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Knock-out
By Lawrence Mentesh
The League was now over so Bonus Weeks were looking forward
to the Cup Matches for a chance to finish their Season on a
high. They were given a bye in the preliminary round of last
week so this week they were drawn against RTE. El Datil in
the first round proper. Datil had finished in the top half
of Division 1 so there was quite a gulf in the respective
positions of the two teams but as Bonus Weeks had never
played them before there was always a chance that Datil
could be shocked at how well Bonus Weeks could actually play.
Datil had already beaten Cafeteria Galera 2-0 in the
preliminary round which was no easy task so they were
obviously going to be very tough opponents for Bonus Weeks.
In the favour of Bonus Weeks was a Home draw at Albir
although the 4 o’clock kick-off time meant that they would
be playing in the heat of the late afternoon sun and with
only 3 half-fit substitutes available to them Bonus Weeks
were in for one hell of a lung-busting game.
Missing for them this week were Alan Spurgeon who had
injured his ankle in training a few days earlier, Alan
Belshaw who was working, Lee Slevin who was banned and Pete
Frank who was away. However, back in the fold were Dave Mold
who had recovered from his appendix operation but was now
carrying a calf problem and top scorer Adam Wilson who was
just about fit to play after damaging his elbow several
weeks ago.
Datil were obvious favourites for the game but Bonus Weeks
were buzzing from the Cup atmosphere and were more than
ready to play their hearts out to create a real Cup upset.
Once the two team photos had been taken by the local
newspaper it was down to business and although it was Datil
who showed their superior class to start the strongest in
the first 10 minutes Bonus Weeks defended well and proved to
Datil that they would be no pushovers.
Datil continued to pass the ball well and managed to get
into some dangerous positions but Bonus Weeks frustrated
them with their tenacity and resolve, some excellent
defensive headers and a brilliant diving save to his left by
goalkeeper Adam Musk. However, despite plenty of possession
in the first half the passing and movement of Bonus Weeks
was noticeably less effective than that of Datil and they
were restricted to only a handful of half chances to score,
the best opportunities falling to Ross Musk whose strike
went just wide of the post, to James Charles who had his
goal-bound effort well saved by the keeper and to Cameron
Parker who went on a great run past a couple of players
before he was halted by a stern defensive challenge.
Datil, unfortunately, were less forgiving, and on 25 minutes
their tricky No.10 worked some magic with his feet before
sending in a great cross from the right wing where it was
met in the centre of goal by his team-mate who got in front
of the defender to head it past the helpless keeper. It was
a well crafted goal to put them 1-0 up but Bonus Weeks were
used to conceding first and they were in no mood to give up
just yet.
They battled hard and continued to hold strong for the next
10 minutes but eventually a loose ball was not cleared to
safety allowing Datil to regain possession close to the edge
of the Bonus Weeks area and when the ball was laid square to
the striker he just managed to evade the tackle of the last
defender to fire a shot past the keeper, beating him down
low to his right. It was a real sucker-punch for Bonus Weeks
and they were extremely unlucky to go into the break 2-0
down.
The second half saw a much better performance from Bonus
Weeks and if the first half belonged to Datil then the
second half belonged to them. They continued to defend
resolutely at the back with both Adam Tauber and Lee Frape
doing an outstanding job in the centre of defence and with
their possession finally beginning to have a cutting edge to
it Bonus Weeks started to have more and more attacks on
their shell-shocked opponents.
With about 25 minutes left Bonus Weeks gave themselves hope
when a battling run into the box by James Charles resulted
in the defender bringing him down for a penalty. With the
amazing penalty miss by John Terry still fresh in everyone’s
mind it was a brave Ross Musk who stepped up to take the
kick, but unlike the Chelsea captain Ross kept both a cool
head and his feet to power the ball over the body of the
diving keeper to bring the game back to 2-1.
With only 1 goal in it the game was really hanging in the
balance and if Bonus Weeks could sneak the equaliser then
the match would be decided by penalties. Bonus Weeks pushed
forward at every opportunity, going 3 at the back in a bid
to bolster their attack.
With the clock running down it was hero time or nothing and
who better to pick up the gauntlet than player of the Season
Lee Frape who, after a great defensive tackle in his own
half to win the ball, strode purposely forward past 3 Datil
challenges but just as the pitch seemed to be opening up for
him to complete the perfect ending it closed just as quickly
with the intervention of the last defender and Lee’s
attempted pass to set somebody else free did not find its
target.
Datil were struggling to contain Bonus Weeks and were lucky
not to concede when a clearance by their keeper was
immediately half-volleyed back by Carlos Parkin on the
half-way line but the ball just sailed wide of the goal.
Soon after that Carlos had another chance from a free-kick
but his low strike was well saved by the keeper at full
stretch.
That was their last chance of the game and when the whistle
blew soon after it was a very relieved Datil team that left
the pitch as 2-1 winners. Despite the loss it was a great
performance by the Bonus Weeks players and it proved that
they really can compete with some of the best teams that the
League has to offer. In fact, much impressed by what he saw
on the pitch, the manager of Datil congratulated the Bonus
Weeks team and said that he was astonished that we ended the
Season in such a low position in the League. He, like all at
Bonus Weeks, knew that we were far better than our position
in the Table suggested, and I am sure that come next Season
we will prove to everybody that we should indeed be playing
in the Top Division.
Now that would be the perfect ending!
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Trainer/
Coach