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Tue 25th Aug 2009
League
Welwyn Garden City 1-1 TAFC First team
TAFC goals: Graham Hall |
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After the scintillating performance on Saturday at Hanwell Town it was always going to be tough travelling to WGC in midweek. The home side have not made a great start to the season with just a draw in 4 games to show for their endeavours, but they have added a few players to their line up and they gave us a stiff test.
Last season they scored in the 92nd minute to deny us a point this time the goal came a minute later and cost us 2 points. But our players were very unhappy about this equaliser, they felt it should not have been allowed because of a foul on Jack Copson in the build up. There was certainly some legitimacy to their complaint because Jack nearly had his arm pulled out the socket as he tried to clear the ball and it beggars belief that the Linesman who was close and the Referee who was also nearby saw nothing.
But after taking the lead with a magnificent goal from Graham Hall we should have run down the clock by keeping possession of the ball instead of giving it away cheaply and allowing WGC to come back at us and eventually get the break through they were looking for. In front of a sparse crowd containing mainly our supporters we started where we left off on Saturday and for the first 20 minutes we dominated the game.
In the 4th minute Vinnie Iannone hit a good shot under pressure which home keeper Mark Jessop saved at the second attempt. Jessop had to be alert a minute later when his centre back Kevin Taylor sliced a cross straight to him. We were playing the ball around nicely using the full width of the pitch with Danny Gray on the left and Tony Fields on the right. The experienced WGC defender Daniel Teixiera hit a pass straight to Danny Gray who ran at the defence and slipped a nice pass to Vinnie Iannone, but unfortunately he fired over.
It was all us in those early stages and Vinnie Iannone lofted a lovely pass over the defender to Tony Fields but again the shot went over. Tony nearly made amends a few minutes later when he cut inside the defender and hit a left foot shot which looked destined for the bottom corner, but Mark Jessop did well to get down quickly and palm the ball away which was then cleared by a defender to safety. It was Ashley Addison’s turn to test Jessop with a shot that the keeper did well to dive across and claim.
At this stage virtually nothing had been seen of the home attack but in the 19th minute David Salmon came across to clear a dangerous looking cross. There was a couple of crosses put over from our left wing but they came to nothing. We gradually lost our attacking momentum and the game became more even and scrappy. David Whicker did test Jessop with a free kick but our attacks were let down by poor final passes. WGC won a free kick which was cleared but when the ball was played back in a header went wide of the post. Jessop was called into action to tip a Danny Gray shot round the post as the half drew to a close. The last action of the half was the replacement of the home centre forward Karimm German, who got injured, by Richard Pearce. So after a very promising start it was disappointing that we had nothing to show for it and the half time score was 0-0.
HT: WGC 0 TA 0
New signing Jack Copson made a couple of timely interceptions and after a great move Danny Gray nearly worked himself a goalscoring chance. Graham Hall must like the 64th minute because he scored at this time on Saturday and did the same again in this game with a goal to savour. Jack Copson played the ball up to Vinnie Iannone who cleverly nodded the ball down to Graham who wasted no time to hit a controlled volley passed Jessop from over 30 yards. It was quite simply a stunning goal.
A few minutes later the ball was laid back to Danny Gray following a good move but he shot over. The home side made some changes, bringing on Stewart King and later Dwayne Bryan for Bradley Wilkinson and Peter Doroko in a bid to get a break through. They pushed forward in numbers and the game became bitty and scruffy. We needed a second goal to ease the tension but we seemed well able to cope with whatever was thrown at us. We had one anxious moment when Stewart King went on a good run into our box but he lost control of the ball. We also made a number of changes bringing on former WGC player Darren Franklin and Neil Roberts for Ashley Addison and Danny Gray and later we replaced Vinnie Iannone with Mark Burfoot.
Scoring chances were becoming scarce as we concentrated on keeping the opposition out but Jessop had to come off his line quickly to deal with a fine pass from David Whicker to punch the ball off Darren Franklin’s head. With time up we looked like we had succeeded in securing our 3rd consecutive clean sheet and 3 points as well when 3 minutes into added time came the moment of controversy. That didn’t put off Dennis Maharjan from heading an equaliser for his side and make the final score 1-1.
FT: WGC 1 TA 1
Full marks to WGC who never gave up and competed well all over the park. But from our point of view it was a disappointing outcome especially as the late goal was the only goal attempt the home side managed during the whole game. On this performance WGC will climb up the table and will surprise a few teams.
Teams:
WGC: Mark Jessop, Deji Ojuroys (Capt), Daren Till, Daniel Teixiera, Kevin Taylor, Peter Dorokos (Dwayne Bryan 83), Dennis Maharjan, Laurence Rispoli, Karimm German (Richard Pearce 45), Junior Lewis, Bradley Wilkinson (Stewart King 74). Subs not used: Tyrone Petrie, Lee Groves.
TA: Dave Clark, Dave Salmon, Jack Copson, Graham Hall (Capt), Steve Smith, Henry Thomas, Tony Fields, Dave Whicker, Vinnie Ianonne (Mark Burfoot 83), Ashley Addison (Darren Franklin 74), Danny Gray (Neil Roberts 74): Subs not used: Chris Salmon, Andy Mullins.
Goals:
WGC: Dennis Maharjan ((90+3)
TA: Graham Hall (64) _
Attendance: 40
HT Website: http://www.wgcfc.com |
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(No photos on file)
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