February 2010 Match Reports

Sunday 21st February 2010
League, Trenham Drive

Banter Central FC 1 - 0 Kurdish Utd
Baird

Team: Wuker, J-Dot (Fintan, 75 mins), Vidic, Tino, Cling; Ridders, Hughes, Wilkes, Baird; Wommy, Brownie (Adkins, 70 mins)

A hugely deserved and satisfying win from a Banter point of view. It was full of dedication, hard work and grafting to get a result. A totally different prospect and game than Banter faced back in early October when the score was 9-2.

The game kicked off late due to many controversies, namely that Kurdish were trying to field at least one ineligible player and refused to accept or admit defeat on the matter despite the referee saying that they’re having a laugh. Then we had to move pitch, which also made a difference. The boggy surface we moved to was heavy, it cut up and down the middle there was barely any grass left on it. But it seemed to suit Banter and a competition began to see who could turn their nice white kit into the filthiest brown mess possible. Baird won. He’d do well at more than getting his kit dirty in this game, too.

Arguably, part of Banter’s problem this season has been that the whites/browns haven’t always got stuck in and done the necessary hard work that requires a Sunday league side to win tight games. Often it's a lack of concentration, sometimes it's a slow start and heads drop. This was certainly not the case against Kurdish, where everyone got stuck in, was equal to everything aerially and on the deck, managing to still find some wonderful touches to play the ball around, too.

First half, Hughesdog and Wommy went closest to scoring after some lovely neat passing. Hughes ran the ball from deep as he had done all game, causing so many problems in that area between defence and midfield, he played a neat one-two with Wommy, advanced into the area and had his shot saved well by the goalkeeper. Soon after he also had one tipped over when a ferocious shot was hammered in from the edge of the area. Wommy’s had a good chance and appeared to have done it all right, burying his shot into the bottom right corner, only for the goalkeeper to make a miraculous save and tip it out for a corner.

The most bizarre decision came when Vidic was kicked in the head when Banter sent a free kick long into the box. The award was an indirect free kick for dangerous play. It seemed to baffle many. Hughes took the kick, but not before attempting 'a Porto' on them, running in to see if a quick kick one was on. The ref was not going to risk anything and blew to say he wouldn’t be allowed it quickly anyway (even though before the game he said he'd always allow them - it's those weird penalty area rules again). Hughes’ kick was fizzed across goal agonisingly as nobody got the required touch to steer it in. The scores remained deadlocked, 0-0 at half time.

The break was not particularly welcomed as far as Banter were concerned as the momentum was running with the home side, stretching Kurdish for the opening goal. But Banter came out for the second period positive and weathering some long balls around the area, got it clear well and continued to dominate in possession. As with the first half, the whistle was blown for foul after foul and petty complaint after petty complaint was thrown in the direction of the referee from red shirts. It was all becoming tiresome, along with the kick-outs and fake whistles, too. The only real misdemeanor on the part of the home side was J-Dot’s booking at right-back for pulling on his marker, but he took the yellow and could be satisfied with a very solid day’s work.

Wilkes and Hughes continued to drive and dominate in midfield, Wilkes covered all areas in front of the defence and acted as a defensive protection wonderfully, as well as working forward when needed. Opportunities were few and far between for the forwards, whilst Baird and Ridders didn’t get on the ball as much as they’d have liked, they put in a hell of a shift to stop any attacks coming the other way, as well as breaking forward at the right times. Ridders' delivery from crosses in particular proved dangerous, more than once a Banter head met the ball in the area before it was cleared.

The opening goal came when a free kick was floated into the box and as it was pushed wide, Hughes ran out to collect from the right – the offside flag had gone up for what looked like Wommy or Brownie who didn’t go near the ball, so they stayed where they were – Hughes crossed into the penalty area well, it was cleared to the edge where Baird struck a controlled half volley into the bottom left corner to make it 1-0. The celebrations were dirty, a big pile-up of bodies began as Kurdish made complaint after complaint about who was and wasn’t offside. Referee Lambert remained confident and strong, was not intimidated and the goal, rightfully, stood.

With the conditions of the pitch and the way in which the match was heading, it was clear that one goal could settle it so Banter needed to remain focused and determined. Kurdish fizzed a couple of balls into and across the penalty area, Wuker was called upon once or twice, he dealt with the danger well throughout though. Kurdish did have an indirect free kick of their own inside the penalty area, which made many in red scream for absolutely no reason at all. Hughes had cut out a cross which Wuker picked up and it was deemed to be a back pass, which seemed debatable. Given he didn’t even believe Sol Campbell had made a back pass against Porto in midweek, Referee Fintan was probably having a heart attack on the sidelines over this one. Kurdish attempted to take it quickly, which they did and Hughes cleared. But the referee kindly brought it back for a reason nobody seemed clear on. This incident did bring some fantastic banter though, when a Kurdish player complained that Hughes should be booked for what he’d done (clearing away a free kick that had been taken, yes indeed), Hughes did not appear impressed and told he who complained, “Shut up, you should be booked for wearing them gloves mate, look at them.” I did look at them. They were leather. Brilliant. The free kick was eventually taken and the chance was wasted after a scramble or two, the ball was cleared to safety.

Adkins replaced Brownie with 20 minutes remaining, brought on to keep hold of the ball and give the side a presence up top, alongside Wommy. He did just that for the time he was on and had a chance through on goal, but was deemed to have been offside.

When Baird was brought down after an excellent run down the left wing, a free kick was awarded and Hughes went to claim the ball. For having the cheek to do so, a Kurdish player kicked out at him and he was sent off. Nice lad, that number 8. Wommy had earlier suggested he might not have taken his medication that morning, which seems a huge possibility.

Rob Stewart returned for the first time since March 15th 2009, he came on in place of brother Jon at right back. Fantastic to see him back in a capacity which doesn’t require him to award penalties against his own teammates.

As Banter controlled the game, committed tackles continued to fly in as Baird and Wilkes had a side bet to see who could slide the ball out for a throw-in the most times. I have no idea who won, but ultimately it wasn’t Kurdish. Hughes made a late surge into the penalty area, was brought down and a penalty was awarded. Before you wonder if Tino stepped up and missed a penalty, he didn’t. The referee changed his decision and awarded a free kick on the edge of the area instead. He was very determined not to award a spot kick if he didn’t absolutely have to, clearly. A tough game to ref though and he controlled it well, so we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt as he was strong throughout.

Banter held on and took a thoroughly deserved 1-0 victory and 3 points to stay 4th but edge close to Kurdish in the table, still with the games in hand.

Man of the match: David ‘The Icon’ Baird. They’ll be selling t-shirts that are brown from the chest down and white above in no time. A hard working display and deserved award for a player who has really stepped it up since the turn of the new year, making that wide midfield role his own. A well taken goal capped off a display with maximum effort to maximum effect.

Big shout to everyone who played their part because there were many more excellent displays on the day. It was a really gritty team performance.

Who knows what the remainder of the season can bring, particularly when we’re still in the Leonard Vase Cup. Remember that? Remember the narrow 1-2 loss to Surrey Valley in October? Well we play Portland this coming weekend in the second group match. Show that amount of grit, determination, energy and fight against them and we can get the result we really need. It won't be easy of course, but we can do it. It would be glorious to get together a cup run, particularly when we’ve been so focused on the league as of late. You get what you deserve and we deserved it today.

Speaking of league games, there’s still plenty of football to be played if we do want promotion. The teams around us will drop points, because there are many where they are still to play each other. Here’s a run down of what’s left:

Our remaining league fixtures: Santos (h), Woodmansterne (a), Portland (h), Crown FC (h, double header), Maple Tree (h), Santos (a)

And the rest:

Maple Tree: Carlton Utd (a, double), Santos 92 (a), Banter (a), one unconfirmed fixture
Carlton Utd: Maple Tree (h, double), Kurdish (a), Woodmansterne (h), Portland (h)
Kurdish Utd: Portland (h), Carlton Utd (h), Portland (a)
Portland: Kurdish (h), Santos 92 (a), Banter (a), Woodmansterne (h, double header), Carlton (a), Kurdish (a)