29 October 2005 - League
Outcasts 2 - Darkside 1
Team: Adrian, Alan, Andy, Ant, Ben M, Ben S, Chris K, Craig, Dan B, Dan S, Ian, Mike, Phill, Tim
Goals: Mike / Assists: Ben M / MOTM: Tim / MM: Mike
PICTURE GALLERY

The second defeat of the season for Darkside…this game will always be remembered for foolishness (my red card), incompetence (the Referee) and bad luck (injuries to 4 players).

The day had started well; the weather was quite nice for an autumn afternoon. Darkside were playing Outcasts away. Looking at the league table before the match it should have been an easy win for Darkside, considering Outcasts’ records (played 5, won 2 lost 3.... 8 scored, 11 conceded).
During our usual warm up, the Referee came over to tell us to play fair…maybe I should have tried harder to listen!

The team was full of confidence having only lost once since the start of the season.
From the kick-off, Darkside were really showing signs of their form controlling the early exchanges with the ball flowing nicely between the midfield and the strikers.

Darkside had the best of play and found themselves ahead when a cross from Ben Mole from a great run on the wing allowed Mike Masuku to finish coolly with his foot and claim his 9th goal of the season. It now looked like Darkside were carrying on with the form showed since the start of the season. However, no one would have thought things were about to change the way it did.

At around the 20th minute mark, while chasing a ball kicked by the Outcast Keeper, French Dan was kicked and pushed to the ground while trying to protect the ball. His immediate reaction was to stand up and push back the players who had been kicking him. The Referee who was close to the action had no hesitation and sent French Dan off for violent conduct on the pitch. Harsh decision, as this was French Dan’s first offence on the pitch since the start of the match. A yellow card and a telling off would probably have been fairer. Nevertheless, you cannot raise your arm on a football pitch and French Dan should have known better. (I would actually like to use this opportunity to apologise to all my teammates and Manager for letting them down…without forgetting all our fans!)

Darkside were now reduced to ten men and the gaffer Neil Tanna wasted no time in making changes on the pitch to compensate for the loss of our centre back. Tim Gale was moved from midfield to partner Adrian Boyd as central defender. This was going to be a test for Darkside.

We held on well with 10 men and even had a perfectly good goal disallowed by a Referee who continued to demonstrate his incompetence!! A flick from our strong central defender Adrian Boyd to Mike Masuku ended up in the back of the net only for the ‘part-time’ ref to disallow it for an imaginary offside. Too many decisions were going against us, we were being penalised for petty things and the ref did not pick up blatant fouls committed on our players. This infuriated our gaffer on the touchline who started to voice out his discontent. He was eventually threatened by the incompetent ref with a sending off if he didn’t calm down.

Half time came and Darkside were still holding on to their 1-0 lead thanks to a great performance from the remaining 10 players.

The second half started and Outcasts looked like they wanted to snatch a win, but our back four held on well heading away long balls and closing down on their forwards’ runs. Until a cross coming from their left-winger reached our box, bounced off one of our players and one of their players stumbled on it and by sheer luck the ball ended up in the back of our net. 1-1.

Outcasts were now pushing to get all 3 points. Our striker, Mike Masuku, had to come off with a groin injury. The gaffer made a quick change and in came Ben Saunders. We carried on with a few threatening runs on the wings but on one of these runs, Ben Mole, who had been outstanding since the start of the match, fell to the ground with a hamstring injury. Unable to come back on the pitch, in came Phill Neill, dropping into left back, with Ant Wright covering the left wing, while Alan Fletcher moved up as a lone striker. In between these changes Darkside were dealt another blow when a long ball from their keeper bounced over our defence and the Outcasts striker chased it down and finished the action by unleashing a strike that put the ball at the end of our net. 2-1 to the Outcasts.

Another injury hit our lone striker Alan Fletcher, when he went down following a heavy tackle from one of the Outcasts’ players (cheers Dan, but I think I’ll have to take the blame for this one. Ben S.) and was immediately replaced by Chris Kidwell. Chris took his place as the holding midfielder while Dan Swain moved up as the forward.

But Darkside still had time to push for the draw and towards the end we missed a great chance of an equalizer, a great cross coming from our midfield player Craig Kingston went through the Outcast box but missed one of our player’s head by an inch. The last injury of the game went to Darkside’s right back Ian Harris, who after chasing down a ball near the corner flag twisted his ankle and fell to the floor unable to walk again. Darkside were now playing with only 9 men.

When the final whistle was blown, Darkside had lost but had given their all, playing with 10 men for almost the whole match…some would say they were playing against 12 men…if you count the Referee in it. Darkside will have a point to prove at the return match against Outcasts…me especially!

Match report by: Dan B