19 March 2005 - League
Darkside 3 v Dynamo Kingston 1
Team: Adrian, Alan, Anthony, Ben E, Ben M, Chet, Craig, French Dan, Emmon, Errol, Mark, Omer, Richard Deare, Tim
Goals: Adrian, Chet, Richard Deare / Assists: Alan, French Dan, Errol / MOTM: Richard Deare / MM: Richard Deare

To the unsuspecting, Darkside vs Dynamo Kingston had the makings of being a drab mid-tabled affair between two teams, neither of whom are involved in the relegation dogfight or the scrap for automatic promotion.

But as the groundsman and two kids who sat in the Railway End stand (admittedly more of a bench than a stand) will testify, this was a game that went far beyond the remit of any normal football match. This was nothing less than an emotional rollercoaster, a battle of wills, a test of mental and physical strength.

Due to some noteable absentees, Neil named a different looking side to that of recent matches. Neither top scorer Dan or Phill made the squad due to injury and international duty respectively. Craig had only just returned from international duty in Australia and Emmon lacked match fitness - both accompanied Chet to form a multi million pound Darkside bench. Richard Deere was welcomed to the starting line-up after a long lay-off and a debut was given to Anthony at left back.

Dynamo found their stride quickly and dominated the early exchanges. Dangerous from corners, from their long throw and with more than a little help from the 15 year old ref with the rather dashing bum fluff beard, the defence and Omer in goal had their work cut out dealing with a series of goalmouth scrambles. Errol cleared the ball off the line three times in the first half, but as the Portuguese say, the Darkside had brought their bus and parked it in front of the goal!

However, goals change games and a Richard Deere looping header from a Dan B long throw somehow lobbed the keeper from the cutest of angles. Buoyed by the goal, Darkside took a hold on the game, with Mark especially going close... to putting the ball in the flats over the road. The turning point in the match came in the last seconds of the first half. Alan whipped in a great corner that was met by Adrian who powered a header past the stranded Dynamo keeper. 2 - 0.

Dynamo were gifted a goal early on in the second half following a bout of indecision in the defence. That aside they never really tested Omer and when they did Richard Deere capped a man of the match performance with a clearance off the line. Little Ben continued to give the Dynamo defence a torrid time and could (and perhaps should) have scored a hat-trick. But with the score remaining at 2 - 1, the last half an hour was tense affair indeed.

Craig replaced Tim, who had had a very effective 60 mins playing the holding role in midfield. Emmon came on for Anthony and Chet replaced Mark up front.

The substitutions proved decisive. Running onto a through ball from Errol, Chet sent the keeper the wrong way with a drop of the shoulder and a Ronaldo like shimmy. A fine finish to wrap up a fine team performance.

Match report by: Errol