29/01/2022 – REPORT – Dovercourt Rovers FC versus Tavern FC

ESSEX & SUFFOLK BORDER FOOTBALL LEAGUE

DIVISION THREE

DOVERCOURT ROVERS FC:     3.       (HT: 1)        TAVERN FC:           4.       (HT: 3)

Date:   Saturday 29^th January 2022.                         Venue:             Low Road, Dovercourt.         

            I took another trip down the A120 on Saturday, this time the venue was Low Road, Dovercourt and despite bright sunshine, the wind was strong and was blowing straight down the pitch which was soft to walk on. The match was a Division Three clash between divisional leaders Dovercourt Rovers FC, (thirty-one points) in only their second season in the ESBFL and fourth placed Tavern FC, (twenty-one points) who had returned to the ESBFL also last season. Both teams had played fourteen games but in Division Three, their form in the season run in along with that of Colne Athletic FC Reserves, could have a bearing on the title but the form team are Wormingford Wanderers FC who remain unbeaten having won all their ten league games, and they have also reached the semi-final of the Essex Junior Cup.

            The match official would be Emmanuel Adeeko, a new, young referee in the ESBFL this season and he would be assisted by Club Assistants who did a good job when close decisions for off-side were called into question, we hope he enjoys his matchday experiences, more of that later.

            Dovercourt Rovers FC kicked off with the strong wind behind them and Johnson fired off the first shot fielded by keeper, Mallett, Brundle for the hosts broke down the left side sending a cross to the far post where Fay was fractionally short of reaching the ball. The home team kept up that early pressure, a cross from Garwood was put out of play for a corner on the right side by Fowler but from the ensuing kick, taken on five minutes by FRANKIE SELWYN the high swirling ball was helped into his own net at the near post by keeper, Mallett. With their tails up Dovercourt pushed forward again, a huge throw-in from Selwyn was headed clear near the penalty spot but with the loose ball bouncing around Tappenden fouled McDonald just outside the penalty area, Johnson stepped up to shoot goal-wards with keeper, Mallett, tipping the ball over the cross-bar, the corner, again taken by the left-footed Selwyn, curled wickedly towards the crowded goalmouth with the wind eventually taking over and a goal-kick followed. Tavern FC had barely got into the Dovercourt half and home keeper, Bird got his first touch on thirteen minutes when parrying a free-kick from Barnard, this after Richter was tripped by defender Brown. Fowler, then thought he should have had a penalty kick when he was seemingly upended by Brown, nothing was given, and I thought the referee was well positioned for that call.

            On fifteen minutes, another howitzer of a throw-in from Selwyn caused panic in the visitor’s defence but Tavern defended this and broke forward, this time a long throw-in taken by Barnard fell to Richter who by raising his foot too high to control the ball, conceded a free-kick ten yards out. McDonald and Johnson linked up well before Daly intervened with a timely challenge and play went to the other end, Fowler and Richter were thwarted by Brown, the Tavern were playing with more bite now. The Tavern equaliser came on twenty-two minutes, Page, in midfield used his feet to elude a couple of challenges through he centre-circle to find Richter who brushed the ball wide to Fowler who ran through before drawing the keeper and unselfishly, passing inside to JARAD RICHTER who swept the ball into an unguarded net. Garwood for Dovercourt was put through by Selwyn but crashed a shot against the cross-bar the ball being cleared to Vickers whose first touch killed the ball and with his second touch he sent a fine cross-field ball over the defence where JARAD RICHTER raced on the beat the advancing keeper, what a turnaround this is! On twenty-eight minutes Barnard fouled Selwyn, quite a contest this would be in mid-field, the free-kick was hit too long by Bowler (L) for a goal-kick, taken by Mallett, but under-hit to Vickers was received a caution for his poor challenge on McDonald.

            Just past the half-hour mark, a corner taken by Bowler (L) was shielded out on the far side by Barnard, again the poor goal-kick put Tavern on the back foot but keeper, Mallett, atoned by denying Johnson running clean through. Dovercourt had plenty of possession, having the wind behind you is not always a good thing, the perceived advantage does not always play out and several over-hit, forward passes littered the first half. Barnard sent the ball through for Vickers to chase, however, keeper, Bird was ten yards outside his penalty area when he kicked the ball clear, a pass that put Fay away and despite some good control and footwork to avoid the challenge of Leeks got his shot away but sadly wide. With five minutes to half-time Dovercourt should have equalised, Tappenden conceded a corner, Bowler (L) found Fay who set up Garwood, a neat chip over the keeper, opened up the goal but the shot hit the post and went safely out of play. Right on half-time, Tavern increased their lead, Page glided through midfield finding Barnard whose fine cross fell at the feet of JARAD RICHTER who calmly completed a first-half hat-trick, I don’t think any one had seen that mid-match score-line coming, the visitors were cock-a-hoop though and a cheeky member of the Tavern FC management reckoned that Richter should get the “Ballon D’Or” for his first half performance.

HALF-TIME:    1 – 3.

            From the second half re-start Tavern replaced Daly with Wayland and the first action saw Richter racing away reaching the ball before keeper, Bird, just inside the penalty area however the curling goal-bound effort drifted wide. A long clearance from keeper, Mallett was headed behind him by Brown, Fowler, ran on but Kernott made amends with a fine tackle. Selwyn for Dovercourt sent Fay away with Tappenden getting to the ball first, conceding a corner, Bowler (L) took the corner, but Barnard cleared up-field, then Page dropped the ball over the home defence, Richter ran through but lobbed the ball wide, that Page and Barnard combination in midfield was working well much to the frustration of the home team. Page sent in a long cross that keeper, Bird elected to punch clear but only to Barnard whose goal-bound shot was blocked by Brown. Wayland then produced an outrageous “step-over” to reach the ball before Simpson, somebody was quoted as saying that was the biggest, they had seen! On fifty-three minutes, Dovercourt, made a triple substitution replacing Brown, Bowler (L) and Garwood, with Smith (H), Bradley and Smith (B) and minutes later Selwyn pulled up with what looked like a hamstring injury, some deep-heat was applied and he gamely continued. Ryan chased forward against Simpson who fell to the ground after a stray arm caught him in the face and at the other end Smith (H) raced past Wayland with Tappenden hacking the ball clear.

            Right on the hour mark the game got a bit more, tasty, Vickers clashed with Brundle, arms were raised, a couple of hay-makers despatched whereupon the referee issued two yellow cards, one to each player with the Tavern player also getting a red, this being his second yellow of the match, both players might well have had straight red cards. Four minutes later and Tavern replaced Barnard, who had run his heart out, covering his defence and being creative through mid-field, a Captains example, with Clark entering the match. Substitute, Smith (B), linked up with McDonald only for Fay to scuff a decent effort wide of keeper, Mallett, much better from the home team though! A run by Fay saw him pass Wayland but the driven cross hit Smith (H) with the ball bouncing harmlessly to keeper, Mallett, Dovercourt followed up with Selwyn finding Johnson, who slipped the ball to McDonald who having ridden the keepers first challenge was then felled by keeper, Mallet who earned a caution as well as conceding a penalty, slotted home by CHRIS JOHNSON, game on again! In the scramble that followed, Clark was taking the ball back to the half-way line when Smith (H) snatched the ball away and sent Clark sprawling to the ground, this was deemed violent conduct and Smith (H) received a red card, he had only been on the pitch for about fifteen minutes!

            With each team now at ten a side the home team sensed another goal and piled forward, Fowler charged down a cross using his hand and Page, having kicked the ball away to delay the re-start was rightly cautioned for that offence, some clear heads were needed now. Hines fouled Fay and Johnson hit the defensive wall with the free-kick and Dovercourt kept up the pressure to earn a corner on the left side, ELLIOT FAY took the corner and curled a long ball towards the far post, somehow the ball found the inside far netting and a goal was given, so a second home goal, scored direct from a corner. Not sure what happened next, as I was writing up my notes, when I looked back up, Johnson was on the ground holding his face, tempers were raised and accusations made, players surrounded the referee who dismissed Johnson, apparently for violent conduct, which one can only assume was in retaliation for something that happening inside the crowded six-yard box after the goal was awarded, this meant the home team were down to nine players, one less that their opponents. The full ninety minutes was up by my watch but there had been numerous stoppages in the second half, two long throw-ins down the line by Page, for Tavern had sent Richter away on either side of the pitch, from the second and despite being wide out near the touch-line JARAD RICHTER stepped inside a defender and curled a beautiful cross-cum-shot into the far top corner, would you believe it, a four goals to three victory, away from home with virtually the last kick of an eventful game, you have to say that by scoring all four goals you deserve to be on the winning side.

FULL TIME:     3 – 4.

            Despite the seven goals, four yellow cards and three dismissals there was some decent football played by both teams, when the game sat at three goals apiece that really should have been it, a share of the spoils, however, the sheer determination of Richter, once again turned the tables in his teams favour just as they had with his first half hat-trick, incidentally that’s three hat-tricks in a half in the last three matches I’ve watched. Now I mentioned earlier about the referee, yes, he was new to the ESBFL, despite this, he controlled the game and applied the rules set by the FA, his positioning for all the contentious issues was good, so if players choose to disobey or flout the rules that were applied, in my opinion, correctly, then players can only blame themselves for the repercussions. Basically, if you force the referee to, make a decision then he will, so no excuses, a neutral spectator standing with me, was in agreement in our assessment of the referee’s performance.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Now, let’s turn to my “Star Player, for Dovercourt, Selwyn worked hard in midfield, Johnson led the line well with leading scorer, Fay however they found the Tavern defence in robust form, nothing shirked, nothing flash, just good solid defending, backed up by their midfield, Dovercourt did fail to take their chances hitting the cross-bar and the upright in the second half. For Tavern, Captain, Barnard, and midfield colleague Page must have covered every blade of grass, defending in front of their defence then breaking forward when they could, often to good effect. At the start of play, Richter was the divisions leading goal-scorer with nineteen goals from fifteen games, that now stands at twenty-three, his pace and control on the ball was excellent throughout so its hard not to be my “Star” player this week, but Barnard and Page pushed him hard for their own contributions. 

Teams:

DOVERCOURT ROVERS FC:  

Colours:            Red Shirts, Red Shorts and Red Socks.

Team:

Quinn Bird., Bradley Simpson., Harry Brundle., Keenan Brown., Mason Kernott., Frankie Selwyn (C)., Elliot Fay., Leon Bowler., Max McDonald., Chris Johnson., Ross Garwood.

Manager:                      Jake Whittingham.

Used Substitutes:           Harvey Smith., Harry Bradley., Bailey Smith.

Unused Substitute:         Rhys Bowler

TAVERN FC

Colours:                        Green Shirts, Green Shorts and Green Socks.

Team:

Jordan Mallett., Ben Vickers., Owen Leeks., Ashley Tappenden., Sam Daly., Tom Page., Ben Ryan., Ryan Hines., Jared Richter., Ben Fowler., Reese Barnard (C).

Management:                Ashley Tappenden and Michael Lockhart

Used Substitutes:           Karl Clark., Ryan Wayland

Unused Substitutes:       Joe Halford., Lee Croft and Jack Justice

Referee:                        Emmanuel Adeeko.

Star Player:              Jarad RICHTER                                   (TAVERN FC)

REMINDERS:

MATCH NOTIFICATIONS

Fixture Secretaries of Clubs are required to notify all match details, date, venue, kick-off time, colours etc, to their opposition and any appointed official/s, at least FIVE days before the match.

KICK-OFF TIMES

February:                                                                      14:30pm

March, to end of season:                                               15:00pm

ESBFL CUP TIES:                                                           30 minutes earlier, if necessary.

ECFA CUP TIES:                                                            Kick-Off as advertised

CUP TIES

There will be NO requirement for “Extra-Time” to be played in Cup Matches, if scores are level at the end of “normal time” the match will proceed directly to penalty kicks.

SUBSTITUTES

The ESBFL continues to allow FIVE SUBSTITUTES to be named before kick-off but only “THREE SUBSTITUTES” may be allowed to participate.

Note:

In Essex County Cups (Premier & Junior) the Rule allows FIVE SUBSTITUTES to be named and those FIVE SUBSTITUTUES may be used on a “Roll-On / Roll-Off” basis.

TEAM SHEETS

Team Sheets should be shown or sent to the Referee and the Opposition team either by text, email etc

The BLUE “League Copy” of the Team Sheet should be sent by First Class Post to reach Mick Willmore by the Thursday after a Saturday match, this is the ONLY item of correspondence that is required by post.

RESULTS REPORTING

Rule 21(B)

BOTH Clubs shall notify/SMS the result of each Competition Match to the Competition within 30 minutes of the finish of the match. This will include Football Association and County Football Association matches. The results of all League and Cup matches in the Competition should be reported by the FA Full-Time “SMS” (text) System. Failure to comply with this Rule will result in a fine in accordance with the Fines Tariff.

FA FULL-TIME

The Referees marks, team, players, substitutes, goal scorers, red / yellow cards, and sin-bin, etc MUST be entered to FA Full-Time by the end of the Tuesday following a Saturday match (ie 48 hours after any match). Failure to complete FAFT correctly and on time WILL incur a League Fine/s.

DISCIPLINE

Since the start of the season there have been 45+ players dismissed and over 600 cautions, there have also been several incidences of misconduct towards players, Match officials, members of the public and county officials. These are situations the ESBFL Management feel very strongly about, and the statistics make poor reading, the ECFA will deal with all these cases as deemed appropriate but bear in mind these actions can be very costly both for players and your, Clubs.

WHOLE GAME SYSTEM (“WGS”)

All Club Secretaries should check “WGS” on a regular basis, if you don’t, the ECFA levy a fine (25%) for late acknowledgements and payments of fines and the Club could be put into a “SINE-DIE” situation meaning they cannot play until those debts are cleared.

Club Secretaries are also responsible for adding the matches missed by players who have been suspended.

Whilst the ESBFL regularly reviews the whole Club contents on “WGS” it is not their responsibility to monitor failures by Member Clubs to follow basic procedure/s.

REFRESHMENTS

Rule 20A Refreshments for BOTH teams and Match Officials MUST be provided by the home Club at half time unless these are declined before the game. Clubs in default shall be fined.