POTTON UNITED 2-2 BUGBROOKE ST MICHAELS: THE INDEPENDENT, HONEST, LIGHT-HEARTED MATCH REPORT...

 Badgers Grab A Point, Depite The Culling…

Potton United 2-2 Bugbrooke St Michaels

The Mowdog’s thoughts…

I really do badger-watch… But this encounter, played in windy, cold weather at The Hollow in Potton actually did see the culling of Badgers. One, Badger Calvin Green, was binned for sinning, another, Badger Jake Bull, was dismissed for tripping but I guess that both culls were deserved.

ANOTHER LONG CLEARANCE IS ABOUT TO BENEFIT FROM THE WIND...

However, Green had been incensed by the officials following Potton’s first period equaliser, which first highlighted the difficult relationship between the main official and his subordinates. Sadly, I do need to address what occurred because it had a direct influence on how the match played out.

FIELD IS CAUTIONED...

Firstly, a replacement linesperson caused mayhem for the Badgers when he failed to spot home forward Sam Dowridge on the left byeline when skipper Aaron McCardle’s inadvertent header forced a smart save from Bugbrooke ‘keeper Jake Bull, for Dowridge was surely in an offside position at that point. With the Badgers appealing to the ‘assistant’, McCardle received a pass from Dowridge and dispatched it into the net. 

Cue arguments and an inquisition by Bugbrooke’s players and in turn their coaching staff, all of which in truth never really dissipated.  

THE RATHER OVERWHELMED REFEREE IS QUESTIONED...

The referee however, simply moved to the middle of the pitch after speaking briefly with his assistant and there was quite a delay as visiting defenders ‘discussed’ the issue with the linesman. The referee did nothing more but wait, patiently…

AS FIELD SCRATCHES AN ITCH, THE REFEREE ATTEMPTS TO CALM THINGS DOWN ON THE SIDELINE...

The other assisting official was confusing to watch. He was unable to wave his flag in any manner which portrayed what kind of decision he was making, so when he spotted a foul, he wobbled his flag lightly in front of himself, leaving his indecisive intentions to the imagination. Thus a free-kick wave of his flag was similar to that for a throw-in decision and the referee had to go and speak to the fellow a few times to find out what his rippling flag meant. The chap looked like a reticent child waving his Union Jack rather sheepishly as the Queen passed by in a car…

However, the referee also lacked decisiveness and consistency, cautioning Dan Field of Bugbrooke, yet failing to show a yellow card to Potton’s Joe Gauge or Josh Howard-Dobson, then Bugbrooke’s Aidan Webster for similar offences. Nor did he yellow-card anyone after a short scrap which developed later in the game. He didn’t spot Louis Octave’s boot stepping on that belonging to Badger Greg Ling either…

IS THIS ALL ABOUT THE OFFICIALS?

Yes, the job is tough, yes the weather was poor but errors by officials are rarely acted upon and their integrity is certainly rarely questioned…

The game itself…

It was a poor match. There was little creativity shown throughout, although in all honesty it seemed that visiting striker Ed Panter might win the game on his own in the opening minutes. He ended up in goals though, after Bull had been dismissed late in the second period.

The wind certainly affected the encounter but too many times the ball was lifted upwards when perhaps more ground football would likely have been the more profitable tactic. 

Chances were few and far between but two of the goals were wind-assisted, one was likely offside and the other was the result of a messy goalmouth scramble. 

SOMEONE FINDS A DULL MOMENT TO PLAY AIR-GUITAR...

Aaron McCardle…

The home skipper played a decent game and was surprisingly effective in the air although his only header at goal was glanced well wide from a cross by Dowridge.

His goal, as mentioned above, originated from a miscued shot by Sylvester which deflected off his head, forcing Bull into a flying save to his right. That is when Dowridge nudged the ball back to his skipper who swept a left-footer into the right side of the net.

A low second period shot by McCardle was saved by the falling replacement goalie Panter near the right pole but the skipper was also involved in the dismissal of Bull. He chased Sylvester’s long clearing pass, accompanied by Badger Field but Bull’s rash rush outside his 18 yard box saw McCardle stumble and fall. A free-kick certainly, also a red card offence…

Ed Panter…

This guy worked the channels intelligently at times but in all fairness he wasn’t too often rewarded with creative passes, despite the efforts in midfield of Joe Power, Ling and Green. 

His early goal was splendidly taken, following a huge wind assisted clearance by Bull which home gloveman Sam Irish raced outside his penalty-box to head clear but Panter had cleverly dropped deeper, unnoticed by two home defenders who were watching the ball. Panter subsequently executed his lob from downtown sweetly into the vacant net with Irish still absent from his goal.

The Badgers on offense…

An early drive, wind-aided, by Ben Drinkwater was tipped over the crossbar by Irish who then dealt with a swirling Field free-kick from the right-flank. The delivery benefited from the wind and caused Irish to back-pedal then make a leap to turn the ball to safety which was a spectacular piece of action. Irish saved a low Josh Whaler shot too in the opening 45 but beyond half-time some rain was mixed in with the wind and really, little penetration was shown by the Badgers.

They did take the lead again though when a right-side flag-kick by Green caused mayhem in the 6 yard box, as both number 5s, Royals’ Loren Maxwell and Badger Tom Caton jumped for the ball in traffic with Irish. However, the ball inadvertently fell against Irish then behind him, where substitute Binder hacked his effort over the goal-line with a back-heel from point blank range.

Incredibly, with ten men, the Badgers might have snatched a very late win but following a free-kick, George Barnell lifted a chance over the target from 15 yards…

ROYALS' FORWARDS SYLVESTER (10) & MAXWELL SEEM NOT VERY SOCIALLY OR FOOTBALL-WISE DISTANCED...

The Royals on offense…

McCardle assisted Liam Andrews for a shot which was blocked by the usually handy Power, Maxwell almost got his head to an Octave centre and after Whaler did well to stop a Sylvester shot on his goal-line following Octave’s right-byeline centre, Sam Willis saw a hard drive deflected away.

The second equaliser for the hosts…   

This goal stemmed from another long, wind assisted pass and it was Sylvester this time who kicked the ball a distance after Potton had defended a corner. Replacement Ibrahim Camara set off in a rush towards the Bugbrooke goal, alongside Field but the defender held off as Bull, not for the only time in the game, raced out of his penalty-box but failed to intercept the ball, leaving Camara to regain his balance and clip a shot with the outside of his favoured right boot from 25 yards, as Field attempted to cover but the ball bounced into the net to regain parity for the Royals…

After the goal, replacement George Brinkman dashed onto the field to take command of a juicy free-kick situation for Potton but his 26 yard left-foot shot drifted over the right angle of crossbeam and pole.

LOOKS LIKE BULL IS IN TROUBLE...

The final words…

Hard work by players such as Isaac Charles and Dylan Manufor for the Royals and also the Bugbrooke midfielders did not go unnoticed in an often frenetic contest. It was a match littered with stoppages, inaccuracies and complaints about the officials, so the fact that four goals went in at least offered the cold, rather unimpressed spectators some respite…

YEP, BULL IS GOING OFF...

All in all it was a strange afternoon for me at Potton who welcomed me so well to a very smart set-up.

I learned at 2.25pm that one of my twin cousins had just died in La Paz, Mexico and his brother, Derek was attempting to sort out the situation from his home in Florida…

I alerted family members before the match started and spent half-time responding to their replies…

So, my work on this game is dedicated to Dave Eastwood, A sea fisherman, a Birmingham City supporter, a father, a husband and a cousin…

TEAMS: 

POTTON UNITED:

SAM IRISH, DYLAN MANUFOR, JOE GAUGE, ISAAC CHARLES, LOREN MAXWELL, LIAM ANDREWS,  LOUIS OCTAVE, SAM WILLIS, AARON MCCARDLE (CAPT), JAMIE SYLVESTER, SAM DOWRIDGE.

SUBS:

CURTIS BLOXHAM, JOSH HOWARD-DOBSON, GEORGE BRINKMAN, IEUAN LEWIS, IBRAHIM CAMARA.

BUGBROOKE ST MICHAELS:

JAKE BULL, JOSH WHALER, DAN FIELD, GEORGE BARNELL, TOM CATON (CAPT), CALVIN GREEN, SAM TAMAKLOE, GREG LING, ED PANTER, JOE POWER, BEN DRINKWATER.

SUBS:

AIDAN WEBSTER, TOM BINDER, JOE LEWINGTON, CURTIS AVERY, DAN PORTER.