The Second Phase has now begun and Bonus Weeks kicked off their first game in Division 2 with a new encounter against Iberseguridad who finished 8th in Group B. Although it was a Home game for Bonus Weeks, they found themselves playing at the fantastic pitch at La Nucia, finally back to astro-turf after their last couple of games on gravel.

It was an early 10am kick-off, and with Ricky Hatton finishing his fight in Las Vegas only 3 hours earlier Bonus Weeks did well to turn up with 11 men, well done to all the lads who made the effort to make it, including Dave Mold who turned up to support despite still being suspended for 2 more games. Bonus Weeks actually started the game with 10 men as Pete Frank was 30 minutes late as his lift let him down. Fortunately Iberseguridad were just as bad as they only had 9 at the start but their late arrivals turned up soon after.

Bonus Weeks were still missing Carlos Parkin through injury and Alan Spurgeon, Chris Griffin and Richard Jinks were all away. Alan Belshaw was the other noticeable absentee, it seemed the late night before was just too much.

Any late night jitters were quickly dispelled by Bonus Weeks as they pushed at Iberseguridad from the start, keeping most of the action in their half and having some good early chances. They broke the deadlock after about 15 minutes when Rich Billam fed Mark Dooley who put his foot right through the ball and sent it rocketing past the keeper for an unstoppable first goal. The second came soon after, Adam Wilson who had made several good runs into the box was up-ended by the defender and Ross Musk stepped up to slot home the penalty.

Adam himself then made it 3-0 when he got on the end of a loose ball about 30 yards out and just battered an amazing volley which bent its way right into the top right of the goal. It was such a sweet strike and it will definitely end up as one of the best goals of the season.

However, Iberseguridad managed to pull one back soon after when a hopeful shot at goal hit the crossbar and spooned into the air. The ball came back down and hit the crossbar again only to fall at the feet of an Iberseguridad player who found himself with the time and space to put it past the stunned keeper. A very ‘special’ goal indeed, and in complete contrast to the wonder strike of Adam Wilson just a few minutes earlier.

But Bonus Weeks weren’t finished yet, they got number 4 when Ross Musk was caught in the face by a high foot when he was in the area. He picked himself up to take the penalty and although his first effort was blocked by the keeper the ball came back out to Ross who kept his head and made sure of the follow-up.

Taking a 4-1 lead into the second half Bonus Weeks were cruising but they still had to contend with the referee and the cheating theatrics of the opposition. 10 minutes into the second half the referee gave Adam Wilson his second yellow card for a truly innocuous challenge, the resulting red card being very harsh indeed. Less than 10 minutes after that, Rich Billam received the same treatment when the No.10 of Iberseguridad went down like a sack of shit, holding his ear and screaming like a baby. Nobody saw anything wrong with the 50-50 challenge, but the antics of the No.10 fooled the referee who sent Rich off for his second yellow.

Reduced to 9 men again, Bonus Weeks tempers began to fray a bit, but they managed to keep things together and even managed to go 5-1 up when Adam Tauber carried the ball all the way from the edge of his own area right up to the Iberseguridad goal before cutting it back across the face of goal where Ross Musk was on hand to smack in his third of the game and claim the honour of the very first Bonus Weeks hat-trick!

With 15 minutes left, Iberseguridad pulled another one back after some lucky ricochets in the box, but it was Bonus Weeks who had the last laugh when Matt Patton broke free on the left and played a great ball into the path of Mark Dooley who hit it first time sending it looping over the head of the advancing keeper. A great finish to a great game.
So, a much better start to the Second Phase than the one to the First Phase, and now that Bonus Weeks seem to have found their scoring touch perhaps they can rise above all the nonsense thrown at them every week and just concentrate on their football. If they can bite their lips and not get sucked into confrontations that they are always destined to lose then they really will be one of the Teams to beat.

update van woensdag 19 december 2007  

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