Sunday the 18th of November brought the current joint League leaders Bar Angelillo to the home of Bonus Weeks. Bar Angelillo had beaten League favourites Lope de Vega in their last game so they were predicted to give Bonus Weeks a really tough time.

Bonus Weeks turned up a little lighter than expected with a few players unable to play through sickness and injury and a couple of no-shows, but they did manage to have two players on the bench for the start of the game. The game itself played out quite unexpectedly for some, as Bonus Weeks proved why they simply do not belong near the bottom of the League Table, their players more than held their own against their lofty opposition, in fact it was Bonus Weeks themselves who had most of the chances in the first half.

They defended well and really took the game to Angelillo who looked a bit short of ideas on how to break them down. Bonus Weeks worked hard to get the ball forward but with only one available striker they found it difficult to get behind the Angelillo defence. However, they did just that when Adam Wilson sent in a peach of a corner to the back post and Alan Spurgeon met it with a great header which looked goal-bound all the way until it unfortunately it landed just wide of the far post.

A few minutes later and Bonus Weeks were at it again, this time it was Adam Wilson who found himself one-on-one with the keeper only to see his angled strike roll tantalisingly wide of the far post. Two let-offs for Angelillo who barely troubled the Bonus Weeks keeper in the first half, and again it was Bonus Weeks who nearly took the lead just before the break when Matt Patton struck a great free-kick from 25 yards which beat the keeper but sailed just wide of the post.

So, 0-0 at half-time and Bonus Weeks were looking like they could really do a number on Angelillo, but, as always, they were getting no help from the referee who saw fit to send off Dave Mold after an hour for an alleged kick on an opponent. The Angelillo player was far from innocent himself as he too saw red for the challenge but the whole thing left a nasty taste in the mouths of Bonus Weeks and their frustrations were clear for all to see.

They did their best to keep in the game but after 70 minutes Angelillo finally made them pay for their earlier misses when they put together a fine move which ended in their unmarked No.19 arriving late in the box to slide in just ahead of the defender to get the final touch and send the ball past the helpless keeper.

But still Bonus Weeks went after the equalizer, determined to get at least a well-deserved point out of the game. They played 3 at the back and pushed up as much as they could, and it nearly paid off when Alan Spurgeon headed in a corner from Chris Griffen but the referee amazingly disallowed it, seemingly intent on depriving Bonus Weeks of getting anything out of the game at all.

It was a real body-blow for Bonus Weeks, and their misery continued 5 minutes later when Adam Tauber who had had enough of the referees ridiculous decisions told him so in no uncertain terms. The referee replied, in no uncertain terms, with Adam’s second yellow card of the game, so, for the second time this season, Bonus Weeks were reduced to 9 men.

A deflated Bonus Weeks held on and with 5 minutes to go substitute David Burr almost provided the perfect ending when he stole into the box and hit a great strike but unfortunately there was just a bit too much on it and it lifted just inches over the bar.

That was the last chance for either team, and at the final whistle it was a dejected Bonus Weeks who were left to feel robbed of at least a point in a game against the League leaders.

Based on this performance, the only things Bonus Weeks have to fear are the referees and their own tendency to self-destruct when they continually get shafted, but hopefully they can eventually be allowed to concentrate on their football without the associated circus of the Spanish League.

update van dinsdag 27 november 2007  

Click on FCO Bonus Weeks for the games report.