Old Parmiterians 2 - 1 Southgate County

Old Parmiterians 2 – 1 Southgate County
(Middleton)

Southgate travelled to a Parms side who had a 100% record so far this season; as with every game so far we had a number of different players from the previous week. We could really do with some consistency in availability, however on a positive note we did have a full squad of 14 in the end, from 12 on Friday night!

The game began at a very quick pace and no-one on either side was slowing the ball down at all. It also started in a very competitive way with everyone completely committed to the tackle. Unfortunately we had a mini disaster after 5 minutes. A long ball was played into our box and as Boris came to punch an attacking Parms player jumped into him. Boris injured his arm in the impact and subsequent fall and so had to be replaced, with Ryan Kerby coming on in his place. Parms had one stand-out player who was really shining; every time he got the ball out wide he looked dangerous and would regularly beat a couple of our men; the problem, which was a bonus for us, was that after he beat a couple of men he tried to beat a couple more instead of offloading the ball which meant that invariably we stopped him in the end. When we did get the ball down we played some really nice stuff and put together 2 or 3 really nice moves but unfortunately it fell down with the final pass or shot. We took the lead after about 20 minutes. A free kick from deep was brilliantly floated to the back post where Ken Middleton steamed in and on the stretch steered the ball home. To be honest we didn’t really have any more alarms in the half and saw it out fairly comfortably. We were occasionally putting together decent moves but too often we were rushing and panicking. Half time and 1 up.

We just didn’t really start the second half at all. Parms came out all guns blazing and they moved their best player into the middle where he could do more damage. We probably should have put an extra man in there to deal with him but at 1-0 up were hoping to get a foothold at some point. Despite relentless attacks we were actually defending pretty well and Parms weren’t creating clear cut chances. On 70 minutes we worked the ball from back to front quickly down the right and Robert Danso cut in to fire a good shot goalwards but the Parms keeper saved well. Soon after we created another good chance; this time Robert Danso cut the ball back to Jermaine Nelson who smashed an effort towards goal that the keeper managed to hold. With 10 minutes left disaster struck; we cleared a dangerous Parms free kick and as we were coming out the ball was played back in; unfortunately Kerby couldn’t hold the ball and it was bundled home. We felt 4 or 5 players were yards offside but the referee felt differently and so it was 1-1. We let our heads drop which was disappointing but in some ways understandable after how we had battled and how the goal was conceded. 5 minutes later we failed to deal with a long ball and the Parms forward had a simple one on one which he finished for 2-1. What happened in the last 5 minutes was disgraceful and I do not want to see it from Southgate players again. We had 2 players sent off who quite simply lost their heads. It was an emotive game and the opposition (and their numerous supporters) had been winding us up all day, however we should have been bigger and not let it rile us. We felt a lot of unjust with decisions that went against us but the behaviour of some was completely unacceptable, despite what had happened.

A very disappointing end to a game in which we gave so much. On the positive side we battled and worked exceptionally hard and could well have come away with a win against what has so far been the best team in the division; certainly the best we have played. Man of the Match was Ken Middleton who was the one player who did the most to lift us after the late equaliser, showed quality on the ball throughout, scored a good goal and worked tirelessly. Notable mentions to Ben Thirgood and Michael Mensah who both performed excellently.

Team; Boris, Harry Blake, Damien O’Brien, Ben Lambert, Ryan Kerby, Michael Coehurst, Danny Marchant, Ken Middleton, Ben Thirgood, James Thirgood, Jermaine Nelson, Liam Frame, Michael Mensah, Robert Danso.