BAFC Reserves 3, Robin Hood Athletic Reserves 2
West Yorkshire Alliance Division 1
23.08.08

In a game with 3 penalties and a red card, ‘Bridge Reserves did their best to let the visitors claim some reward for their efforts, but somehow it was the home team that came away with all 3 points. A couple of early attempts by Phil Wix and one for the visitors’ Steve Hancock looked to  be giving a pattern to the game, but following the sending off of Robin Hood’s keeper in the 20th minute, Bridge should have taken the presented opportunity to take control of the match.

By this point, Paul Smith had already won a penalty for the home side when he was felled in the area by Martin Wilson, but Wix’s tame shot was  easily stopped by Mark Findlay with his legs. The flash point came five minutes later, when Smith’s surging run was halted by Findlay to win another penalty. As Smith turned to move to the spot, he was struck by Findlay and the referee had no option but to show red. Smith himself made no mistake from the spot against the stand-in keeper, and ‘Bridge had their platform.

Amazingly, there seemed  to be no real attempts to capitalise on their advantage, as ‘Bridge put together an error filled 70 minutes to give the visitors real hope. Poor tackling, positioning and passing allowed Robin Hood far too much of the ball, and on the half hour Hancock should have done better when well placed rather than blaze over the bar. It was a warning. Shortly afterwards however, a quick throw in from the left wing by Anthony Lavery fell to Smith, who danced past three defenders before squaring a low ball across the area. The effort was cleared straight to Ben Mudd 15 yards out, and he hammered the ball home to give the men in blue some breathing space at 2-0.

It was one of those games though. A great piece of skill by Robin Hood’s Dave Havron gave Dave Ekin plenty to think of as the break loomed. Allowed to drift across the edge of the area, he stunned the home side with a left foot shot that rifled into the top right of Ollie Barton’s goal to reduce the arrears. If things seemed to be going right for the visitors, this was even more the case when just before half time Phil Wix raced clear to fire home what seemed to be ‘Bridge’s third of the afternoon, but the referee ruled that he had controlled the ball with his arm on the way forward and the goal was not allowed, half time arriving at 2-1. Somehow, the game was still live and there to be won.

The second half was tough going with little of quality from either side and plenty to frustrate the spectators. An early shot from Marcus Philpott just went wide, but it took until 71 minutes for the next decent attempt. Wix comprehensively beat the defence’s static offside trap and had plenty of time to pick his spot and give ‘Bridge a surely unassailable 3-1 lead. Well, not quite. Four minutes later Robin Hood were back in it as Ollie Barton at full stretch was unable to hold a low cross, and Bernard Ferdinand latched on to the loose ball to reduce the deficit. A further three minutes later the most unlikely comeback looked possible when Andy Layton was ruled to have handled whilst shielding the ball, but Damien Gale’s spot kick was high and bounced off the bar and behind. It was a huge let off for ‘Bridge who were finally able to see out time without too many more dramas and claim all 3 points.

Robin Hood were flattered by the many frailties in the home side’s play, but took every opportunity that came their way and might have produced a most unlikely result. As for ‘Bridge, manager Dave Ekin will be relieved to pick up all the points, but must be wondering what he has to do to get the team back to the highs of last season.

BAFC - O Barton; S Kirby; R Bland; A Layton; C Chapman; B Mudd; J Lowes; M Philpott; P Wix; P Smith; A Lavery. Subs - C Tetley; T Ekin; D Ekin
Goal Scorers - Smith 20 (pen); Mudd 32; Wix 81

Robin Hood Athletic - M Findlay; S Gould; C Bosley Yemm; S Hartigan; M Wilson; C Foster; D Gale; D Havron; B Ferdinand; A Wilson, S Hancock. Subs - M Hartigan; L Bailey; S Carmody; M Brown
Goal Scorers - Havron 41; Ferdinand 76.

Man of Match - Steve Kirby / Paul Smith