Saturday, January 23, 2010

Game 36: Bristol Manor Farm 1.3 Whitehawk (FA Vase) 23.01.10

After almost a month without any football due to the snow and ice, I was keen to get out of the house and to a match today. Originally I had planned to go to a Vase game at Brimsdown Rovers but that had been switched to a Sunday and my first choice back up at Royston was affected by rail engineering works. After spotting this I decided to head up on the train to Bristol and take the line out to Sea Mills which looked to be the closest station to the ground.


I didn't appreciate how close the ground was until I got to the end of the platform and saw the floodlights and pitch on the other side of a small river. The trainline actually runs directly past the pitch so it was a straightforward walk to the ground. I had allowed plenty of time in case the game was called off so I spent some time in the bar watching Preston v Chelsea before venturing out to the ground.



Whitehawk started well and had three early chances to take the lead - one offside, one shot wide and a freekick over the bar. The proximity of the trainline didn't bother the Bristol players when clearing the ball over the fence behind me and I noticed that there was a gateway so an official could venture onto the single track to collect balls during the match. There was a distinct slope on half the pitch and a Bristol shot that looked to be on target after 10 minutes ended up 3 feet over the bar by the time it reached the far goalline.


Bristol took the the lead in the 14th minute. The ball was chipped into the penalty area from a throw in and fell kindly for a home player to smash the ball in at close range past the keeper. In the 24th minute Whitehawk almost equalised but the Bristol keeper tipped the ball round the post. A minute later and it was almost 2.0 to the home side when the ball was headed on target from close range. The Whitehawk keeper stretched hi limbs as far as he could in every direction and covered enough of the goal to push the shot away.


Whitehawk won a corner in the 38th minute when a good cross into the box didn't find a visiting player but worried the defender enough for him to clear the ball straight away for the corner. This opportunity wasn't wasted as when this cross came in Whitehawk muscled their way past the defensive cover to score from a header into the centre of the goal.


There had been a few comments and gestures between the benches earlier in the game which boiled over in the 43rd minute. The referee didn't spot a Bristol player down with a head injury and didn't stop play so the teams carried on, despite shouts from the home bench for the visitors to put the ball out of play. The fourth official had to act as a peacemaker while the physio was on the pitch but I thought the referee helped as he made it clear to both benches that it was his mistake for not seeing the player and allowing play to continue.


At halftime it looked like the game could go either way. Whitehawk had played well but seemed to want to overcomplicate passes rather than shooting in the final third. Bristol looked confident on the break and I was hoping that both teams would continue as they had left off.


Whitehawk had the first chance of the half with a great dipping shot from their number 9 that the Bristol keeper did well to push over the bar. A minute later and Bristol came close to scoring - another great cross came into the box and fell to the back post when the Whitehawk player spilt the cross but no Bristol players were close enough to prod the ball home.


In the 65th minute it was Whitehawk's players who had their heads in their hands as they should have taken the lead. The ball was cleverly worked forward and across the line of defenders only for the final shot to go well over the bar at the near post. Bristol almost gave their visitors a goal ten minutes later when a long throw from the right was flicked backwards towards his own net by a defender. Luckily for him his keeper was alert and managed to grab the ball before it went past him.


In the 80th minute Bristol were denied a good penalty shout when one of their players dribbled the ball along the goalline and into the penalty area. It looked like he had been fouled by one of the chasing defenders when he collapsed to the ground but the referee waived play on. This was a crucial decision as Whitehawk quickly counterattacked. The ball was played into the area past the keeper which allowed the visitors to score with a tap in less than 60 seconds after the penalty appeal.


In the 85th minute Bristol were denied another clear penalty shout when one of their players was held back in the box by a blatent shirt pull. The referee managed to miss this and gave a freekick the other way for the subsequent retaliatory shirt grab as the Bristol player tried to get free of his marker.


In the 88th minute Bristol were caught out by another breakaway attack. Whitehawk's number 9 beat his covering defender, took aim and hit a great shot on target. The Bristol keeper managed to parry the shot but the pace took the ball away from him, allowing a Whitehawk player to control the ball, skip past him and pass the ball into the net to give the visitors a 3.1 lead.


An exciting cuptie and a great game to start off the new year.

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