but Keating decided to take matters, literally into his own hands by grabbing the foul perpetrator and was summarily dismissed for violent conduct. However, out of bad, comes good, or so they say, so when the free-kick floated into the Bradfield penalty area RYAN AMASS rose to clinically head home from six yards out and an unlikely point was gained from this four goals apiece draw.
FULL TIME: 4 – 4
With hindsight, with the relative league positions and improved performances this season from the respective teams then a draw was always on the cards, Bradfield might rue two occasions of being two goals ahead as Mersea failed to defend two set pieces and concede a penalty. Mersea despite their late on-field dismissal did not give up and deserved a point for not giving up the cause, they tried like the home team to play football in testing conditions which saw some heavy but fair tackles but once again the match official was consistent in his approach to these in trying to let the game flow if an advantage was deemed correct.
Now to choose a Man of the Match, visiting captain Millar drove his team forward, scoring one goal, shame about the penalty conceded but that’s commitment even if the timing wasn’t quite right, whilst his keeper, Green, made several timely saves and with Amass in attack there was always a chance his presence could lead to late goals, just as we saw. Bradfield seemed to be nicely set-up, most players doing what their manager requested, yes there were mistakes, players are only human, but in attack Simpson, with one goal, and Lee with two goals were fully supported by Whittingham, who gets the nod this week, and he showed great control and vision throughout, won the penalty and always kept the Mersea defence on their toes plus scoring the opening goal himself.
Teams:
BRADFIELD ROVERS FC: Colours: Claret & Sky Blue Shirts., Claret Shorts and Claret Socks.
Callum McFarlane., Dylan Griffin., Steve Richardson., Joel Ainger., Ryan Dawson., Lee Sharp., Nicholas Bolingbroke., Jack Elliott., Jake Whittingham., James Lee., Thomas Simpson.
Manager: Craig Dawson.
Used Substitutes: James Boyland., James Taylor.
MERSEA ISLAND FC: Colours: Black & White Shirts., Black Shorts and Black Socks.
Rory Green., Wayne Brown., Tatenda Mabaya., Billy Millar., Ryan Chivers., Adam Passfield., Alex Curtis., Anthony Hark., Ryan Amass., Zac Keating., Jack Hitchman.
Manager: Craig Springett.
Used Substitutes: Mark Norman.
Unused Substitutes: Ben Clarke., Craig Springett.
Referee: Chris Townes (Lawford).
Man of the Match: Jake WHITTINGHAM (BRADFIELD ROVERS FC)
Fixtures for 30th and 31st December 2016 and 07th and 14th January 2017 are now shown on “The FA Full-Time”.
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