I have a soft spot for Elmore as they were the first team I looked at years ago when I started hunting for level 10 clubs. There were a few crunching tackles as players slid in on the wet turf but I saw no vicious intent until some great skill was brought to the show. The Elmore number three went on a run and 'rabona'd past one then used the same trick to get passed the second challenge. Another back foot flick around his forward leg took him past the third man. The Exmouth skipper clearly was not going to let him do it a fourth time and cynically brought the young talent to the floor.
It has to be said that British football has not changed one bit. As soon as anybody demonstrates skill or talent the 'footballers' determine that it has to be chopped down and kicked off the park. While I acknowledge that football is a contact sport I am not surprised that most of the talent these days comes from foreign climes where talent is encouraged and allowed to progress.
The anger that ensued as the young man was treated for what looked like a serious injury proved difficult for the female referee to control but she wisely took her time and got the players to calm down before quite rightly sending off the Exmouth number six. This proved to be pivotal in terms of the match as Elmore started to control the game from this point onwards. The Exmouth players seemed more intent on allocating blame to each other rather than competing for a win.
There was a loud cheer around me as Elmore scored to cut the margin in half. Some more hard tackles and tough challenges followed including one marvelous scuffle battle resulting in a wrestling match on the ground with some afters as the two players rose. The temperature here was hot and I am not surprised as Elmore are top of the Eastern division of the South West Peninsula League and expect to be promoted to the Premier division where Exmouth play so this was a good test of their readiness. ... They passed.
The second goal went in and with the scores level the momentum seemed to be with Elmore who had eleven players taking on the ten remaining players of Exmouth town. Substitutions started happening on a regular basis and as time rolled on I started to worry about my Mrs who is not a great fan of extra time. "You said it would be finished by ...". The talk turned to extra time as this was a South West Peninsula League Cup match. I relaxed a bit as Elmore took a 3-2 lead but this was the trigger either for Elmore to sit back or for Exmouth to strike out as the action switched ends and Exmouth pushed for THEIR equaliser.
The wet conditions made it difficult for the players and the referee had to book several more players to keep the lid on the bottle. Elmore got a series of corners that should have sealed the deal and a few free kicks where they fed the ball into the penalty area. Exmouth continued attacking but only made a couple of half chances. I was finally able to stop worrying about my Mrs when Elmore killed the match off with a fourth goal.
I am glad I made the effort to get to the match on a cold wet afternoon. This is after all typical of weather in the football season. The crowd was much larger than the last time I was here in Tiverton. That time the crowd of 23 was outnumbered by the people on the pitch (two teams of eleven and three officials) but winning teams always attract larger crowds than losing ones so to win is important if you want to raise crowd numbers.
My level 11 pick just beat my level 10 pick.
No comments:
Post a Comment