Arngrove
Northern League
27 October 2007
Red
means go for City
by Ken Milgate
Billingham
Synthonia
0
The visitors’ bench breathed a collective sigh of relief on 9minutes when Appleby was floored in the penalty area; two minutes later, it was their counterparts’ turn to hold their breath when Richard Smith and Neil Campbell gazed a little too closely into each other’s eyes, the latter swooning in response to the close attention of his marker. The referee warned both players to curb their passion.
On the quarter hour Steven Richardson waited in vain for the ball to come down to him when he received a Keith Graydon lob on the edge of the six yard box, while the former was denied by a decisive block tackle three minutes later as he turned on receipt of a Stewart Morris pass.
Lewis Dodds was the next City man to go for goal, his bullet near-post header from a Graydon corner flashing past the post.
The
defining moment of the match
was Rasher’s dismissal for deliberate hand ball on the line;
his slow walk off
the pitch and subsequent requested evacuation of the dug-out merely
delayed
John Mohan’s magnificent save from
City
did not take long to
increase their application, a move initiated by Morris epitomizing the
team’s
subsequent resolve: his successful full-stretch attempt to keep the
ball in
play on the touchline produced the perfect pass for Appleby to chase. Alas, his shot was high of
the crossbar with
City’s only other forward in attendance,
In first-half stoppage time Mohan was released from spectator duties to save a Lee Flanagan shot at his near post.
Both
Richardson and Dodds had early
second-half attempts on goal before
As
City continued to harass and
tackle for their lives,
City toughed out a physical game with admirable graft and commitment. In the circumstances of the match a point was a good return; of more importance was the fact that City competed when the going got tough.