WEST BRIDGFORD 4-4 DUNKIRK: MATCH REPORT + IMAGES...

Goals Galore As Dunkirk Exit Makes A Point

West Bridgford 4-4 Dunkirk

This was a real confusion of a match to watch: eight goals, several close shaves, a couple of glaring misses, lots of anger, a good deal of sloppy defending, some awful individual errors and in the end, parity. Dunkirk came into this game well below league newcomers West Bridgford in the standings but their forward rushes in the opening stages caused some concern for their hosts. A Stuart King goal was soon overturned by two quick strikes by the Bridgmen, which were in turn trumped by two further strikes by the Boatmen, so that by half-time, Dunkirk led 2-3 in a game which had begun frenetically but with little warning of the goals to come. The second period had been poor, too often interrupted and had been littered with fouls until a scrambled effort by Jamie Spiers levelled the game again for the Bridgmen. A goal on the break by Sam Grouse restored the visitors’ lead, his second of the match, which looked to have taken the points for his team but home right-back Dave Erentz nodded the equaliser for West Bridgford and in the final moments both teams were desperately close to clinching the victory.

Players jumping for headers in the first-half of this encounter seemed to misjudge the flight of the ball several times, despite the fact that there was little breeze about and this caused consternation for coaches and supporters alike, whilst several Dunkirk followers became somewhat frustrated on the sidelines. Perhaps it was due to the glare of the floodlights, but who can tell? Early sprints by Dunkirk’s Andrew Hutchinson were lively, Grouse’s 20 yard drive was just about collected by home ‘keeper Sam Clark and visiting combative midfielder Soloman Miller was harshly cautioned for his first foul of the game and this surely tamed his physical presence for the remainder of the match. It took the hosts a while to assert themselves but when they did, central defender Pat Newsome lifted a chance from a left-side corner over the target from 3 yards, before useful play by Ross McCaughey set up Aaron Large for a shot, which he lifted too high from 15 yards, albeit from an offside position. Then, with the Boatmen seemingly in a squall in defence, home skipper Carl Westcarr (whatever happened to Jarrad?) missed a great opportunity to open the scoring. Free at inside-left, no flag waving, he veered past the outrushing Andrew but somehow, with the goal at the mercy of his left boot, his right foot stroked the ball against the outside of the right upright. Oops… Bridgman Jurgen Charlesworth clipped a left-footed shot from 15 yards, which ‘keeper Sam Andrew shoved away with arms outstretched and after that interlude of West Bridgford offense, wouldn’t you just know it, Dunkirk scored…

0-1: KING...

A right-side corner was struck low and central defender King connected with a low first-time effort, which arrowed into the left corner of the net through a crowd of players from 12 yards, after beating Spiers to the ball.

More loose play, plus misplaced passes by the teams followed but when a throw from the right by the Bridgmen saw King leave Large unmarked behind him, then tumble into Charlesworth as he rose to head clear, the ball glanced backwards from his skull onto Large’s foot; he took control with a touch and swivelled to lob a 15 yard volley over and across Andrew into the far side of the net. A fine finish but another aerial misjudgement by a defender…  

1-1: LARGE...

Within moments, Dunkirk’s resolve was tested again, as W.B. left-sider Aboubacar Sylla struck a second goal. He simply exchanged square passes with Spiers and struck a left-booter from 23 yards, inside-left, beyond the rooted Andrew and into the right corner of the net. 2-1 to the hosts but their guests would not lie down, regaining parity with a lashed volley by winger Jake Gibson.

2-1: SYLLA...

SYLLA MOBBED...

Ryan Baldwin had displayed rapidity already and his byeline centre from the right landed on Gibson’s left boot, from whence the ball shot low past Clark from 8 yards like a shell at the Somme.

2-2: GIBSON...

Incredibly, in this topsy turvy game, Dunkirk were soon awarded a penalty, when Clark got into a mess almost on his goal-line from a Grouse free-kick, colliding with Hutchinson and although the ball was prevented from crossing the goal-line, the referee was immediately signalling a penalty, which Grouse placed into the left corner of the net, as Clark dived the other way, grousing no doubt.

GROUSE PREPARES TO TAKE THE FREE-KICK WHICH LED TO THE PENALTY...

GROUSE SHOT...

...& SCORED: 2-3...

The break reached, some spectators stopped checking the internet on their iPhones to see how England were getting on and headed for some refreshments, returning a while later to switch their phones back on. No goals in Slovenia? OK…

EYES PEELED...

CARL WESTCARR: "NO, REF, HE'S A LOVELY PERSON... PLEASE FORGIVE ANY MISDEMEANOUR?"

AN ODD MOMENT TO DO STRETCHES & TOUCH ONE'S TOES...

Hutchinson failed to get any direction to his header from Grouse’s free-kick as the second period began but the quality of football was not good at this point, although in truth, injuries, fouls and substitutions would disrupt the flow regularly. However, eventually, after Spiers had been booked and Westcarr replaced by Akintomide Jaiyeola, the Bridgmen scrambled a truly ugly goal to peg back the Boatmen again. This time, a delivery from midfielder Shaun Jackson towards the left upright saw Dunkirk raise arms for offside but Sylla leapt and beat Joel Howes to head the ball inside; there was a jump between Toby Moore and Spiers, the ball dropped, Andrew plunged, Spiers stabbed, King fell and actually stopped the midfielder’s effort on his goal-line but Spiers rammed home the rebound. Ugly? Yeah, but effective…

SPIERS HAS SCORED: 3-3...

FLAT OUT. SAM ANDREW DRINKS TO THAT...

Adam Burton replaced Moore for Dunkirk, Baldwin was fouled by Jackson on a run, there was no advantage but the officials failed to offer the visitors a free-kick and yet the referee subsequently cautioned Jackson… Hmm, not good. Tom Coole had warmed up and he replaced Sylla for the hosts, before Erentz was flagged offside as he just failed to convert a low cross at the right stick. Unbelievably, Grouse suddenly found himself onside at inside-left, onto a long ball forward and he calmly rounded Clark before slipping a LEFT-footer into the net from an angle. Yeah, a LEFT-footer, not an awkward right-footer…

GROUSE HAS CELEBRATED WITH A CORNER-FLAG...

...AFTER PUTTING HIS TEAM 3-4 AHEAD...

Alex Kusmin replaced Jackson for W.B. and naturally, they equalised, just about 11 minutes from the end of the match. Erentz had just seen his header from McCaughey’s right-side corner stopped on the goal-line but that time he had been left completely unmarked by the Boatmen, so they repeated their folly when the ball was retrieved and crossed in again, this time to the far post, a place the Boatmen had just evacuated, rather like the World War Two Dunkirk episode, in fact, and there was the totally alone Erentz again, this time to leap and nod the ball high over Andrew’s dive and into the roof of the net. Erentz obviously moved, hovered and lurked in mysterious ways…

ERENTZ HAS HEADED THE LAST GOAL: 4-4...

Oli Clark replaced the limping Hutchinson for Dunkirk, whose runs had been curtailed somewhat after the interval and then, with the game waning, both teams spurned chances to claim all three points on offer. First a left-wing corner by the Boatmen was missed aerially by King, but striker and skipper Bruno Holden, who had battled throughout but with little decent service in all fairness, shot low in a crowded penalty-box, only for Sam Clark to stop the ball on his goal-line with a boot. At the opposite end, yet another fine McCaughey set-piece saw Spiers jump at the far post and then home defender Dave Belshaw managed a header at goal, which appeared to strike Howes and it stayed out of the net. 

SYNCHRONISED DANCE MOVES...

The final whistle sounded to a complete emptiness, for despite the ding-dong encounter, excitement wasn’t present that often, strangely. Too many errors had been made throughout the match, probably promoting the scoring of eight goals but poor Dunkirk marking had been one reason why they had failed to win this game, whereas the home defence had looked rather more resolute, despite the concession of four goals. Interestingly, none of the three accepted strikers netted a goal in this match: Westcarr for W.B., plus Hutchinson and Holden for Dunkirk, all failing to score. Grouse was prominent at times for the guests and deserved his brace of goals, McCaughey’s set-piece deliveries for West Bridgford were generally as good as ever but in all honesty, few players stood out on the park, which at times resembled the rush to get into the entrance doors of a Boxing Day sale at a major store.

THE PROGRAMME COVER...

Good value to see eight goals, though… And how did England finish? 

TEAMS:

WEST BRIDGFORD:

SAM CLARK, DAVE ERENTZ, ROSS McCAUGHEY, DAVE BELSHAW, PAT NEWSOME, SHAUN JACKSON, JURGEN CHARLESWORTH, JAMIE SPIERS, AARON LARGE, CARL WESTCARR (CAPT), ABOUBACAR SYLLA.

SUBS:

AKINTOMIDE JAIYEOLA, ALEX KUSMIN, TOM COOLE.

DUNKIRK:

SAM ANDREW, JOEL HOWES, WILL BAWDON, TOBY MOORE, STUART KING, SOLOMAN MILLER, RYAN BALDWIN, SAM GROUSE, BRUNO HOLDEN (CAPT), ANDREW HUTCHINSON, JAKE GIBSON.

SUBS:

ADAM BURTON, BEN GOWING, STEVE CHAPLIN, OLI CLARK, MATT LANGHAM.