Wallington V City

SATURDAY 20th DECEMBER 2008 LONGHORN LEAGUE CUP WALLINGTON 3-2 CITY After months had passed since the first attempt, this game was finally given the goahead. On another day, and with another official, the game could still have been off, as the pitch was extremely heavy. City’s squad was low on numbers, with only twelve players making the trip. First senior starts of the season were given to Craig Cherry and Craig Bell, and new signing Jason Henderson was the only substitute. The game kicked off with the rather unnerving sound of gunfire in the distance. The home side were on top in the early stages, and Slack fired over in the 3rd minute. This was followed by a neat move between Featherstone and McAlpine, that ended with the latter shooting wide. In the 7th minute, Walton latched onto an accurate through ball, and cut inside onto his right foot, but his shot was wide. In the 10th minute, more home pressure forced Bulman to concede a corner, but Foreman’s kick was easily cleared. In the 12th minute, the strong-running Palmer could only be stopped by a foul 30 yards from goal, but McAlpine’s free-kick was comfortable for English. Palmer’s shot was then saved by the City keeper. City had hardly featured as an attacking force until the 18th minute when a strong tackle from Simpson saw the ball break to Cumersky, but his left-footed shot was wide. The conditions were already starting to bite as McAlpine’s attempted corner-kick hardly got off the ground. In the 20th minute, English dealt superbly with a high cross from the Wallington right, but the City keeper’s weak kick fell to Palmer, who played a 1-2 with Walton, before shooting straight at English. In the 22nd minute, Walton shot wide from a good position, but the linesman’s flag was raised anyway. At this stage, City began to come more into the game. Heath’s 25-yard shot was on target, forcing Maxted to save. This was soon followed by Cumersky’s shot being tipped away by the keeper. In the 27th minute, Simpson’s pass freed S. Bell, but the striker shot over. A good move involving Cumersky, Heath and Kelleher looked promising, but petered out with a goal-kick for the home side. However, on 32 minutes, this little spell of City pressure paid dividends, as the visitors took the lead. Ironically, the goal stemmed from a Wallington free-kick deep in City’s half, that was cleared well over the half-way line. Maxted dashed from his penalty box but got nowhere near the ball, and S. Bell was presented with the simple opportunity of rolling the ball into an empty net. After 37 minutes, a neat move between Walton, Palmer and McAlpine saw the latter’s shot saved by English. Wallington had regained the upper hand and English saved from Williamson, before Walton fired wide. However, on 42 minutes, it was 1-1 as good play down the Wallington right saw the ball reach Foreman, who turned well before shooting into the corner of the net. Disastrously for City, it was another goal conceded within 60 seconds. Another rightwing move caused problems for City, and Walton scored easily from close range. Just

before the interval, bookings were given out at the same time to both Cumersky and Heath. HALF-TIME- Wallington 2-1 City City started the second half with shots blocked in quick succession from Heath and Simpson. In the 50th minute. Kelleher found space behind the Wallington defence, and squared the ball to S. Bell, but his shot was blocked for a corner. Cumersky’s flagkick hit the post before being cleared. In the 57th minute, a superb left-wing cross from Walton deserved a goal, but none of his colleagues could apply the final touch. Cherry then received City’s third booking, for dissent. Palmer latched onto a throw-in from the right wing, but then shot well wide. Referee John Harbertson then turned his attention to the City dug-out, issuing a lecture before showing a yellow card to one of the coaching staff. English excelled himself in the 62nd minute as he did superbly well to tip aside a deflected shot. In the 65th minute, Cherry’s tackle in front of the home dug-out was met with an unsavoury comment from one of the Wallington coaches. Cherry responded angrily to the alleged racist remark and had to be restrained by his team-mates. Referee Harbertson consulted his assistant before taking no further action. The game resumed, in the 71st minute, with Burton challenging Maxted for a high cross. The loose ball broke to Heath, who swivelled but shot wide. A fine ball from Simpson sent Kelleher running towards goal, but his run was stopped by MacPherson. City kept pressing and Heath produced a fine diving save from Maxted, who then gathered the ball after a goalmouth scramble. In the 75th minute, City equalised with a fine goal. Cumersky passed to Cherry on the left flank, and his excellent cross was met with a fine volley from Heath into the back of the net. Wallington responded with an attack that had to be blocked by C. Bell at the expense of a corner. Foreman’s flag-kick was cleared by Simpson. Cumersky shot wide from a free-kick before City missed a gilt-edged chance to take the lead. Burton’s pass sent Kelleher with a clear run on goal. He tried to dribble the ball around Maxted but the keeper was down smartly and whipped the ball off the striker’s toes. In the 79th minute, it was Wallington’s turn to miss a golden chance. Foreman’s cross from the right fell to substitute Atkinson but he blazed over from a good position. McAlpine then ran strongly down the right, but English dived to smother his cross. After 86 minutes, Burton and Kelleher combined, but MacPherson intercepted. The resulting corner, taken by Heath, found Burton at the front post but he headed over. As the game approached the 90th minute, Simpson shot weakly at Maxted. Kelleher then played S. Bell into space on the left wing, with MacPherson putting the cross out for a corner. Cumersky’s corner found Yallop 10 yards from goal, but the centre-half was crowded out. A foul on S. Bell 30 yards from goal gave Cumersky an opportunity for the winner. His shot was accurate, but saved comfortably by Maxted. In the 94th minute, McAlpine’s free-kick was well tipped away by English, and this seemed to be the last action of the game. However, McAlpine had other ideas as he

collected the ball 20 yards from goal, and fired a fine shot into the bottom corner. The referee just re-started the game before blowing his whistle again to bring proceedings to a close. In the circumstances, it was a fine game with much credit due to all the players involved. TEAMS WALLINGTON- Maxted, Baston, Slack, Palmer, McGlughan, MacPherson, Foreman, Williamson, McAlpine, Featherstone, Walton. SubsShepherd, Irwin, Angus, Atkinson, Carr CITY- English, Bulman, Cherry, Yallop, C. Bell, Simpson, Cumersky, Heath, Burton, Kelleher, S. Bell. Sub- Henderson REFEREE- J. Harbertson BOOKINGS- CITY- Cumersky, Heath, Cherry + one coach.