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Ryman League Division One South
WORTHING (0) 2 (Francis 2)
BRACKNELL TOWN (1) 1 (Palmer)
Attendance 380 (Ed: are you sure!?)
So after the amazing trip to Tolworth where Pullers was crowned King of Corinthia after his extraordinary hat trick of corners, we returned to Woodside full of confidence as we entertained Bracknell Town. Before the game, Mark was posing for pictures for the media while demonstrating his flag kick prowess – scoring once and hitting the post on another occasion. And who said they were wind assisted flukes?
We were without the unavailable Clay Lamont as well as the injured Glen Davies, Ben Carrington, Wesley Lopez and James Virgo. Corner supremo Mark Pulling was suspended after his altercation with Mr Legg up at Epsom. It appears that the loan spells of Andy Ducille and Daryl Plummer are over and most interestingly that Darren Freeman may have left the club. It is understood by rebelrebels.co.uk that Freeman clashed with Pook during the Senior Cup semi-final with Three Bridges and that unless Freeman apologises, his latest spell at Woodside Road is over.
Bracknell had brought a small but noisy contingent of supporters who had been enjoying the delights of Worthing since midday (well as much as anyone can on a rainy March day) who were heartened by being one of the few sides to beat us twice this season. An equally noisy Worthing contingent took up their places on the west end terrace as the match began.
Worthing were enjoying a lot of possession but just couldn’t convert this into any sort of clear cut opening and with Nko Ekoku off form and wing-backs Sean Edwards and Mark Knee unable to offer any sort of attacking force in the opening exchanges it appeared that both sides were cancelling each other out and a goalless draw seemed likely. However, with Bracknell’s first chance of the game they scored through Jon Palmer – a crisp volley from 25 yards. Now, there’s a story with him. I’m sure I used to play in the same Worthing youth cricket team as him except he was known as Jonathan Rae-Palmer then. Of course, as a footballer now Johnny Palmer is far more phonetically friendly than the extended version if you want songs sung about you!
Now this provoked groans from the Woodside faithful as they all know how Bracknell defended a lead from our Bryco Cup encounter and it was no surprise to see them sit back, defend an try and catch us on the break. They did this effectively and with Worthing restricted to long-range shots and half-chances from long throws, it seemed it would take a half time shake up from the boss to get the Rebels playing again. With purposeful strides, Pook marched into the dressing room and sent all the subs out to warm up – a sure-fire sign that very soon, the paint would be peeling from the walls.
Worthing came out livelier and Sam Francis was a constant thorn in the side of Bracknell as he exploited space on both flanks but with no-one in the box to convert his crosses into the box, The Rebels’ frustration increased and no-one’s more than Nko Ekoku who had not enjoyed the best of luck with some dubious offside decisions from an assistant referee who switched lines to prolong Nko’s agony. After one dubious decision too many, Nko had the mother of all paddies with toys being thrown from pram, shirt thrown to the ground and an anxious manager substituting him immediately after he was booked for dissent. He was dragged into the dugout and curiously we didn’t see him again – perhaps he was given a BA Baracus-style tranquilliser to calm him down for the rest of the game? Gavin Jones replaced him.
Bracknell continued to defend well and it took something exceptional to beat their ‘keeper. Sam took the ball in the inside left position, cut inside and with defenders backing away, curled the ball into the top corner from 20 yards for a splendid equaliser. Owen Hill replaced Sean Edwards in an attempt to increase attacking options while Will Packham preserved parity with a tremendous one-on-one save. With seconds remaining and Bracknell intent on running down the clock, it seemed it would stay 1-1. Roy Pook came on for his first competitive appearance in a Rebels shirt and he immediately featured with some good play on the right hand side of the box. With the clock running down, a Des Guile throw was returned to him by a Bracknell defender, Guile put in a cross that evaded everyone except an unmarked Francis at the far post, who smashed the ball into the roof of the net, Eight minutes of injury time followed and The Rebels hung on for a vital victory in their quest for a top six place.
With Slough amazingly losing at Corinthian Casuals 4-1, it was a decent evening to be a Rebel. Despite not being at our best for long periods of play, we ground out the required result. A special word of praise to the Bracknell supporters for making the (relatively) long midweek trip and contributing to a pretty good atmosphere, as well as having to put up with Nick as their tour guide! We wish them well for the rest of their season and I cannot understand how their side can be so far down the table when I can honestly say that they were defensively better than most sides I have seen this season.
TEAM – Will Packham 8, Sean Edwards 7 (sub Owen Hill 7), Chris Dicker 6, Andy Lutwyche 6, Des Guile 6, Stewart Holmes 6, Shaun Grice 6 (sub Roy Pook 7), Paul Rogers 7, Sam Francis 9, Nko Ekoku 6 (sub Gavin Jones 6), Mark Knee 7 SUBS NOT USED Ross Johnson, Andrew Beech
MY MAN OF THE MATCH – Sam Francis, a fantastic individual effort for the first goal followed by an equally beautiful (from an importance point of view) second. The best forward we have been lucky enough to have at our club for a long time.
7th Feb 2004