COVENTRY COPSEWOOD 1-1 BROMSGROVE SPORTING: LIGHT-HEARTED REPORT BY THE MOWDOG...

Susceptible Official Creates Brian Rix Farce In Allard Way

Coventry Copsewood 1-1 Bromsgrove Sporting

I had wanted to report on a competitive game at Allard Way between a quick, offensive Copsewood outfit and a powerful, confident Sporting unit, despite the fact that both teams were missing regulars. It wasn’t to be however, for the encounter revolved around an official who dug a hole for himself and then, inexplicably, climbed into it. True, the goals were well taken, for Danny Fraser’s free-kick for Coventry was sublime and Matt Gardner’s effort for Bromsgrove smartly fired but too many incidents were dominated by a referee whose performance was often marred, muddled and misguided. I have refereed games many times and I know how damned difficult it can be and often one is castigated by biased onlookers, but on this occasion the paid official was too often fooled by the combatants, too often howled at by the chaps in the dugouts and was constantly derided or verbally abused by some spectators and thus he became embroiled in a pitiful situation at the end of the match, which is described below. Added to that was the sight and sound of the assistant who was also involved in that late debacle agreeing with some Copsewood supporters before half-time, that a vociferous Bromsgrove fan was, let’s say, a pain in the bum… Badly done, lino… I have no allegiance to these two teams but was there an agenda here, I wondered? 

Tossing...

Kicking off...

Copsewood’s bright opening to the game, utilising the quickness of Connell Farrell and Lawrence Rawlings, set Sporting back on their heels, for there was no Simon Fitter to organise and moan and complain and whinge, like all Small Heath fans are born to do. All the hosts had to show for the early sorties forward however was a free-kick from Fraser, which dominant home skipper and midfielder Craig Civzelis rose for but could only head past the left post. A 28 yard free-kick by Coventry crashed into a Bromsgrove defender but the visitors were clearly unsettled and only offered a threat when they won a corner, which Joe Adams swung to the far post, where the ball was headed down, only for Copsewood to clear. Eventually the ball was shovelled on to Farrell, who showed his trickery at the edge of the Rouslers’ 18yard box but his final effort at goal was caught toppling to his left by goalie Jake Bedford. Chris Conway was sliced to the ground by Copsewood’s tall and well named defender Matty Fowler, who was in fact a tower of strength for his team during the evening but Civzelis was unimpressed by Conway’s complaints to the referee and the two shared unseemly comments before they chased after the ensuing free-kick, wrestling like two schoolchildren over the ownership of a bean-bag. The referee did not clamp down on them. Too rough…

Copsewood, quick on the uptake that a speedy request for a free-kick might be fruitful, did just that and the official reacted to their sudden shouts like someone had placed a tack on his chair. Even the pea in his whistle failed to work properly as he quickly tried to blow and Bromsgrove’s players yelled their anguish. The free-kick ended at Rawlings’ feet at 18 yards and he drove in a really decent left-footer, which caused concern for Bedford, who dived low to his left to make a good save. Often Sporting lacked width and there were times when all of their players were between the centre-spot and the right touchline, but when Jack Wilson and Dan Morris were included in the offensive movements, more balance was achieved. They combined to free the rabbit feet of Sean Brain at inside-left but as the forward set himself to shoot from almost on the byeline, the long legs of Fowler intervened and Brain kicked the ball into the side-netting. Adams’ throw to Conway led to a weak shot for the home goalie with the X-Factor name, Dale O’Donnell, to pick up like a bottle of milk from his doorstep. Then Conway was assaulted good and proper by Fowler, whereupon the defender was cautioned by the dithering official but the free-kick came to nought, as both teams dropped into a stalemate.

This is where I fail to understand the sense in some soccer rules; Conway was hurt enough to receive treatment, so he had to leave the pitch for one play but Fowler, who had been booked for the indiscretion, stayed on the field of play to defend the free-kick… So the offending team had the advantage, whilst the offended team had lost their main striker for the resulting free-kick. Ridiculous. Both players maybe ought to go off in situations like that… 

Gavin Mahon was relishing his Rousler midfield role, racing about like a fox in a henhouse and he produced a brilliant saving tackle on Rawlings, before confronting the opponent who latched onto the rebound; Mahon won that one too. Cries of “When they squeal, you give ‘em a free-kick…” were heard flowing at the referee from the Bromsgrove fan who had so obviously irritated the linesman but Brain decided to bellow naughty things at the other assistant and he received a yellow card for his unwise words. Craig Jones gave away a free-kick and to his indignation, was cautioned by the official, who seemed to like materialising yellow cards from his being, like he was Paul Daniels impressing his wife in Sainsbury’s. “Yes Paul…” she would retort. Bedford was very displeased when he was challenged and then dropped a floated delivery, with no reward of a free-kick then both number 10s made runs forward for their teams but both lost the ball too.

Mahon won the ball with another fine tackle but then passed to Brain too hard and O’Donnell collected easily but suddenly, out of nowhere really, Bromsgrove looked like the team which is threatening at the summit of the league table. Danny Carter, fairly quiet thus far, was freed on the right side of the penalty-box, O’Donnell saved his low drive well, a second shot was hacked away and Conway flicked a third shot at goal from a few yards but the excellent O’Donnell deflected that too. Conway then appeared towards the left byeline and only a fine block at his near post by O’Donnell kept parity for his team. This was a good period for Sporting, for Copsewood had been pressed back and their forwards were being kept mostly in check by guest skipper Scott Smith and the powerful Jones. Conway ran towards the right byeline but his low delivery, a dangerous one across the goalmouth was too far ahead of any supporting player, then he was flagged offside as O’Donnell made a brave leg-save, following Adams’ assist.

After Rawlings drove a low delivery across the visitors’ penalty-box with a sliding colleague unable to reach the ball, Adams was fed neatly for Bromsgrove by Wilson but the midfielder’s sliced shot was wild. Suddenly, the hosts moved the ball to Rawlings at inside-right, almost on the 18 yard line and Morris brought him down with a scything tackle; some home supporters screamed that Morris was the last man… On the 18 yard line with Smith already covering across behind them? Hmm, I don’t think so. However, Fraser curled a superb left-booted free-kick over and around Bromsgrove’s defensive wall and the ball soared into the top left corner of the net, with Bedford unable to get near it. A fine goal. It only remained for Mahon to head Wilson’s left-side cross too high from 16 yards and half-time was signalled.

Copsewood lead 1-0...

The cold set in after the break, but on the pitch the match became a succession of free-kicks and moaning players, umpired by a fellow who would maybe have felt happier adjudicating at a regatta. Mahon, legs swiping like he was auditioning for a part in a Kung-Fu movie, was warned by the meek official and the resulting free-kick brought an interlude of volleyball-heading, like it was a cool evening’s competition at a Sharm el-Sheikh beach resort. A shot by Liam Cairns had been blocked but the other men simply jumped up and down like Wolfsburg fans did after their recent victory over Bayern Munich and headed the ball, which must have pleased the official, for he had to make no decisions for a moment or two. Soon, a brilliant surge at inside-left by the elusive Farrell saw him fade between two Rouslers and his angled rising effort might have flicked Bedford’s gloves before being bundled behind for a fruitless corner. Another free-kick, this time for Bromsgrove, failed and Rawlings made a determined run forward for the hosts but that attack fizzled out like the vast majority of Aston Villa’s usually do.

Carter and Brain, the latter surprisingly, were replaced for the guests by Lewis Clarke and Matt Gardner but neither of these two affected the game for some while. Following a left-flank throw, Adams’ fine volley fizzed wide from 24 yards for the visitors but Copsewood, being worn down by a persistent, grudging Bromsgrove team, missed the first of two chances to make sure of a victory. Rawlings’ right-side centre was headed far too weakly by Martin Gormley from 3 yards and Bedford cushioned it like a dropping snowflake. A free-kick on their left offered the guests a chance but when Jones’ header from beyond the far post fell at Gardner’s feet, he was able only to lift a poor, yet unchallenged shot way too high. Conway nearly got in at inside-left but the bravery of O’Donnell won out again, conceding a corner on the left, which the ‘keeper did well to punch away. Soon though, playmaker Adams was replaced by Jozsef Jakab and Bromsgrove had a target-man to aim at in the final desperate moments of the game.

Petajon Gordon replaced the hurt Farrell for Copsewood but the visitors were not to be denied and Smith rolled a pass to Chris Duggan on the right. He was fouled and left flattened after he released the ball to Conway, centrally positioned and he in turn swivelled, fed Mahon 20 yards out and ball rolled on to Gardner, who composed himself and saw O’Donnell advancing well off his goal-line, so that he was able to clip a very decent finish into the right side of the net from 18 yards.

1-1...

The mad section of the evening was only just beginning however, for with Bromsgrove pushing forward even more, Gordon cleared upfield for the hosts, Bedford ran from his penalty-box to kick the loose ball up the field but he appeared to hesitate slightly and the closing Dom Alleyne, the nippy Copsewood left-winger, blocked the custodian’s clearance with his side and the ball bounced for the attacker towards the edge of the penalty-box but as he set himself to stroke the ball into the unguarded net, which he did, it bounced up onto his arm first and the goal didn’t count, as the referee saved Bedford’s blushes. Amazingly, this was the less dramatic of two finale tales, for Bromsgrove were awarded a free-kick, right-flank, a few yards outside the penalty-box and almost on the byeline; Duggan hammered it way too far but the referee made him re-take it, annoying the home players, coaches and fans alike. The second attempt caused the mother of all kerfuffles in the goalmouth and there were exclaims from the Rouslers as the ball bobbled about like a marble deflecting on the nails of a bagatelle board. The referee quite clearly awarded a goal, the Sporting players raced away in joy to the centre of the field but the Copsewood players, incensed, surrounded the unfortunate official, who then lost control, with players from both teams voicing opinions in quite a long delay. He was persuaded to speak to the linesman (who had confided with Copsewood fans earlier) by the constant badgering, hence his digging of a hole and with a barrage of opinions passing to and fro, the referee, completely surrounded, like General Custer at his last stand, decided that a dropped-ball between two opponents was probably his only way out of the situation, hence his climbing into the vacant hole… 

Bromsgrove think they've scored again...

...but they haven't...

Oh, dear… The game thus ended in complete uproar, with Copsewood saving themselves and Bromsgrove feeling like they had been robbed. I reckon both teams might have deserved a point apiece, for despite Bromsgrove’s territorial advantage after the interval, their offensive play had mostly lacked cohesion and it was a half of sheer hard work and physical pressing. Fair play to home defenders Fraser, Fowler, Michael Quirke and George Whitelaw though, for they battled hard in front of a good ‘keeper in O’Donnell, but Sporting needed a victory, despite their missing players. The official had allowed combatants of both sides to appeal too often and he lost control, without doubt, but the game certainly rose to quite a crescendo… Civzelis led his team well, that’s for certain and in Farrell and Rawlings, Copsewood had likely match winners but Conway led his attack with aplomb too, although both Wills and Hewitt were probably sorely missed on the night.

I drove home past Coventry United’s Cage and reflected that I shook hands with their manager Edwin Greaves before the above game. Nice bloke… On arrival back in Shirley, I heated an apple pie, ate my Weetabix and nursed a badly trapped nerve in and around my shoulder…

At my age, it’s what you do…  

Teams:  

Coventry Copsewood:  Dale O’Donnell, George Whitelaw, Danny Fraser; Craig Civzelis (Capt), Michael Quirke, Matty Fowler; Lawrence Rawlings, Liam Cairns, Martin Gormley, Connell Farrell, Dom Alleyne. 

Subs: Steve McGinty, Petajon Gordon, Ben Atkins, Bidemi Okelana, Stuart Adamson.

Bromsgrove Sporting:  Jake Bedofrd, Chris Duggan, Dan Morris; Ryan Mahon, Craig Jones, Scott Smith (Capt); Dan Carter, Joe Adams, Chris Conway, Sean Brain, Jack Wilson.

Subs: Orrin Pendley, Matt Gardner, Jozsef Jakab, Lewis Clarke, Tim Bradley.