Villains 2 Ash Trees 3

[Swifty]

A good game for the neutral, a curate's egg of a game for us (good in parts) but another handy win.

 

We played some lovely stuff in the first half, with Beads giving us a 16th minute lead by hitting a low 20 yarder near to the corner of the net while slipping over at the same time - a feat in itself. Despite that very bright start, we lost our way after about half an hour, in particular playing the ball round the edge of our box way too often and nearly getting caught out three or four times. It was also noticeable that Villa were very fast in attack, snappy and got very close when pressurising us while we were content to allow them more room.

 

Villa got an equaliser in the 51st minute through baffling means when the ref gave what seemed a soft penalty, with Adam Baigent's kick having enough power to get past Tyler's hand to the ball. We wobbled for the next ten minutes or so then, in the 67th minute, we were given a free kick a yard outside the box after a scything tackle. Alex did brilliantly to curl the ball into the net despite the ref only getting the wall back eight yards at most, and we got our tails back up again. Some lovely attacking play ended with Samad placing the ball home coolly in the 75th for what looked like a safe win, only for the ref to give Villa another head-scratching penalty in the 94th minute, after a half which contained four substitutions and no trainers on the pitch. Baigent slotted the penalty home calmly, and we worried the ref would play on longer to give Villa a chance of extra time, but we made it.

 

While the game ebbed and flowed nicely and wasn't as fiery as some previous encounters, it has to be said that another ref would probably have given Villa four cards and eventually sent off their number 8 (the lad who got sent off at our place recently despite only coming on as a sub) who made a number of cynical challenges. Instead, when questioned by our terrace contingent, he gave a cocky retort and grinned smugly, and he didn't get his book out once in the game, which was appalling. Thankfully, our lads didn't retort to the same manner or level of tackling and they're to be applauded for that. Bayley had a great game on the wing and on another night he'd have been man of the match but, like everyone on the pitch, he was eclipsed by Samad, who not only defended manfully but marauded from his full back position several times, terrorised Villa's defence and scored a deserved winner as it turned out.