Bebington Rovers 1-6 FC Village
31/03/07 - League

The Village got back to winning ways after three straight defeats with a comfortable win against the bottom side that also saw the return of several keys players. Returning to the fold were Dava, Leigh, Sweeney, Colin, Mike and Maggot which was lucky as they were without Ritchie and Muzza but at least this week they didn’t have to use any of the management and even named a sub. However the home team Bebington Rovers weren’t so lucky and had to start the match with only 10 men and the game would kick off late as the ref failed to appear. After a few fruitless phones calls and in agreement with the Rovers manager it was decided that Mike Edge (Senior) who had come to watch would referee the game and what a good job of it he did. Once again the playing surface was very poor as the Village got off to a player and were awarded a penalty after only a couple of minutes for handball but Colin saw his spot kick saved by the keeper. It didn’t take them long however to opening the scoring when Maggot who had already come close a couple of times found time and space in the area to drill home. Things got worse for the Rovers as they lost a player through an injury and then the Village had two goals disallowed as firstly they were awarded a free kick when the Rovers goalie picked up a back pass which saw Colin put the ball down and knock it to the quick thinking Dava who slotted in. However the Rovers defence said the kick should have been taken from where the defender had passed it from which the ref agreed with and so the Village had to retake and that came to nothing. Then Nic burst through when he collected just inside the Rovers half but it looked as though he was offside when he collected his own knock on before firing home and so the ref blew for offside. Numerous other chances and attacks all came to nothing except for two when Colin saw the keeper deny him twice with two good saves. Then just before the half time whistle Maggot got the ball on the edge of the area and lobbed home an exquisite goal for his second of the game. With young Mike replacing the other Mike during the interval the teams instructions were to go out and try to score as many as they could so their goal difference would improve. But for the first 10 minutes or so it looked as though they were still on the sidelines having their half time drink as the Rovers now back up 10 men again enjoyed a good little spell. They were rewarded with a consolation goal when the Village failed to clear a corner and this seemed to wake the visitors up from their slumber as they restored their two goal advantage almost immediately. From an attack down the right a shot came in which the keeper failed to hold leaving Colin the simple task of tapping in from the line but he cheekily used his head to nudge it over the line. It now became the Colin show as he scored the remaining three goals to give him his first hat trick for the team. All three came from crosses out on the left as Maggot had moved out to the wing where with young Mike he ran the Rovers defence ragged. Colin’s first was a proper header this time when he headed home Maggot’s cross at the far post and then he was on the back stick again but this time hammered the cross in to the roof of the net. Finally he got the ball in the area and did a neat little dribble before slotting past the keeper for the sides sixth and his fourth of the game. Once more the Village had chances increase their lead as Mike R, Maggot, Sweeney, Booey, M.O.M Lee and even Colin all saw efforts get blocked or go just wide. So the Village are back to winning ways but they were expected to win this game and the next couple of games will tell if they really are back up for it.