KNOWLE FC 2-1 HAMPTON: THE MOWDOG'S INDEPENDENT REPORT, PLUS 22 IMAGES...

 Cream Tea Derby Becomes Mad Hatter’s Tea Party…

Knowle FC 2-1 Hampton

REF: "AND LOOK GEORGE, THIS IS ME ABOUT TO DIVE OFF A CLIFF IN DEVON..."

The Mowdog’s thoughts…

Dubbed the Cream Tea Derby between two clubs ‘representing' the villages of Knowle and Hampton, the conclusion to this football match would likely have left Alice embarrassed in Wonderland, when fisticuffs exploded twice, as the unpleasant proceedings ached to an end.

Never mind cream teas, or even the Mad Hatter’s crazy tea-table, by the very end this contest had become a decent re-enactment of the Boston Tea Party, as incensed, wild-eyed players were lifted up by colleagues and physically removed from the boat, sorry, bout…

Clearly there will be repercussions but spectators will have noticed that the game was not officiated with any real control, for on a number of occasions the often intimidated referee became surrounded by complaining players, bellowing contradictory points of view into his reddening ears.  

One assistant was badly abused near the end of the match and a visiting defender, Alex Considine was duly dismissed for his verbal assault and that player would become one of the street-fighters, once from the red corner, his own dugout, where he shouldn’t have been lingering anyway and post-game from the blue corner, aka the entrance door to the changing facilities…

It was all very nasty…

The referee finally conferred with an assistant and cautioned a couple of heated players, which was small change considering what had just occurred. In the post-match rumble, the main official did thrust out another red card but towards whom it wasn’t clear…

Home ‘keeper Craig Johnson had been a target for fists for sure but one wonders which players from both teams might be carrying some guilt, or not… Praise though must go to Knowle’s manager Matt Seeley for his attempts to rescue a few of his players from the skirmish and to Hampton’s substitute Matt Garbett, who held onto his skipper Jack Slevin with arms of iron, whose temper had been sorely tested…

Oh, yeah, there was a game too…

The second period had been something of a mess in truth, for delays, arguing, fouls, confusion between officials and a number of substitutions had led to a lack of continuity in the proceedings. One spectator near me began to abuse one or two of the Knowle players also, which was tough on the ear…

That second 45 saw Knowle’s Dylon Bennett fire in a free-kick which Hampton goalie Matt Allely did well to save down to his left but the only other real attempts at goal by the Robins were a pair of looping Lewis Clarke headers, which drifted off target.

Hampton managed a near post heeled shot by their feisty central striker Hayden Froggatt which passed wide and a close-range effort by Slevin which rose too high, although the guests did pull a goal back in-between those two opportunities. Knowle were convinced that the referee had missed a foul on one of their players but Ciaran Lawless got clear of Ben Jones on the left and steered a fine low delivery into the path of the lively Cam Seivwright, who drilled the pass into the net at the far post, beating Reece Staley to the ball. 

SEIVWRIGHT HAS JUST SCORED...

George Seeley…

The home skipper drove his team on and was the most dangerous forward on view, for Hampton’s defence prevented lively striker Jay Rendell from causing too much damage. Before the Robins opened the scoring, Liam O’Donnell had shot straight at Allely, Seeley had already forced a low save from the gloveman with a 20 yard free-kick, as well as volleying Rendell’s left-side cross over the target. However, when a deep centre from the right by Bennett just beat Hampton defender Tom Hall’s jump, Seeley chested the ball down at 18 yards and moved goalwards. Although he was under pressure from two defenders, Seeley bundled the ball past the advancing Allely as like in a famous nursery rhyme, all four fell down, albeit without sneezing… 

1-0...

After Rendell had spotted Allely stranded, the striker’s shot from so far downtown he was almost in Dudley, only just passed by the left upright but soon, Seeley struck again. Neat play on the right-flank by Tom Craine led to Seeley calling for where he wanted the centre to land and Craine obliged with a cross beyond the far stick, from whence the the skipper leapt like a rabbit from a hat and beat Hall in the air to nod a clever effort over Allely, back across goal and into the far corner of the net. A smart finish…

2-0...

Seeley continued to cause havoc in the Knowle offense and shot too high, then wasn’t far off scoring with a powerful free-kick but Clarke was the closest Robin to adding a third goal when his close-range downward header was somehow stopped on the goal-line, I think by Allely. Slevin’s immediate attempted clearance, facing his own goal, flew vertically like a geyser but as it descended, Rendell was only able to head it over the crossbeam from a foot out, under pressure from Allely.

Hampton’s promising start to the game…

The visitors had indeed looked sharp at the start of the match, Froggatt being a pain to mark for Clarke and Rob Shaw, whilst James Mudie carried some measure of threat. In fact, Mudie poked an awkward shot into the left side-netting with his right boot from very close range but his left boot might have been disappointed not to have been chosen as the weapon…

A right-flank corner bounced off Mudie’s head, beating Johnson to the ball but the effort flew off target and the only other shot of note came from Lawless, which Johnson fell right to gather easily and of course, flawlessly…

The final words… 

The first period had been fairly competitive to watch, for Knowle had snaffled two chances and missed a few others and although much of their creativity had stemmed from quick breaks forward, Hampton had perhaps laboured a little in attack and the clever Seivwright had been kept at bay by Knowle, forcing him to pass from deep and also wide areas.

Jason Albini was prominent at left-back for the guests and Joe Riddiford again impressed in the same position for the Robins, before a pre-recess injury ended his game prematurely. As usual, Clarke was evident aerially and might have scored on the day but his involvement in the proceedings was full and generally effective.

Maybe Garbett and fellow Hampton replacement Hamza Siddique didn’t have long enough to show some offensive improvement for their team but subsequently their inputs were severely limited because of the lengthy playground scrap which doomed the affair to one of chaos, which has left a bitter taste in everyone’s mouth…

Sad, really, cuz I like a cream tea of fruit scones with jam spread upon them first then cream piled on top, but when the the match descended into such unpleasantness, I felt I had been served stale scones, sour cream and mouldy jam… 

So, it was eggs and chips for me…

Images...

JUMP-BALL...

ONE OF THE MANY STOPPAGES...

AN OPPONENT ATTEMPTS TO RELIEVE SEELEY OF HIS INTESTINES...

FOLKS WONDER WHY RENDELL'S SHORTS HAVE BEEN DISTRESSED...

A JONES THROW...

YEAH, IT'S ANOTHER STOPPAGE...

CATWALKING...

YET ANOTHER STOPPAGE...

SEELEY INVITES MUDIE TO HIS BIRTHDAY PARY AT MCDONALDS...

SEELEY: "NO... YOU OF ALL PEOPLE CAN'T COME TO MY BIRTHDAY PARTY..."

THE REFEREE & A LINESMAN CHAT ABOUT EASTENDERS...

SOMETHING FUNNY MUST HAVE HAPPENED.
(A SENDING-OFF, ACTUALLY...)

LOOKS LIKE A SPECTATOR IS LEAPING OUT OF HIS SEAT TO HEAD THE BALL...

CLARKE: "WHAT DO YOU MEAN, YOU DON'T LIKE THE GEL ON MY HAIR?"

POST-GAME HANDSHAKES.
OK, MAYBE NOT...

BEHIND JONES (2), CONSIDINE HAS BEEN SENT OFF...

OMG, ANOTHER STOPPAGE...

LET THE FIGHTING BEGIN...