Lowestoft & District Div 1- 20/04/10Pot Black FC- 1
Oxford Arms- 3
Match Overview- It never rains it really just pours and Tuesday nights game and final midweek fixture for PB dealt to sickening blows, a second consecutive defeat and an injury that will see Kev Sherwood sidelined for a long period. With the Gaffer away in Bury St Edmunds taking Mass in his second occupation as father Mckinley, Sterry stepped in to the caretaker role which has so far seen him face Norton, Hearts of Oak and Tuesdays fixture of Oxford Arms.. Cheers Dan. When the txt came through stating the team and lack of subs the immediate thoughts where, ‘we can’t afford any injuries’ oh how we’d come to regret that thought. With the spine of the side missing in The ‘Right Said Fred’ Boyds, PT, Crab Collins and Gav Hunt we were yet again forced to re-shuffle. Despite this reshuffle PB were still able to name a strong 11 with a back line of Sherwood, Sterry, Laws, Landsdale, Rose a midfield of Jim Harvey, Molby Jones, Targer, Rob Cooper and a front line of attack in Bird and Wilson.
The game looked to be an awesome affair as the first few blows were dealt with equal amounts of passion but inside 15 minutes the game was all but over as PB no1 Kev Sherwood jumped to collect a bread and butter catch only to fall to the ground after what seemed to be the slightest of nudges from the Oxford striker. Kev was obviously in pain and holding his knee but to be honest the noises coming from him as he writhed about in agony suggested the Oxford player may have been tooled up so I contemplated frisking the player for a knife. There were no visible signs of a break or stab wound for that matter and to his credit Kev tried to play on through the pain as we had zilcho subs let alone a sub keeper but the moment Kev was called into action he again broke down in agony. It was obvious his part in this game was over if not for the foreseeable future, Kev we all wish you a speedy recovery... See you Sat?! Step up Rob Cooper who gladly donned the green shirt and Gloves that Kev filled so well. With no subs PB had to play on with 10 men until either of the following happened; one of the named subs turned up or Kev borrowed a knee off one of the children on the skate park. Luckily for the children Max Wall turned up taking his usual spot in centre Mid with the slippery Simon Durrant taking up the left wing role.
The following 10mins saw an even affair play out with either side taking the driving seat and just when you thought loosing Kev so early might not have an effect a nothing free kick saw the Oxford striker somehow find space between the colossal pairing of Laws and Lansdale, and the goal mouth usually commanded by the veteran Sherwood. His unmarked header was nonchalantly guided past Rob Cooper who was still trying to work out how to tighten the gloves. This seemed to ignite l’Orange and a 10 minute spell of vintage PB saw Wilson rattle the post after some neat passing out wide but his seemingly goal bound shot did nothing more than almost bring the goal down rather than break the net.
At half time despite being 1 down and losing our number 1 we still believed that we could turn things round but this optimism was soon carrying a blemish. When the simple thing would have been to roll the ball to the man he was facing Adam Bird had a rush of blood to his head and tried to turn his man with his back to goal. Unfortunately for Bird the full back read it like an Eastenders plot and stole the ball from under his toes proceeding to run the full length of the pitch and into an ‘only one winner’ one on one with Rob Cooper who could do nothing to prevent the ball being slid past him. At 2-0 Black visibly looked irked and threw everything at Oxford. Chance after chance went begging and you could hear the murmurs of “its gonna be one of those days” whisper round the side. Just when you thought we couldn’t buy a goal an in swinging Max Wall corner caught everyone asleep as an unmarked and surprised Simon Durrant was struck on the head by the ball seeing it end up in the back of the net. Game on. PB had somehow wriggled out of a full nelson and now had Oxford sweating in their jocks as Potblack looked the more likely to score. Adam Bird was released through one on one only for his shot to be pulled just wide, Wilson likewise created by his own chance through sheer determination but his left footed shot was easily picked up by the keeper. As PB pushed on gaps appeared at the back but butter hands Cooper was on hand to collect ‘most’ things thrown at him... excluding the catchable corner he limp wristedly flapped at, how that missed every Oxford player I don’t know, and it was at this point we began to think “is our luck changing?” No, a killer blow was dealt by the noticeably bulked up Gareth Wright whose neat finish might, on another day have been met by PB’s number one resulting in a different outcome? Who knows, but credit goes to the boys in white ish pink who have like us last season outperformed in a league that is usually so predictable.
As the game fizzled out worthy mentions must go to Jim Harvey who ran himself into the ground even when we had our backs to the wall, Simon Durrant who tried to turn things round with his unexpected header and Ross Jones who came through his first 90 minutes, with cramp only once, in an orange shirt this side of 2000.
Goals- Simon Durrant
G&H Windows & Doors m.o.m- Jim Harvey, Credit goes to those who never give up, even when we’re in the trenches.
