Division One (East)
Bisley Sports 1 Finchampstead 0
Saturday, 09 November 2002
A second minute goalkeeping blunder and two bad first half injuries proved to be costly for high flying Finchampstead as they went down 1-0 in their Hellenic Football League Division One (East) to mid-table Bisley Sports on Saturday.
Bisley went ahead in the 2nd after a rare blunder by Finch keeper Stuart Harris, who allowed a timid long-range shot from Matt Pearson to slip through his hands and over the goal line. The stunned Finch players responded positively with some good flowing football and it looked as if they would survive this howler, but despite creating plenty of scoring chances in the opening fifteen minutes, they failed to put the ball away in front of goal. With Finch striker Bruce Rolls hobbling around after suffering an early recurrence of a hamstring injury, he was unable to apply his usual finishing power to one or two attempts that were saved by Dane Lane. In the 18th minute a good five man end-to-end Finch move culminated with a firmly driven cross into the penalty area from Danny McCarthy that Bisley keeper Dan Lane failed to hold, but luckily for the home side, Danny Humphreys was too slow to react and slot the loose ball into the empty net. Then came a disgraceful injury to Jamie Clarke that should have resulted in a red card for the errant Bisley player, but incredibly was only punished with a yellow. The Finch skipper had raced down the left wing and crossed the ball into the far post, and was then chopped down long after the ball had been played. Having been notified of the incident by his assistant, the referee then decided a yellow card was sufficient punishment, and a lengthy delay followed whilst the injured player was treated on the field before being removed and unable to take any further part in the game. With striker Bruce Rolls also unable to continue, this was a double blow for the Finch management, who introduced substitutes Martin Turner and Davyd Bowden.
Half Time: 1-0
The second half was almost one way traffic, with Finch playing the better football as they moved purposefully from defence to attack in search of an equaliser, with Bisley?s only answer being a big hoof and chase that gave the solid Finch defence no trouble. In the 51st minute Dan Lane again dropped a cross from Davyd Bowden on his goal line that fortunately for the home side went unpunished, and five minutes later a similar ball in from Martin Turner nearly led to an own goal, Stuart Tomlinson?s desperate lunging attempt at a clearance flying towards his own net, but somehow bouncing clear off the chest of his surprised goalkeeper. At the end of their best move of the game in the 63rd Bisley?s Darren Thorne forced Stuart Harris to make a good save in pushing a well-struck twenty yard shot over his crossbar. The resulting corner was ably dealt with by the Finch defence and the ball swiftly transferred to the other end, where the alert Mark Tomlinson cleared a goal bound overhead attempt from Davyd Bowden off the line, with the out-rushing Dan Lane stranded on the front of his penalty area. Finch continued to apply great pressure on the Bisley defence, but failed to find the vital finishing touch to turn their clear football superiority into goals. Davyd Bowden was unlucky in the 70th minute when he just failed to connect with a piercing cross that skimmed across the face of the empty Bisley goal, just begging for a tap in. At the other end, Bisley should have capitalised on a poor clearance from Jeremy Lynch in the 76th minute, but Stuart Harris was in brilliant form to make two sensational close-range saves from first Mark Tomlinson and then Dave Pearce. The closing ten minutes saw both Davyd Bowden and Danny Humphreys miss chances that should have been tucked away to give Finch the points they deserved from their play, but the lack of finishing power throughout the afternoon proved to be costly and it was the home side that left the field with grins all over their faces.
On Tuesday night, Finchampstead travel to Wootton Bassett Town in the quarter-final of the Hellenic Football League Floodlit Cup (7.30pm), with a semi-final tie against Brackley Town at Hartley Wintney FC on November 19th the reward if they win.
Then on Saturday, they return to league action with Eton Wick the visitors to Finchampstead Park (2.15pm). The Finchampstead reserve team travels to Fairford Town for a Hellenic Football League Reserve Division One fixture (3.00pm).
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