After Sunday’s result nothing is over and certainly nothing has been won yet, however we may look back come May and say Sunday was a pivotal point in the season.
After a first half, when thanks to some very poor refereeing we had been knocked out of our stride by a strong and determined Simla side, been reduced to ten men through Nick Coxon’s sending off, had a key player in Mark Lester taken to hospital with a broken arm and fallen behind to a great strike from 25 yards, most sides would have capitulated. However, such is our strength of character and belief in each other that all we spoke about at half time was how we would get back in the game and go on to win it.
The first half had been Simlas’. Their aggression and strong tackling had given them the edge. On a tight pitch they had stopped us playing, rattled our composure and forced us in to making errors that put us under pressure. We had just started to come through the opening spell of this when Nick was sent off for a second yellow. The first was for discussing a lack of protection from the referee too strongly and the second followed a tug on a players shirt down by the corner flag. Strictly both cards were probably correct but, when taken in the context of some of the unpunished tackles that were flying around, both were extremely harsh. The sending off obviously again put us under pressure but we were digging in and it appeared that we would hold out until the break when we would have the opportunity to re-organise. However, on 42 minutes Manse made a great header to clear a corner comfortably outside of our box, unfortunately it fell to an on rushing Karl Mitchell who drove an unstoppable shot into the top corner.
The game changed though in the second half as we took the game to them. Danny was getting forward down our left, Peter found space in the middle and Dave Burren, despite playing the lone striker was causing their defence problems. I don’t know whether Simla had believed the game was over or whether us being so positive had surprised them but they appeared to lose some belief and became nervous about not winning the game. This was not helped by the introduction of Harps with half an hour remaining. Although we were not thoroughly dominant and Simla were certainly still in the game, there was an expectation that an equaliser would come. This duly happened on 70 minutes when Manse made a towering header from a Harps corner. It was thoroughly deserved and I thought that from there on there would only be one winner. However, with the fear of giving away an equaliser lifted, Simla regained a positive approach and the remaining twenty minutes were pretty much end to end and the game could have gone either way. We continued to push on but in doing so left ourselves exposed to the swift counter attack that Simla were capable of delivering. It seemed though that our approach was to be rewarded when in the 84th minute Dave Burren was hauled down in the box and we were awarded a penalty. Unfortunately their keeper guessed right and pulled off a good save to deny Harps the winner. This spurred Simla on for the final few minutes when they pushed hard, however we stood firm and were rewarded with a point.
Although at times some of their challenges left a lot to be desired, Simla are a very good side and more than worthy challengers to us. As it currently stands though the draw, particularly in the circumstances, was a better result for us than them as we have the point advantage. Psychologically, we have also taken a lot from yesterday knowing that we were more than a match for them with ten men. Also with the home fixture to come on a bigger pitch, we remain cautious but confident that we will retain the upper hand come the end of the season. There are though a lot of other games between now and then to which we must give the same level of focus.
Team:
L.Baker
A.Lindsey
M.Wood
N.Coxon
I.Ward
L.Gent
G.Manser
M.Lester
D.McGahan
D.Burren
A.Evans
Subs:
M.Millins (for Lester)
P.Buckovec (for Gent)
S.Harper (for Evans)