Saturday 12 January 2008

St Stephen 4-1 Grampound

(Duchy League Division 2)
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Due to postponements and Christmas, Grampound had not played for some weeks and it showed as players lacked sharpness all over the pitch. There was doubt whether the surface was playable but the game started and although rusty, Grampound looked in charge and played some neat football at times, with Shane Weeks cutting inside and hitting a sweet shot to give them the lead. Both Grampound and St Stephen missed chances in the first half, but Grampound went in from the fast-deteriorating pitch with a deserved lead.

The second half saw Grampound start slowly and St Stephen pressed them back, although no real chances were created until a St Stephen midfielder ran 30 yards through the heart of Grampound's midfield and defence without a challenge and planted a good shot into the roof of the net to restore parity. A few minutes later referee Graham Allen sent off Grampound's Dean Dunn for foul and abusive language aimed at the home linesman when given offside and from that point Grampound were rarely in the game. Three minutes later, Stuart Harris was very harshly adjudged to have committed a foul and the home team were awarded a penalty, and the spot kick was duly despatched into the corner to put the hosts ahead. Grampound's midfield did not seem able to pass through what was now a quagmire right across the pitch and St Stephen could have added more than the 2 additional goals to give them a comfortable 4-1 win. Glyn Ford felt very hard done by when he was fouled inside the St Stephen penalty area when apparently heading for goal, only for the referee to award a free-kick inches outside, which was wasted.

This was a dire second half display, devoid of much heart, passion or skill. Conditions were almost impossible, but the home team managed to keep possession far better and that was the main reason for their second half supremacy.

Squad

1. Bennett-Glew
2. Harris
3. Webb
4. Fletcher
5. Dunn D
6. James A (sub Moseley, 65)
7. Maker
8. Trudgeon (sub Ford G, 60)
9. Dunn G (sub Cotterill, 75)
10. Weeks
11. Bartlett

Goals

Weeks

Man of the Match

As a spectator for the second half, I didn't see one.

Yellow Cards

None

Red Cards

Dean Dunn of the Match Yellow Cards Red Cards