B GRADE MATCH REPORT

Northbridge (Over35) 1 - 2 Lane Cove West (Over 35)

Match Report

This time last year, we had played in five 2-1 games, and lost them all. This was our first 2-1 this year, and it reinforced that it’s 
a great score, as long as you win! Another great team effort: this one with a makeshift team, and in the face of refereeing that 
was, well, creative, to say the least. Read on.

Neil (broken wrist) & Warren (various strained & bruised bits) were casualties of North Sydney’s over-close attentions last week. 
Peter was absent for the first time, leaving Dave W, Tim F, Steve & Ernie as the only ever-presents this season. Jon Ball became 
our 25th player of the season & Mark L, Steve T & Bill made welcome returns.

Before the game, the ref gave us a lovely speech which had the air of having been practiced at home this morning. He was there to 
protect us all, and ensure we all had a good time. And – and this was eerily prescient – he might just make a mistake during the 
afternoon. But, if so, he’d like us to pretend he hadn’t and generally be good boy scouts & smile & whistle under all difficulties 
(and if you’ve ever tried smiling & whistling at the same time, you’ll know what sort of difficulties boy scouts have).

But all this seemed irrelevant, as the game began as the Dave B show. After just 6 minutes, he pounced on a poor defensive header 
on the right, and lashed it into the net. 1-0. And 13 minutes later, the move of the game: Steve T passed to Dave. He flicked it 
to Mark L who headed it back across to Dave who had moved into space, and WHAM: a volley into the top left of the net. 19 minutes 
gone, and 2-0!

The only trouble with being 2-0 up so early is that it leaves a long time for your opponents to come back. (Look what happened to 
the As last week). And between our goals had been danger signals at the other end: in particular a good cross from the right that 
looked easier to head in than over, but luckily that’s where it ended up.

That was the story of the rest of the first half: Dave B and the two Marks threatening at one end, but scares at our end too. The 
worst scare was an offside seen by neither ref nor linesman, from which Dave W had to rescue us with a fine one-handed save whilst 
already on the ground. What also impressed was our resilience in defence (Martin C’s knee must definitely be OK now, given how many 
times it has crunched into tackles) and Tim F, Martin P & Eric, who were all called upon to play the whole game were stalwart, too. 
Also, some lovely passing around the midfield: Steve L, Bill, John S, Jon B & Ernie all contributing.

The half-time plan for 2-0 up was fresh in our minds from the W Pymble game: don’t let them score, but keep attacking, too. And for 
a while, it all went to script. After just 2 minutes, Mark S chased a good through pass but it evaded him, the keeper and (just) the 
right hand post. Four minutes later, another miracle Dave W save – and just like last week, it was a faint, but vital touch on a 
rocket-like shot to divert it onto the post, and away to safety. That and his save in the first half were just as instrumental in o
ur ultimate win as the heroics of the other Dave at the other end. (Shame they don’t actually get recorded on the score-sheet!).

Then, after 17 minutes of the second half, came the incident that the travelling LCW crowd (THREE wives, several children, another 
Steve formerly of All-age: approaching double figures) were still talking of as they wended their way from the ground. My notes read 
“Keeper sent off after Dave B felled”. And for all the world, this seemed to be accurate. Another great through ball had the keeper 
haring out of goal as Dave closed on the ball. But before he could, the keeper’s forearm met his face, Dave – quite understandably 
in the circumstances – collapsed in a heap, and the ball went out of play. Over came the man in black (who, you will recall if you 
have been paying attention, was there to protect us all) and spoke to the keeper who duly trudged off, with the hangdog look of a 
man who knows that his afternoon is over, but rightly so. I recall mild surprise that no card had actually been shown, but mused 
that perhaps a desire not to inflame the crowd further had resulted in this discretion. Meanwhile Dave was assisted over to his 
(probably traumatised) family with blood leaking from the mouth. But otherwise our troubles for the day were surely over: ten men 
to play for the rest of the game; a penalty – or maybe free-kick just outside the area – to come. 

A free-kick was the award which was probably technically correct, if one confines oneself to mundane considerations, like the facts, 
but this was just the sort of situation when a good ref would have applied justice with a penalty. The free-kick ended up on the road, 
but not to worry. Hang on a sec, what’s this? A substitute to bring Northbridge back to 11? Yes: it turned out that the keeper wasn’t 
sent off at all. Instead, he had been invited to substitute himself, because, well, after all, a chap doesn’t like to send a chap off, 
does he? Or even book him. Incredible! When I asked the ref after the game for an explanation I was told that it was a robust tackle, 
and that, basically, Dave had got in the way! (Lucky not to be sent off, I suppose!). “Our” linesman had been nearby: he could have 
“helped” the ref if he’d wanted. Not that he was invited to, of course, and why should he offer his help when it seemed clear the 
player had been correctly sent off?

To our credit we did not allow ourselves to be distracted by this outrage, and motored on. More good passing, and chances created: 
one a really good cross from Steve T on the right after a good move.

But – just as I was about to bring myself on for the last 5 minutes or so to share in the glory and test out the knee – disaster! A 
Northbridge goal from a move that I would tell you all about if the trauma hadn’t taken it entirely from my mind. 1-2, and even 5 
minutes seemed far too long. But we held out with the same resoluteness that we have shown for a few weeks now.

Dave B was the unsurprising man of the match, with Dave W second, and marauding Martin C third. But again, a great team performance 
in the face of adversity, and our first double and first away win of the season.

So – 3 wins and a draw from our last 5 games. But we shouldn’t get carried away: the wins (in fact, all of our 4 wins) were against 
the bottom 3 clubs who have won just one game each all season (playing each other, presumably). And we’ve only got 2 of them left to 
play! We’ve moved up a place to 6th, but are still 7 points from 4th. Next week comes the real test of our improvement: Mount Colah: 
top of the table, lost just once, scored 34 conceded 8. (But then N Sydney have still conceded only 4 and we got one of them). 

Bring ‘em on!

MARK BRYANT