Team: O'Donnell, Davidson, Mackenzie(Ayiku), Blyth, Nyadu, Serrand, Osborne(M.Smith), Fearn, Alexander, Robertson(Gray), Fleming Subs Not Used: Cameron Foley

After what seemed like a eternity without a game, the Mighty Bridge finally got back into the swing of things at Elphinestone Park in Tranent to face off against Whispers Bar, who at the time of the game were sitting one place below us in the table. We had played at the pitch before against the Brig Inn for a friendly and knew it was a good surface, albeit a bit on the soggy side!

Our plans were thrown a bit when Steven Weare was late turning up, so we gave a debut in the midfield to Anthony Serrand, our recent French signing. We setup in our 2 nd option of a 4-4-2, with the idea being to defend by attacking them at all times, and wore our new yellow/royal kit with the Clic Sargent Charity Logo on it. We had good pace and skill on the wings with Matty and Ian, and lightening pace up front with Keith and Dave.

Whispers had to start the game with only 10 men after one of their guys was late, and we started really well, with Ian and Dave linking up well. The Bridge took an early lead when a corner from Ian was knocked back out to him on the edge of the box in line with the 6yd line. He drove the ball in low and hard, and Dave was on hand to get a touch onto it to divert it into the net for 1-0 to the Yellows. We were stretching their backline with Keith & Dave’s pace, and when Ian slotted through to Keith minutes later, he fired in a great early shot from a tight angle which flew into the top corner, leaving their keeper stranded and putting the Bridge 2-0 up. Things were looking good although there was definitely a gap in the middle of the park that they were beginning to use to good effect. With around 15 minutes on the clock the Bridge went 3-0 ahead, Captain Fantastic latched onto a ball in the box and calmly swept a rising shot across the keeper and into the far corner. We were in dream street now and if we could have just held it together for another 10 minutes or so, we would have gone in at half-time in the lead. Their 11 th player finally arrived and he wasn’t too bad, he began linking up well with their LB, and their 2 CM’s.

Whispers pulled a goal back out of nothing , when a long cross field ball found it’s way deep into the penalty area, their big main striker got a good connection with his head, and his header looped high over Barry in goal for 3-1. It was no more than they had deserved really for their play over the last 10 minutes. Then came the 1 st comedy/joke decision of the game, when Anthony chipped the ball over their player sliding in to make a tackle. The player put BOTH hands up and palmed the ball down, the Joker waved play-on and they finally got a free kick for a soft challenge from Johnny about 25 yards out from goal. This was already their 3 rd or 4 th free kick in this kind of area, all from nothing challenges, and they had cannoned an earlier attempt off the post. Their wide player stepped up and floated a great shot over the wall and into the top corner for 3-2. We tried to question the “Ref” but he was throwing our players a deaf ear, whilst letting the other side shout and swear at him without punishment. With only a few minutes to go before half-time we lost the equaliser from another very questionable decision from him. Their nippy striker got in behind Johnny and although he looked to be at least 10 yards offside he was allowed to run in on goal and slot an easy finish past the on-rushing GK for 3-3. Once again the god-awful Ref had lost us a goal and we were beginning to sense that it was not our day.

Half time 3-3

The main point that we tried to install into the players and H/Time was to get the ball down and play football with it, instead of lumping it forward which was playing into their hands. We knew that we would get nowt from their 12 th man, so if we were going to win the game we would have to do it the hard way. It was no real surprise to us that the Ref spent the half time break across laughing and joking with the other players, as they all knew him by name before the match had even started. With the game being littered with free-kicks at the start of the 2 nd period, it was difficult for either side to play any real football, they had another 3 or 4 chances from free kicks, whilst we were guilty of rushing play too much and losing possession of the ball.

We finally got a bit of luck after around 55 mins, when the ball broke kindly to Anthony outside the area, his powerful shot took a wee nick off a defender, but it still flew past the keeper right into the corner for a vital lead for the Bridge.

With Matty not performing on the left, and with his visibly struggling, Mark came on from the bench to take his place. Anthony moved over to the left and Mark slotted into the CM role with Baz. Johnny had given away quite a few fouls early in the 2 nd half, and after another was given over on the far side we brought him off and brought on Isaac for him. Again this meant a quick re-shuffle, with Chris going to RB and Isaac going into CB. We were not causing them too many problems at the back, and the ball was pinging back and forward like a yo-yo. The Ref was beginning to turn the game into a farce with his decisions on off-sides for both teams, Keith got whistled offside before the ball was even played through, while at the other end, 2 players were yards off but play was waved on. From one such break, Lee got back to put in a challenge on the attacking player, both players went in with the shoulder and both fell over, but again the Ref gave them the free kick. The “foul” took place right on the side lines, but the Ref allowed them to take it on the edge of the box, some 10 yards further in from the incident. The ball was fired in and hit Isaac clearly on the chest, leaving a big ball mark above the Sponsors logo. Amazingly however, the Ref pointed to the spot for a penalty! The Whispers players couldn’t believe their luck and the Ref refused to even look at the mark the ball had made on Isaac’s top, knowing full well that it wasn’t a penalty. The penalty was slotted away despite a valiant effort from Barry to save it for 4-4.

Things were looking very bleak now for the Bridge as it was obvious that this twat of a Ref was determined to get Whispers a win. Every little shout from them was getting them the decision, and when the ball was played through for Dave the offside call was almost immediate. Their wee striker who scored their 3 rd was put through on goal again shortly after, but Barry came out to quickly to save at his feet. They had a short spell of pressure midway through the half and they fired in at least 5 corners in a row, but our defence was standing strong with good clearances. With 15 minutes or so to go, Dave was feeling the effects of an earlier challenge and John came on into the midfield with Ian pushing up front. We got a chance soon after when Ian was hauled down 20 yards into their half near the sidelines. John swung in a deep curving ball to the back post for the on rushing Baz to attack, but the defender put him under loads of pressure and the header went over. We then got a couple of corners and Kofi came close with a header, whilst Ian’s cross –come-shot was blocked at the front post. With only about 5 minutes to go, Whispers got the decisive goal, and yet again it was down to downright cheating from the most useless bias Ref I have ever come across. The wee no’ 5 was once again at least 5 yards behind Chris in the RB slot when the ball was played through the channel to him, and with no chance of a whistle coming from Homer, he swept a good finish high past Barry in goal for 5-4. For the next 5 minutes, Whispers were content in booting the ball as far off the park as possible, and when the Ref finally gave us 3 offsides against their player, the player simply belted the ball out and behind the goal to waste as much time as possible. The Ref ignored this blatantly 3 times, then they started changing the ball every free kick or goal kick, and the game drifted away in the dying moments with no further attacks worthy of any note. The game finished 5-4 to Whispers, yet 3 at least of them were given to them by the muppet in the Black, he was so poor it was untrue, and if the league are looking for someone better than him to use, I hear that Stevie Wonder is free next weekend… 

FINAL SCORE– 5- 4 To the Ref’

Managers Comment:
What more really needs to be said about the farce that was the “game” on Sunday. I firmly believe that no matter how many goals we scored, they were going to get one more either from a legitimate goal or by another gift from the their Santa Ref’. As a few of you will know, I was very very down after the game, partly due to our below par display, and mostly due to being completely robbed of any kind of a result. If we get another Ref like that in a game again, I’ll have to seriously think about taking the team off the field and having it abandoned, I’d rather get a 2-0 defeat against us than having to play in those conditions again.

With regards to our performance, we started like a train, and really got at them for the 1 st 15mins, we scored 3 good goals, and they didn’t really have a sniff. Then the free-kicks started getting given and they scored a couple in quick succession, and before we knew it we were level at the break. The 2 nd half was a joke from start to finish, so it was always going to be tough on our players to try and perform to a high level. Best in the yellow for the Bridge were, Chris B, with a strong 2 nd half performance at both CB and RB, Anthony did very well on his debut and capped it with a goal but needs to be more disciplined in his position, and Keith had a thankless task up front and stuck to it manfully. Man of the Match however goes to IAN FLEMING, he never stopped chasing the entire game, set up 3 of the goals, and helped out at the back too. It was a 5 star performance from him, and his determination and drive should be an inspiration to the rest of the squad.

M.O.T.M. – Ian Fleming

(Man of the Match)

Player Ratings:
GK – Barry O’Donnell (7 out of 10)
RB – Johnny Mackenzie (6) (Isaac Ayiku 5)
CB – Kofi Nyadu (6)
CB – Chris Blyth (7)
LB – Lee Davidson (6)
STK – Dave Robertson (7) (1G) (John Gray 5)
CM – Barry Fearn © (7) (1G)
CM – Anthony Serrand (7) (1G)
LM – Matty Osborne (6) (Mark Smith 7)
RM – Ian Fleming (9)
STK – Keith Alexander (7) (1G)