Report: FCVillage 2 Wirral Wanderers 2

An outrageous decision by the referee in the second half denied the Village from making a great comeback and securing a third win on the trot. In the end they could only manage the draw and so lose their 100% home record. With just Timmy missing the only change to last weeks line up was Crozzer slotting in to the holding role but just before the start of the match Fowler reported in sick and so Mike replaced him on the bench.

The Village knew that despite being bottom this would still be a tough game as the Wanderers are the their old adversaries and so it proved especially in the early stages. The defence who had looked so tight in their previous two games was suddenly all at sea in the opening exchanges and the home side soon found themselves two goals down. The first looked as though it could have been offside as the Village all came out together but the ref who for once appeared to be in line allowed Wirral to play on and one of their forwards chipped home despite the efforts of Leigh to keep it out. The second goal should definitely not have been allowed when the ref gave a free kick to Wirral on the edge of the area after Dava in chasing a forward back towards our goal caught his heel and tripped him up. The ref gave the free kick when it was obviously offside as Dava was behind the said player when the ball was played through. The ref when questioned why he didn’t give offside said “even though he was offside I’ve given them a free kick because your player fouled him”. Wirral scored from that resulting free kick. Even though they were two down the Village themselves had already had a great chance to open their account when Machin found himself one on one with the keeper but he shot wide. Still the Village despite looking shaky at the back were great going forward and had another great opportunity when Victor broke free but he also steered his shot wide. Then when the keeper made a fine save to keep out an effort from Maggot it looked like it might be just one those days. The Village finally got the reward their attacking play deserved when Crozzer put Machin away down the left and he crossed for Maggot to control, swivel and volley home in style. Then just before the break the scores were level as once again Crozzer started a move down the left but this time it was Maggot who was the provider as he crossed to the far post where the in coming Kenny picked the ball up and neatly chipped the keeper for the equalizer.

The Village now felt that having given Wirral a two goal start and pulled it all back they could go on and seal a hard earned victory. In truth that should have been the outcome but mainly because of the ref they would fail in their valiant attempt. The Village kept up their attacks and both Machin and then Booey saw the Wirral keeper make two excellent saves especially the latter which looked world class. Then some 15 minutes in the second half the Village had an attack which resulted in Victor shooting towards goal from inside the six yard box. The Wirral goalie tried to save it but the ball and he went over the line and in to the back of the net. Our side turned around to celebrate and go back towards the half way line and the Wirral lads knew it was a goal as well but when the goalie threw the ball out of the back of the goal the ref amazingly said “play on”. Just incredible! The Village players and line were furious in how could the ref make such a mistake when everyone had seen the ball cross the line. Minutes later Machin almost made amends for the ref's mistake when he cut in from the wing and his thunderous shot beat the keeper but crashed against the crossbar. Then came another error from the ref as a long ball out of the Village half sailed over the Wirral defence and everyone could see Maggot go past his defender and run on to slot under the keeper but the ref blew for offisde, a decision he made from well inside the Village half. He was to repeat this just before the end when he gave Wirral a corner as Jay collected the ball before it went out of play but the ref said the ball had crossed the goalline. Both teams plugged away until the end in the hope of a winner with the home coming the closest when Machin saw his diving header go just wide of the post. Overall a disappointing result for the Village but they did well to come back after giving their visitors a two goal start but they must learn to be up for it from the off.

Team Line-up

FC Village: Hill: Saunders, Whorton, Hutton, Wilson; Murphy, Leeds, Doran, Machin; Thurgill (Richardson), Eaton
Sub not used: Harper, King

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