Saturday the 27th of October saw FC Orange Bonus Weeks drawn at Home against Veterans of Alfaz in the 7th game of the Season. Alfaz had drawn 3-3 with Lope de Vega in their last game so no doubt they would have been full of confidence for this match.

However, it was FC Orange Bonus Weeks who drew first blood after only a few minutes, a well-placed free-kick by Thomas Mold sent the keeper diving to his left but there was so much swerve and spin on the ball that the keeper was unable to keep it out of his net despite getting his hands to it.

Buoyed by taking the lead in a game for the first time this season, FC Orange Bonus Weeks continued to press forward with some good football and when Chris Griffen floated a beautiful ball over the top of the Alfaz defence it was met by the perfectly timed run of Adam Wilson who kept his composure long enough to slot the ball past the helpless keeper.

Less than half an hour gone and 2-0 up, FC Orange Bonus Weeks were looking excellent value for the lead and were finally beginning to make the most of their hard work which had been so poorly rewarded over the last few weeks.

However, more bad luck was just around the corner, and when promising new-comer Alan Spurgeon pulled his hamstring FC Orange Bonus Weeks lost a little bit of momentum in the centre of midfield, this allowed Alfaz to get themselves back in the game and they wasted no time in stringing together a fine move which led to a fantastic strike which pile-drived its way past the head of the stunned keeper.

This brought the score to 2-1, but with the help of Pete Frank who came on for the injured Alan Spurgeon FC Orange Bonus Weeks managed to get their grip back on the game and before long they found themselves 3-1 up when substitute Robbie Decsei, on for Chris Griffen, won the ball on the left and then fired a superb shot at the keeper who could only block it out to the feet of Mark Dooley who kept his head and laid the ball to Adam Wilson who applied the finishing touch.

The second half started with FC Orange Bonus Weeks still in control, but Alfaz were not about to roll over and die, they continued to push forward themselves and eventually found their way through the impressive Bonus Weeks defence for a second time, some good movement and a great finish bringing the score back to 3-2. They may have sneaked a couple more but Adam Musk in net pulled off some brilliant saves to keep them at bay.

However, FC Orange Bonus Weeks were still having plenty of chances themselves and when the excellent Chris Griffen came back on his impact was almost immediate, he was sent clear with just the keeper to beat, a feat he accomplished with a beautiful lob over the keepers head to make it 4-2.

The game was there for FC Orange Bonus Weeks to win in style, more chances followed including another lob over the keeper, this time by Robbie Decsei, but unfortunately he put too much on it and it landed just wide. Mark Dooley hit the outside of the post with a free-kick that he hammered hard and low and the improving Ross Musk left his marker for dead before racing towards the goal with only the keeper to beat but his curling shot was well saved by the Alfaz keeper.

Of course, no matter how well FC Orange Bonus Weeks play, they are always playing against 12 men, and the referee did his utmost to make this fact hard to swallow like the proverbial “bitter pill”. Despite trying their best to play through all the ridiculously biased decisions of the referee and the often over-theatrical antics of the opposition, Bonus Weeks were hit with a real body blow when the referee sent off Adam Tauber with over 20 minutes left to play. There was no foul in evidence at the time and in fact Adam was jogging back into position when the referee and several of the Alfaz players approached him. Within seconds the referee produced the red card, leaving Adam and the rest of the team flabbergasted. From what we can gather, one of the Alfaz players had managed to convince the referee that Adam had used his elbow in a previous challenge, and, without having witnessed anything himself the referee nevertheless decided to find Adam guilty and gave him his marching orders.

So, for the fifth time this season, FC Orange Bonus Weeks found themselves with a numerical disadvantage. But, they dug deep, determined not to let go of their deserved lead. They defended well and still endured a referee intent on killing the game, but eventually he did just that when Matt Patton was blatantly fouled in his own area while trying to defend an attack but the referee did not give the foul and instead the ball found its way to an Alfaz player who shot at the keeper who managed to save it with his outstretched leg but the ball fell to another Alfaz player who found himself with the simplest of tap-ins to make it 4-3.

FC Orange Bonus Weeks were quite rightly incensed and were antagonized even further when the referee played well over the 45 minutes, seemingly giving Alfaz as much time as possible to equalise.
However, the 10 men of FC Orange Bonus Weeks held out despite cramps and strains taking their toll.
It ended 4-3, an extremely hard fought and well deserved first win for FC Orange Bonus Weeks, made even more so by the mountain of decisions given against them.

It certainly looks as though this will be the situation in all their games to come, but FC Orange Bonus Weeks do play some great football and have the potential to do so much more, particularly with new squad members like Alan Spurgeon, Lee Frape and Chris Griffen. Once they get a few more games under their belts and if they ever get their strongest 11 on the pitch they will definitely be a real force to reckon with.

Watch this space!
 

update van woensdag 14 november 2007  

Click on FC Oranje for the games.