Lane Cove West 0, Berowra 0
Make that eight games in a row in which not more than one side has scored.
And other coincidences continue, too. Last week I said that our previous 3-0 win had also been preceded by a 0-3 defeat. And it was
followed by… a 0-0 draw! (The next bit of the sequence is not likely to recur,
however: we then had a forfeit, then 0-5 & 0-4 defeats to finish off the
season).
But as David C points out (really
getting into the swing, David), the truly significant current statistic is that
we are undefeated since the Pope died (This was some 17 hours after our only
defeat of the season, news of which – keen football fan, and player, as he was
– probably neither reached him, nor therefore, troubled his last few hours in
any way).
Another warmish day saw the return
of John (no longer dogged by injury) and Martin P. Guy had returned to the As
(and was, thus, able to ref us), but otherwise we were unchanged from last
week’s winning line-up. This meant that Bill had done his Lazarus impersonation
again, and was free to rove from right back to left wing.
Versatility was, in fact, the order
of the day. With 4 subs, everyone except Dave W had a reasonable spell off, but
we now have 7 who can play in the back 4; 4 in the front 2; and, of course, anyone can play in midfield!
Amongst the unusual sights was
Martin C playing part of the game in midfield, and very effectively too, with
the result that he was second in the Man-of-the-Match voting stakes; which this
week was won by his replacement at the back, Tony. Many were the assaults on
our goal that seemed dangerous, only for the trusty head or hoof to appear at
the right moment: and there’s no messing about when Tony hoofs the ball!
The back 4 duties were also shared
by Eric, Steve, Bill, Martin P and Dave C. Their combined efforts meant that I
can recall only one truly dangerous moment: in the first half when a ball
squared across just outside the area was met by an unstoppable shot that,
fortunately, whistled past our left-hand post.
Though Dave W was called on for the
occasional catch or dive under pressure, one of the most troubling moments came
as Berowra were awarded a free kick in our area, after Dave had controlled the
ball with his feet outside the area, dribbled it in, then
picked it up. Such a manoeuvre is fine, in any circumstance except the one that
actually applied here. Rule 12 includes:
An indirect free kick is
awarded to the opposing team if a goalkeeper, inside his own penalty area,
commits any of the following five offences:
Quite correct, Guy: no exception for
first controlling the ball outside the area. Fortunately the touch-on from the
indirect free-kick (correct, there, too, Guy), was blasted high and wide.
In mid-field, Peter deserved his
honourable mention (3rd) in MOTM. John, Mark S and Dave L all
contributed to our improvement in that area, and Ernie
nearly crowned his performance with a rare goal just before half-time. A shimmy
on the left, past the defender, set for a shot; but, no – instead a lob that
surprised both the defenders and those of our attackers who might have been its
targets, and the moment passed.
Again we found an opposing keeper in
good form, though we never really tested him as we would have liked to. Dave W
had some good runs, but only one shot really connected and the keeper collected
it with aplomb. His one mistake was, in the first half, to mis-clear
to me on the edge of the box, but I chose to shoot without controlling it; with
the predictable result.
Both sides toiled to the end but,
all in all, a draw was fair: neither side really did enough for the 3 points.
Still, we can be happy that we strung some passes together, and finished with
our various injuries apparently improved.
Thanks to Guy for
refereeing, and Ben for linesmanning (and John &
Dave C likewise at
MARK BRYANT