|
Bonus Weeks
just
love to try!
By Lawrence Mentesh
Thursday the 10th of January saw the long awaited home derby
of Bonus Weeks and FC Orange, a match that FC Orange had
kindly agreed to re-arrange from the 29th of December. It
was a 9PM kick-off and there was an excellent crowd turnout
for both Teams so with the floodlights on the stage was set
for a really good game.
Bonus Weeks were still missing Adam Musk so Gary Lane
continued in goal and they also welcomed back Dave Mold who
had missed the last few games. Unfortunately Adam Tauber was
still carrying a bad knock on his knee from the previous
game and Jeff Ball was working so Lee Frape moved into the
centre of defence, Richard Jinks came in at right back and
Lawrence Mentesh moved over to left back.
With not only the 3 points at stake but a lot of pride and
bragging rights, the game started at a good tempo with both
Teams desperate to get the early advantage but both defences
held tight in what was an excellent end-to-end first half.
The best chance for Bonus Weeks fell to Alan Spurgeon but he
couldn’t quite keep his effort down and the ball swept over
the crossbar from just a few yards out. Even Lawrence
Mentesh tried to get in on the act, a rare foray forward saw
him stepping his way past 3 Orange players before his final
pass to Alan Belshaw was cut out by the outstretched leg of
a defender.
With Craig Tilley working hard in the centre of midfield FC
Orange also crafted several good chances but the Bonus Weeks
back four worked hard to keep them out especially Lee Frape
who had an outstanding game at the heart of it all. Gary
Lane also did well in goal but a good save cost him an
injury to his thumb and with Bonus Weeks not really able to
sub him without affecting their formation Gary carried on
like the trooper he is.
With the score at 0-0 and the game looking like one goal
could decide it Robbie Decsei and Ross Musk came on for Alan
Belshaw and John O’Leary, Bonus Weeks hoping that some fresh
legs would give them some extra impetus.
However, a game with such rivalry was always going to get a
bit niggly at some point and after putting in one too many
heavy tackles Richard Jinks was shown the first yellow card
of the match. There was also a bit of tension building
between Dan Harrison of FC Orange and a couple of the Bonus
Weeks players and this finally spilled over into a very ugly
scene when both Dan and Richard Jinks seemed to trip over
each other. Richard got to his feet first and took exception
to the possibility that Dan may have tripped him,
unfortunately answering with his fists left the referee with
no alternative but to dismiss Richard from the pitch. Dan’s
part in the affair earned him a yellow card as well.
Down to 10 men the pendulum swung in favour of FC Orange and
they made their possession count soon after when a loose
ball in the Bonus Weeks defence left Gabi Medini with the
task of lifting the ball over the keeper who was unable to
catch it properly. This was first blood to the Orange and a
real boost for them and they added to their oppositions
misery when Dan Harrison found space enough to apply the
finish from a cross to take FC Orange into a 2-0 lead.
With the game now slipping away Luke Swingler came on for
the injured Adam Wilson but Orange showed no mercy, a poor
attempted clearance by Gary Lane fell straight to Jon Manson
who skilfully guided the ball into the unguarded net with
the side of his foot. This was Gary’s last action as his
thumb was becoming too painful so he was finally replaced by
Pete Frank with about 10 minutes to go.
Nevertheless, despite being 3-0 down Bonus Weeks continued
to press forward to salvage some pride and they did just
that when Dave Mold sent Luke Swingler clear on the right
with only the keeper to beat and Luke’s brilliant finish to
the top right of the goal sent the Bonus Weeks supporters
into absolute ecstasy, not least because the goal came from
the most unlikely of scorers. Well done to Luke for working
so hard and for keeping a cool head under such pressure.
Of course, the goal was too little too late and FC Orange
ran out as 3-1 winners but the result may have been
different if the game had ended 11 v 11. Still, for the most
part it was a close and well fought encounter which was
helped by some very sensible refereeing and it sets up the
return match nicely in a few weeks time. FC Orange have
proved that they will be no pushover but Bonus Weeks will
just love to try!
|
Trainer/
Coach