Premier Division
Highworth Town 3 Pegasus Juniors 2
Saturday, 18 January 2003
The Hereford based visitors gave high flying Highworth Town a fright, yet as is often the case when lowly placed opposition is playing against a team near the top of the table it was the top team that gets the breaks; that was certainly the case here.
Highworth who added three new players in mid week to strengthen the squad in order to improve the chances of gaining the league title scored two fortuitous goals at significant times of the game to steal all three points. After a positive start Pegasus Juniors were first to threaten on goal when Del Ewers won the race with keeper Steve Hale his shot from a narrow angle was cleared off the line before an attacker could close in. In the 16th minute of the game after the first attack by the home side was snuffed out a clearance ball inadvertently hit the hand of Darren Jones the midfield player and the referee from a distance awarded a penalty kick. Neither the home players nor the hundred plus home supporters appealed and Justin Miller scored from the spot. This deflated the visitors and rejuvenated the home team who, led by their man of the match Tony Joyce, began to play with more purpose and expression. Pegasus lost the ball in midfield when Neal Hotchkiss was bundled off the ball by two Town players this set up Miller to score his second goal with neat finish. Just before the interval goalkeeper King made a great fingertip save from a fierce shot from new signing Adriano Girolami to retain the two goal lead for the home team.
Half Time: 2-0
Five minutes into the second half the game changed when Fergy Harrison crossed the ball into the box and Pete Wallace crashed the ball home from twelve yards. This had a similar reversed effect to the earlier penalty incident as it boosted Pegasus Juniors and deflated Highworth who were soon to look ordinary and less effective, that is until the title contenders scored a third goal against the run of play with further assistance from ?Lady Luck?. Matt Jack who gained the ball close to the goal line appeared to be in an offside position, the referee?s assistant raised his flag to indicate the offside and crucially the visiting defence stopped, then inexplicably the official lowered his flag as the ball was crossed into the goal mouth and was deflected into the goal by Miller to claim his hat trick. Despite protestations the referee awarded the goal without consultation with his assistant. Pegasus continued to take the game to the opposition and captain Darren Preece won the ball in midfield before passing to Girolami who made ten yards towards goal before unleashing a vicious curving shot from thirty yards that hit the net before King could react. The home side were visibly shaken as the Hereford players strived for the deserved equaliser, the home supporters were baying for the final whistle as the match referee played five minutes of additional time.
There is little doubt Pegasus Juniors will produce inferior performances than this and will gain all three points, they certainly deserved a point from this match and with a little bit of luck they could have easily gone home with all three.
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