28/02/2015 – Cinque Port FC versus Dedham Old Boys FC Reserves

ESSEX & SUFFOLK BORDER FOOTBALL LEAGUE

DIVISION TWO

CINQUE PORT FC: 1  DEDHAM OLD BOYS FC RESERVES: 4

Date: Saturday 28^th February 2015 

Venue: Bayard Recreation Ground, Regent Road, Brightlingsea

Division Two this week and I took the chance to catch up with Brightlingsea based Cinque Port FC the only new club that I had not been to watch so far this season. The club seem to have adapted well having stepped up from the Colchester & North East Essex Football League and going into this game lay second behind Kelvedon Social FC and just ahead of Weeley Athletic FC who have two games in hand.

The home team with seven straight victories had defeated Dedham Old Boys FC Reserves by two goals to nil back in late January but the visitors in their three games this month had scored eighteen goals but also conceded ten goals so in a way I was expecting more of the same in this encounter.

Referee for this match was experienced local official Joe Buda who dealt competently with all decisions throughout although he was sorely tested when events kicked off ten minutes into the second half with plenty of County paperwork to follow on Saturday evening.

So on a cold and overcast afternoon, the last of the season’s two-thirty kick-offs saw Cinque Port FC start this game with a slick passing movement however Dedham Old Boys FC repelled this effort and Moseley shot wide after Vitelli and Hunnable had laid the ball back into his path. The first five minutes was, end to end as both teams tried to force a decent opening with a run from Sharp being followed by a cross which found Ince whose control was poor and he handled the ball. Visiting leading scorer Vitelli almost had a chance but the home defence forced him wide then out of play. Cinque Port had to change their club linesman after only ten minutes when new signing Redfern was forced off with a hamstring injury with Machin taking his place in attack and when play resumed a heavy challenge by Stephens left Moseley limping. Moseley was caught offside from a Vitelli forward pass, then Vitelli broke through taking the ball in his stride before crossing towards Hunnable, who, despite his height, was still under the driven cross but Dunne running in from the left fired high and wide with an attempted volley. Home keeper Burnett (S) was quickly off his line to smother another attack involving Dunne, Hunnable and Moseley then from an Ince throw-in the ball found Burnett (H) who moved the ball onto Norman who shot narrowly wide with a fierce right footed drive.

With eighteen minutes gone Vitelli found Law who had his effort blocked then Stephens clumsily fouled Dunne just outside the penalty area, Moseley curled a delightful free-kick, goal-wards where JOHN VITELLI deftly headed past the home defence to open the scoring. Cinque Port hit back in attack with Dedham old-boy Linnane crossing to Ince whose shot found the safe arms of keeper Turner and when his long clearance landed in the home half of the pitch another ball had found its way into the playing area with the referee restarting play with a dropped ball. A long run through midfield by Moseley ended with Stephens conceding a throw-in, Machin was rightly flagged off-side for coming back from an off-side position and the ageless but experienced Marangou made a telling tackle on Ince who was almost through from a flick on by Linnane. Ross for Dedham found room down his right side to venture up-field and when receiving the ball back from Vitelli he should have done better than find the side netting but Dedham were looking the more likely to score the next goal but were rushing the final ball, a common feature in my weekly column.

With ten minutes to half-time Linnane was again caught off-side, much to his frustration but his team had started to compose more controlled forward attacks but with Ince struggling with an injury he was replaced by Johnson. As half-time approached TRISTRAN MOSELEY intercepted the ball inside his own half and he slipped the ball past Moss, ran forward, looked up and with his right foot hit a brilliant curling forty yard shot at goal from wide on the right wing and with keeper Burnett standing just inside his penalty area he was given no chance to retreat and save as the ball sailed over his head and into the back of the net to give the visitors a two goals to nil lead. Dedham had battled for every ball against a useful Cinque Port team that showed promise when in possession. Norman had a corner headed clear by Baister then Turner launched a long ball forward to Moseley with Vitelli stopped in his tracks by keeper Burnett (S) and defender Burnett (H) who both blocked the goal-bound ball and we reached half-time with a score-line, that to me, was not unexpected given the way Dedham played but they would need to defend well in the second half to maintain their lead and gain all the points.

 HALF-TIME:   0 – 2

Dedham kicked off the second half, no further changes to playing personnel but the home team clearly needed a quick response, Johnson, was fouled, but by commendably staying on his feet passed to Machin who was fouled further up-field however the free-kick by Linnane fell into the arms of Turner who cleared to the half-way line. Moseley lost control of the ball and fouled Burnett (H), a handshake followed between the two players but all manner of players got involved in an ugly scene just a few yards away with Stephens, Huggins and Linnane running several yards to get involved with Saggers but with referee Buda ideally placed to capture the moment. Moseley rightly received a caution for his initial challenge, Stephens, Huggins and Saggers were cautioned for getting involved in the melee with Linnane receiving a straight red card for seemingly pushing his head into a players face and he did not help his cause by his actions when leaving the pitch, this despite a consoling arm round his shoulder from visiting skipper Moseley. From the free-kick taken by Burnett (H), Cinque Port forced a goal-mouth scramble with ASTON SHARP forcing the ball home from close range with Dedham failing to clear the ball when they had more than one chance to do so.

How would Dedham cope with allowing Cinque Port a life-line, they had defended effectively so far but one lapse had now put pressure on themselves however Cracknell blocked Dunne down the left side and Moseley broke from mid-way in his own half before losing control just outside of the home penalty area. On fifty-five minutes Cinque Port failed to clear the ball out of defence and when the ball fell in front of TRISTRAN MOSELEY he cracked a twenty-five yard left foot volley goalwards the ball taking a deflection but crashing into the back of the net off the left hand upright with keeper Burnett (S) already diving to save until the deflection intervened. Cracknell was replaced by Lloyd for Cinque Port but Vitelli had the next chance with Burnett (S) saving at the near post. A corner taken by Lloyd was headed wide by Moss and ten minutes after the melee the game had been more settled with the end result still in doubt as Cinque Port pushed forward despite being a player light and two goals adrift!

Norman stopped Moseley with a timely tackle deep in the home half of the field then defender Ross was fortunate to scoop a driven cross-field ball from Machin over his own goal for a corner. From the corner taken by Machin, Turner punched clear under pressure from Stephens and Huggins but when Burnett (S) tried to do likewise to a Dedham corner taken by Vitelli the ball fell to the unmarked DANIEL DUNNE standing six yards out and his low shot crept into the goal at the near post despite the home keepers effort to save through a crowded six-yard box. Player Manager Ketley was pulled up for handball when stooping low to control a long up-field ball from Burnett (H) but from the free-kick taken by Machin, both Huggins and Lloyd were flagged off-side, both berated the club linesman only to find the referee not only standing behind them but level with the club linesman! Then, when his defence were caught napping Turner made a fine save from Sharp ten yards out in a one-on-one situation, pushing the ball high over the cross-bar for a corner.

Turner was again to the rescue punching clear the driven corner and as Dedham panicked in defence, forward Hunnable was back to firstly block a close-range shot from Lloyd, then heading the resultant corner out for a succession of corners, that’s team work as the home side pressed forward. Pearce replaced Law in midfield for Dedham and with the game petering out Huggins was fortunate not to receive a second caution for two kicks at Marangou the second with the ball already out of play! In the last minute Ketley and Stephens met head to head, literally when they clashed on the half-way line, the free-kick going the way of the home team and Huggins clashed with Vitelli to concede a corner before the game ended.

FULL TIME:    1 – 4

My suspicions before kick-off was that Dedham Old Boys FC Reserves might cause a surprise in this fixture as their results had been mixed, but high scoring, recently but with players returning from injury their team sheet showed several players with experience at a higher level, namely Turner, Moseley, Saggers, Baister and Marangou. Overall it was a team effort, scoring three good goals but more importantly defending effectively when under pressure, some of it was perhaps desperate but when the defence was breached, keeper Turner pulled off several excellent saves to deny the home team.

Cinque Port, as I said at the start have had, a decent season so far, Manager Ian Newman has assembled a squad of keen young players, despite recently losing his leading scorer to Brightlingsea Regent FC. . Going down to ten players did not help their cause on match day but personally I thought the referee dealt with the incident well. They still have to play leaders Kelvedon Social FC, away and also have two games against second placed Weeley Athletic FC but begin again next week at home to Team Brantham FC who sit just behind them in Division Two.

This week for my Man-of-the Match selection goes to Tristran Moseley who stood out for Dedham Old Boys FC Reserves, scoring twice, one a real gem and only a caution spoilt an otherwise exceptional display. As skipper he led by example and from his prompting his team caused problems in attack and defended well under late pressure as the ten man home side piled forward.

Teams:

Cinque Port FC:

Colours: Yellow Shirts & Black Shorts

Steven Burnett., Jack Cracknell., Billy Huggins., Ryan Stephenson., Harry Burnett., Samuel Moss., Glen Linnane., Mark Norman., Aston Sharp (C)., Tom Redfern., Alexander Ince.

Manager: Ian Newman.

Used Substitutes: Gary Machin., Ben Lloyd., Tom Johnson

Unused Substitutes:   Nathan Lloyd., Jacob Budd.

Dedham Old Boys FC Reserves FC:

Colours: Blue Shirts and Blue Shorts

Brian Turner., Aaron Ross., Carl Marangou., Paul Ketley., Simon Baister., Alex Law., Tristran Moseley (C)., Josh Saggers., Gary Hunnable., John Vitelli., Daniel Dunne.

Player Manager: Paul Ketley.

Used Substitutes: Oliver Pearce.

Unused Substitutes: Rodney Rix., Lee Lawrence., Philip Mason.

Referee: Joe Buda.

Man of the Match: Tristran MOSELEY (DEDHAM OLD BOYS FC RESERVES)

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Request to Club Secretaries.

On “MITOO” would all Club Secretaries please amend Club Contacts, Team Colours in addition to adding the time of “Kick-Off” for HOME matches.

KO is 3:00pm in:       March to end of season

NB – Kick-Offs for Cup-Ties are generally 30 minutes earlier but check competition rules beforehand.

By making these changes it will aide any enquirers going forward.