Graham Pearcey

Date: 9 March 2024

A score of 2-2 doesn’t tell half the story of this game; which involved a missed penalty, a disallowed goal after a lengthy VAR check, and a comeback from 0-2 down by means of two headers both scored by substitutes.

Apart from Mepham replacing an injured Senesi (and Zabarnyi moving to the left centre back position to accommodate him) the starting line-up was predictable.

We were awarded an early penalty when Solanke was brought down in the area, but he looked nervous as he waited to take it, and he did one of those stuttering run-ups that never look convincing. He slipped as he went to take the kick and the ball went sky-high into the Ted McDougall Stand. We continued, though, to dominate the game until, against the run of play, a United shot was parried by Neto but found Hamer who scored for 0-1 on 27 minutes.

A Kerkez shot was saved deep into added time, and proved to be not only the last kick of the half but Kerkez’ last touch in the match before being substituted (by Ouattara).

It definitely didn’t seem like our day when a second United goal was awarded by the referee’s watch on 64 minutes, Robinson’s shot being deemed to have crossed the line before play continued; and then almost immediately after that a Solanke goal was disallowed. First VAR checked for offside, and the goal appeared to stand, but subsequently they checked for – and confirmed – handball. So the score line remained at 0-2.

But fortunately in the final quarter of an hour we scored twice: first a Ouattara header off a Christie corner and then a close-range header from Unal following a cross from Ouattara. So the team had worked their socks off all afternoon but after all that effort gained just a single point. Well, every little helps I guess.

The team lined up as follows at the start of the game:

Neto;
Smith, Mepham, Zabarnyi, Kerkez;
Cook, Christie;
Semenyo, Kluivert, Tavernier;
Solanke

By the end the line-up was:

Neto;
Cook, Mepham, Zabarnyi, Ouattara;
Scott, Philip;
Semenyo, Unal, Sinisterra;
Solanke

Return to my football reports and links page.