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Hollands & Bertrand combined again to win a corner – from which Gas rushed up-field directly & won a corner. Moss rectified his subsequent clearance kick error by finding Hayter but back it came for another Gas corner. This was not very clever play by Cherries. Pinball in the area led to yet another corner. My feelings at this point were that there were too many reserve-team players (from other clubs) in the side; showing you can play is one thing, but we needed to dig in & play ugly. Yet another Gas corner saw Moss save the header with his leg. For relief, Hayter found Purches with a great ball – but it hit the rugby 22-metre line, & Purches ballooned it over. Hollands & Bertrand combined well yet again; Bertrand's cross-shot nicked the outside of the far post. Cherries played with good intent, but were too often sloppy. But more good work on the left wing saw Hollands clip the top of the bar; soon after, he shot straight at the keeper. Hayter pulled back a pass from the wing, & this time Cork hit it at the goalie.
The all-action period saw Moss having to tackle to clear, then Fletcher exchanged business cards with his marker. Bertrand won another corner, but it went straight back to our end, on our right side. The Gas player hit it across; my view was obscured by the stand to my right but from subsequent TV pictures I saw that Purches was standing less than 2 yards away when the ball hit his arm, albeit with a slight downward motion of that limb as he tried too late to pull it away. Ridiculous decision, hence the remonstrations to the officials, but the head-bandaged Walker put away the spot-kick for 1-0 on 45.
Foley replaced Hollands at the break; at least the latter could be consoled subsequently by having won the Player of the Month for our division. Cherries started well; Cooper had a free tipped round, & Foley hit the far angle. Hayter, giving everything, had a left-footer pushed out. Bertrand came off in favour of Pitman on 63; by now it was all huff & puff. A by-now rare Gas attack saw them hit the woodwork, & the follow-up was wide. A Gas corner was headed out well but most effort by both sides was aimless – apart from keeping warm. However, another Hayter shot produced a superb save. Then a long cross from the right saw Pitman heading back from beyond the far post. Hayter came in at the near stick, where it hurts, & nodded the ball in for the equaliser. 1-1, 73.
Gas came back strongly, aided by a bad mistake from Cooper. Moss had to push out the resultant shot, & Cooper's passing went haywire. Desperate, panic defending ensued from Cherries, but some of the home attacks were over-strong as Broadhurst was felled & Fletcher seemed to have lost a tooth. Most of us were glad – relieved - to see Howe replace Cooper on 83. Then Hayter was felled from the back – the tackle right through him – but no foul seemed to be given. The ref. then waved away Gas claims for penalties – hand-balls, & a push, that seemed worse than the one given. Young produced a superb clean saving tackle. So it ended 1-1 at 90 minutes.
There had been little quality in the game – more like thud & blunder. The ball was hacked around so much it was less a golden globe than a globe artichoke. I'd suggested we'd used up our goal quota against Boston, & so it had proved over the following weeks. Cherries looked to play decent football, but too many players were not quite there. Purches seemed to be under-used on the right-hand side – that's a criticism more of the system than of him. Gas showed lots of energy & commitment – as their coach said later, & as you'd expect – but no more actual quality than Cherries. However, that's 2 successive non-defeats. Certain crowd-control tactics & strategies are better discussed in other arenas. One consolation if we're relegated – I'd be happy with a return trip to Robin Hood's Retreat for the beer & bar staff…
Home to Bulls in Round 3 if we win the Gas replay – big if!
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AFCB: Moss, Young, Connolly, Broadhurst, Purches, Cork, Cooper, Hollands, Bertrand, Fletcher, Hayter.
Subs: Stewart, Gowling, Howe (for Cooper, 83), Foley (for Hollands, HT), Pitman (for Bertrand, 64)
Pete Wicks, Bulford