AFC BINLEY 4-1 BRINKLOW FC: REPORT & IMAGES...

Binley Claim The Victory As Brinklow Toil For Little Reward…

AFC Binley 4-1 Brinklow FC

This game was due to kick off at 6pm but players and officials from both teams struggled to reach the John White Centre in order to complete the fixture. Obviously some players were unavailable due to work commitments and in truth, some who did manage to get there in time certainly didn’t have the opportunity to warm up satisfactorily. The game kicked off late and despite a 4 minute half-time recess, the players were wallowing in grim dusk by 7.45pm. However, the combatants worked hard, Binley took their chances better than their guests, also striking the crossbar twice and forcing visiting goalie Connor McKiernan to make one particularly good save. Brinklow’s approach and midfield play was often more slick than AFC’s but they really didn’t test home ‘keeper Dave Simpson. Both custodians made errors to concede a goal each but Brinklow’s finishing was generally off target.

"WATCH ME MAKE THIS 50p PIECE DISAPPEAR... "

Apologies to Brinklow for being unable to name their players on the video commentary, for I was not privy to their team-sheet until I was kindly shown the document following the final whistle as darkness engulfed the community centre. Thanks for providing the information… 

McCULLOCH PERFORMS A SPELL, DESIGNED TO PROTECT HIS TEAM'S NET.
DIDN'T WORK TOO WELL...

The pressure upon both clubs to get this game played was unacceptable, for the Coventry Alliance is surely a Saturday league and with other games in midweek often being postponed, these two teams might just have been penalised for getting their scheduled match on, albeit without their strongest line-ups being available. 

SIMPSON STALKS HIS TERRITORY...

Actual goal chances were irregular before the short interval but Binley missed two early opportunities, both of which involved Fabian Spence. His early header, which involved him jumping with colleague Aaron Laming, edged past the left stick and then McKiernan denied him down at the ‘keeper’s right upright. Spence looked sure to score from 10 yards too after a messy scramble in the Brinklow 18 yard box, whereby Spence and Sean Ryder had set up Tatenda Bako for a shot but he had been blocked by the bravery of the goalkeeper. Ryder’s rebound effort fell to Spence but as he attempted to clip the ball over the plunging McKiernan, the shot flicked off the gloveman’s arm and onto the face of the crossbar.

McKIERNAN DIDN'T GET MUCH TIME TO PAINT THAT LANDSCAPE...

Home left-back Andy Godfrey also struck the crossbar with a swirling in-swinging right-boot free-kick delivery from wide left, although whether it was actually a shot or not, only he could possibly confirm. He drove another free-kick too high from 27 yards later in the half but Ryder had netted a brace by then, both goals being clinically created and very clinically finished. The first came from Brinklow’s central striker Matt Evans’ short pass backwards to a colleague around the centre-circle but the ball evaded the recipient and Ryder exchanged passes with Spence to stay onside at inside-right and beat the outrushing McKiernan with a low drive.

1-0: RYDER...

Bako would assist with the second Binley goal, following Brinklow’s equaliser but the visiting staff and supporters were convinced that Ryder was offside when he received Bako’s pass from centre to right. The linesman was a Brinklow person in fact but to be fair, Ryder’s finish, again from inside-right was splendid, for the ball fizzed across the helpless, advancing McKiernan into the top left corner of the net. 

A BRINKLOW PLAYER PARACHUTES IN.
BETTER LATE THAN NEVER...

MANAGER EDWIN GREAVES GETS ALL EXCITED ON THE SIDELINE AS RYDER CELEBRATES HIS SECOND GOAL...

Despite some smart midfield work by Ryan Williams, Lloyd Pulford and the impressive 16 year old Connor Pulford, Brinklow fashioned only a chance for Evans, two shots by Williams and a wayward effort by goalscorer Morgan Pulford. Connor Pulford’s high right-side centre saw home ‘keeper Dave Simpson hesitating but Evans was unable to bundle the falling ball into goal from beyond the far stick but Morgan Pulford managed to regain parity for the guests, following Ryder’s opener for Binley. When the ball bounced upwards at the left corner of the penalty-box, Pulford M. challenged AFC’s Will Waddell. The ball fell for the attacker however and he struck a low first-time effort which appeared to go straight by Simpson, before nestling in the right corner of goal.

PULFORD M. CELEBRATES HIS GOAL BY EJECTING A FOOTBALL FROM BETWEEN HIS BUTTOCKS...

Williams struck a high free-kick from deep which Simpson batted away for a corner then the number 7 drove a decent 28 yard shot past the left upright, with Simpson anxiously covering across his goal-line. Thus the half ended with the sun setting over the houses opposite where I stood and so I changed touchlines after the short break and witnessed a decent start to the second-period by the guests, generally involving the three Pulfords and Williams. The best goal effort though was when a lofted delivery by Pulford M. was skied at the left post by Pulford C. and the chance had gone. Later in the half, a Pulford L. free-kick from inside-left, 26 yards out somehow wasn’t touched as it drifted low across the AFC goalmouth, a downward header was collected by Simpson on his goal-line and a very late shot by Williams veered wide of the left upright.

LECTURING...

SPENCE FIRES HIS SIX-GUNS AT TWO ROOKS IN A TREE...

THE 2ND HALF BEGINS IN THE GLARE OF A SEPTEMBER SUN...

Yet it was Binley who netted twice to settle the outcome of the match. Central defender Aaron Laming managed a couple of stretching far post headers wide for Binley, skipper Steven Young blasted well over the target from 19 yards, after a threatening Justin Lang header was hacked clear by Brinklow and Lang saw a low drive really well pushed aside diving left by McKiernan, who reactively grabbed the loose ball. A late shot by replacement Benny Adeeko was blocked by Brinklow’s effective central defender Billy Stenger but the pair of goals scored by the hosts were once again clinically taken.

McCULLOCH & BAKO...

Firstly, Spence acquired his second assist of the evening by passing left to Bako and he managed to get by a defender and as the ‘keeper approached, flicked his angled shot goalwards, which was then helped into the net by the last ditch efforts of a defender.

3-1...

BAKO THE SCORER...

KASSAR ALLOWS BAKO TO TOUCH A TATTOO, AS A SPECIAL TREAT...

The final goal was unfortunate for McKiernan, who moved out of goal to catch a deep free-kick from left of centre by Godfrey but he misjudged the flight and the ball dropped behind him off his gloves for Ryder to nudge over the goal-line with his head. True the free-kick would have entered the net anyway but Ryder remarked afterwards that it had been a hat-trick opportunity…

RYDER SEARCHES FOR SOMEONE TO CELEBRATE HIS HAT-TRICK WITH...

The latter stages of the match were played out in dim and dimmer conditions but fair play to the teams, they stuck at it, with Brinklow still battling to get back into the match. Certainly the visitors worked the ball well on occasions, as mentioned above and before he took a rest, central defender Martin Murphy had made a number of crucial headed clearances, as Binley’s deep service, mainly from Waddell and neat right-sider Zack Garland, delivered long passes for the pace of Ryder and Spence to chase. Martin Bunning defended with real relish too for Brinklow, although he was slowed later in the game by an injury. Right-back Scott McCulloch found space on the Brinklow right often enough too and was usually the outlet for the passes of Williams and Pulford L.

BUNNING HAS TAKEN A KNOCK...

Binley seemed to play warm and cold, with Lang and Garland doing decent work in the trenches, although Bako, who possesses good ball skills and scored cleverly, too often ran into trouble. Spence was in and out of the game but his two assists subsequently provided a cushion for the hosts and Laming, alongside Sebastian Kassar, plus full-backs Waddell and Godfrey, ultimately offered good protection for Simpson between the AFC uprights. 

THE WAITER TAKES THE ORDERS, ALTHOUGH WILLIAMS AND A TEAM-MATE CAN'T WAIT FOR THE FOOD TO BE SERVED AND BEGIN MUNCHING THEIR SHIRTS INSTEAD...

Darkness fell and the referee’s orange high-visibility bolero was the only thing one could clearly see, apart from the ball, before he wrapped things up with a final whistle. Williams had received a harsh booking from the official for complaining about a foul given rather harshly against him for a shoulder-to-shoulder challenge on a Binley player but there was little animosity between the two teams, in truth.

MELUISH: WORKED HARD ON THE BRINKLOW LEFT...

Me? A 20 mile journey home took 70 minutes, due to a road closure on an approach road to the A45, with the diversion simply leading me back into the town centre and I was forced to head for the M6, upon which there were major road works and a 50mph limit… Why did I not take the M40 route back, which I had taken on the way to the John White Centre? Ah, well, I got to eat dinner around ten past nine… 

When did the players and club officials get their grub, however?

TEAMS:

AFC BINLEY:

DAVE SIMPSON, WILL WADDELL, ANDY GODFREY, STEVEN YOUNG (CAPT), AARON LAMING, SEB KASSAR, ZACH GARLAND, SEAN RYDER, JUSTIN LANG, FABIAN SPENCE, TATENDA BAKO.

SUBS:

KENROY DENNISUE, KYLE METCALF, TYLER MORGAN, BENNY ADEEKO.

BRINKLOW FC:

CONNOR McKIERNAN, SCOTT McCULLOCH, MARTIN BUNNING, MARTIN MURPHY, BILLY STENGER, LLOYD PULFORD, RYAN WILLIAMS, CONNOR PULFORD, MATT EVANS (CAPT), MORGAN PULFORD, DAVIS MELUISH.

SUBS:

JAIDON COLE, DARYL PHIPPS, LEE PHIPPS, JACK MARSDON, JAMIE HUDDLESTONE.