Football, don’t you just
love it!
By Lawrence Mentesh
After a beautiful sunny day on Saturday it was a cold and
wet morning on Sunday that provided the setting for the
Match against Iberseguridad. Bonus Weeks beat them 6-2 first
time around so they were looking for another good win today,
although Iberseguridad did win themselves last week just to
prove that every dog does have its day!
The rainy morning and the early 10am kick-off may have kept
some of the players away but Bonus Weeks managed to turn up
with 14, despite Alan Spurgeon being back in England and
Mark Dooley still sidelined with his calf problem. However,
they were able to welcome back Jeff Ball from his hamstring
strain and Adam Tauber from his 4 Match ban.
With their lowly opposition in mind and their wealth of
attacking players available, Bonus Weeks decided to play 3
at the back and to push an extra man into midfield, Nathan
Conteh getting the job of sitting in-between the central
midfielders and the two strikers in an effort to bolster the
attack. It was also a chance to push Adam Tauber into the
centre of midfield instead of his usual place at the heart
of the defence.
The Game started well enough for Bonus Weeks, Iberseguridad
enjoyed some possession but never really troubled Bonus
Weeks at the back. It was no surprise then that Bonus Weeks
took the lead after 20 minutes, Ross Musk sweeping a long
cross to the right where Alan Belshaw teed it up nicely for
himself before unleashing a fantastic volley which sailed
perfectly over the floundering keepers head and into the
back of the net. It was a brilliant opening goal and very
similar to Alan’s other goal this Season. He may only have
scored two goals so far but both of them have been absolute
crackers!
Iberseguridad did try to get forward themselves on a few
occasions and despite the Bonus Weeks back 3 defending well
they eventually managed to get their break, an ambitious but
perfectly hit shot from far out on the right followed a
similar path to Alan Belshaw’s goal and it too ended up
sailing over the keepers head and into the back of the net.
Amazing!
Disappointed to have lost their lead in such a way, Bonus
Weeks piled more pressure onto Iberseguridad and it soon
paid off when Adam Wilson was brought down on the edge of
the area. There were some claiming for a penalty but the
referee was having none of it, giving only a free-kick just
outside the area instead. Iberseguridad formed their wall
and when Ross Musk ran to take the kick they all moved to
their left but Ross very cleverly simply ran over the ball
leaving Adam Wilson to follow in behind him and bury the
ball into the bottom left corner. It was a brilliantly
worked free-kick and a great finish by Adam, giving Bonus
Weeks a well deserved 2-1 lead which they held going into
the break for half-time.
The second half continued much the same as the first with
Bonus Weeks in control and they almost increased their lead
early on when a corner from the right by Lawrence Mentesh
was met perfectly by Pete Frank but unfortunately his great
header was saved by a fortuitous combination of the left
post and then keepers flapping hands.
This would have killed the Game off but as always with
football the most frustrating things can happen, and when
Adam Tauber was sent off on the hour mark for his second
yellow card a little ray of light appeared for Iberseguridad
which offered them a chance of salvation.
Down to 10 men again for the umpteenth time this Season
Bonus Weeks had to dig in again to maintain their momentum,
but they did just that a few minutes later, a loose
clearance form the Bonus Weeks defence was chased down by
Lawrence Mentesh on the right who just got to the ball
before it went out of play and managed to send a great ball
through to Adam Wilson who took it perfectly in his stride
to shimmy past the last defender before striking a great
shot from distance which arced over the keepers outstretched
hands. It was a superb goal and the ensuing celebrations
gave Bonus Weeks a real lift.
However, there is always that 3rd man to bugger you up, and,
as usual, the referee decided to even things up by awarding
a very dubious penalty to Iberseguridad, a drilled shot from
their striker from only 5 yards away from Jeff Ball hit him
on his side as he turned to protect himself but this was
enough for the referee to give a handball decision. Despite
the protests the penalty stood and Iberseguridad snatched
their lifeline with both hands to claw the Game back to 3-2.
The signs were there for another nightmare finale and
although Bonus Weeks could have put the game beyond doubt
with a couple more one-on-ones with the keeper they could
not apply the finish. It was therefore left to Iberseguridad
to score the final goal of the Game, some very poor
concentration by a couple of Bonus Weeks players who were
more concerned with arguing with the referee left
Iberseguridad free to take a very quick free-kick behind
their backs and by the time they got back in position
Iberseguridad had already managed to put the ball in the
back of the net to make it 3-3.
Again, it was a very disappointing result and another 2
points dropped against one of the bottom Teams. With results
like this Bonus Weeks will struggle to make the top 3
promotion places even though they have a Team that deserves
to be playing their football in the top Division.
There are still 10 Games left but Bonus Weeks really do need
to learn how to finish Teams off and more importantly how to
stop being sent off and to stop moaning incessantly at the
referees instead of concentrating on the Game.
Football, don’t you just love it!
Trainer/
Coach