New Dock 6-3 FC Village
17/03/07 - League

The Village slumped to yet another defeat as they just about got a starting line up and although they played well in patches they just didn't have the experience out on the field. With Nic, Maggot, and Muzza all out due to injury and both Leigh and Damo working the Village were further hit when Gavin failed to show and therefore the fringe players in the form of Mike R, Mike O, Ritchie and Jason all had to be drafted in leaving the side with no sub for the day. On yet another bumpy surface (the side have been spoilt having Levers as their home pitch) the reorganised Village took a while to get going and it came as no surprise when New Dock opened the scoring early on after a defensive mix up. A bigger shock came minutes later when the Village equalised as Ritchie put Les away down the left and he cut in to fire home for 1-1. Incredibly it wasn’t long before the visitors had taken the lead when Mike got the ball in the area and fired in a great shot and then came the defining moment of the game. Mike once more received the ball on the edge of the area and his shot looked to be heading for the far corner when it hit the post instead and bounced away to safety. Had that gone in then the final outcome may well have been different but it allowed the Dock to stay in the game and they took advantage of it. It wasn’t long before they equalised and just before the interval they regained the lead just when the Village didn’t want them to. So trailing by the odd goal at half time the Village had a little swap around of positions in their defence but this just made things worse and before they knew it they had conceded another two goals. Both came from corners and both were identical headers which came as a huge disappointment to the Village. So once again they made some changes as Ritchie moved in to defence and Booey moved back in to midfield and this almost paid immediate dividends as Mike broke free but his lob over the keeper just wasn’t high enough. The Village did much better now and were rewarded with a third goal when Mike’s corner found Ritchie who volleyed home in style for his first of the season. Could another comeback be on the order? No was the answer as the New Dock had the final say with a sixth goal just before the end. So once again much disappointment with players not turning up or being unavailable, a situation that has to be resolved sooner rather than later.