ETFC 0 - 1 BSFC

[The Crowing Cockerel]

Anyone care to comment on the game?

Presumably we are now without both first-choice central defenders for our toughest games to date? With Bray having departed, who's left to play there?

Dropping out of the play-off places and looking like our annual dip in form.

[andyetfc]

Would be interesting to read about the sending offs.

[55 seasons]

Second best in the first half but much better in the second and unfortunate to drop three points by the finish. The referee had a greater influence on this game than most of the players put together and the sendings off at this stage could be disastrous. The ‘melee’ followed a Town penalty shout and a subsequent tackle on a Stortford player looked innocuous. Stortford players then appeared to kick off the ruck but I did see a clear right hook thrown (not saying by whom} otherwise it was a free for all involving most of the outfield players.I have seen these scuffles many times over the years but never one ending in three sendings off. Such inconsistency given the totally unpunished deliberate two handed shove by their keeper on Taafe shortly before.

Looking forward to the video to hopefully see what all three cards were for.

[4wembleyfinals]

Thanks 55 for throwing some light on the affair.

Regarding CC's I agree it sounds that the sending offs has decimated the centre of our defence.

But looking at it again I think that their still is away out.  Consider another scenario in that, instead of the two sending offs both sustained injuries, one would hope that AL and his staff have contingency plans for such an event. It is times like these that both Staff and players have to dig deep.

I would like to hear from others who were at the match as to how we coped with 9 players. It could not have been that bad since we kept them at 0-1 for at least 30minutes. Some must have played in central defence.

Also I wonder what AL said to the Ref for him to be sent off. I bet it did not help in the decision taken by the Ref to disallow the goal from Payne's free kick. 

Finally I too will be interested to see what, if their is one, the video shows of the incident.

 

Edited December 3, 2022 by 4wembleyfinals

[djwilf]

Was sat behind the mum of one of our CB's...she was screaming at him to calm down.   Agree that the tackle that led to the melee seemed far from aggressive but something must have lit the fuse for everyone to pile in.   Their 19 was shown the first red followed by Lewis and then James.   Was so much going on I didn't see exactly what happened but seems like the far side AR saw that our players did worse than theirs did.

As an ex ref myself hate to criticise officials but boy is there so much inconsistency.   With Assessors at the Boro game and today I strongly feel that the Officials change their game knowing that they are being watched.

on the football side, 1st half we were 2nd to everything.   Says an awful lot that we improved once down to 9 men.   Think it was Anthony that got the red as the officials left the pitch....he had gone into the back 4 along with the sub....and we then played a 4 3 1.    Our disallowed goal was a foul on their GK who timewasted every opportunity he got.  Jake should have scored from a knock down but hit badly wide.   They looked to attack our right much of the game.   Don't know what happened but the more I see us play the less we seem able to hold on to the ball.  Lack of quality and only one or two passes before we turn it over.

Not a good day at the office and our Home form was nothing to shout about today.   Too many times seems like the pitch is sloping towards our goal and their midfielder once again seemed to dominate.

One final point....if their player dives in the box....how can it not be a yellow for simulation?

 

Bad day at the office all round.

[Wildlife rescue]

The ref sent off the wrong Stortford player.The player who throw a proper punch which started the melee was substituted after the sending off's and was boasting about the punch in front of the home dugout hence the Andy sending off I believe.

Wordsworth got a straight red for foul and abusive language after the final whistle.

Once again a ref being assessed who was just guessing at who to send off after the melee.

The Stortford keeper wiped out Lewis Taffe in the box a clear pen but the ref just waved play on 

Bad day at the office and a very tough looking December now.

 

[djwilf]

Probably 2 reds right there with hands raised but ultimately shouldve been another Stortford joining them at least.

[The Crowing Cockerel]

So, former professional Wordsworth will get a 2-match ban for saying something stupid (knowing full well that two others had already been dismissed). Plus Knight and Redmond will receive 3-game bans for violent conduct?

I was just thinking before the game that our disciplinary record had been pretty good this season!

[Raingod]

A very frustrating day yesterday .. and could have major rammifications on our season,,,

first half I thought we were pretty poor .. they seemed to dominate possession and Nathan was far busier .. don't get why with the players at our disposal we can't hold the ball more

Only real chance I remember was when we crossed it across goal but no one was there to tap it in ...

Taaffe has been on great form- in my view was our best player at Haringey, but he wasn't as effectual yesterday. And Lyle - on his day arguably our best player and I love him playing for us - but he didn't have a good game - I think he misplaced the first 5 or 6 times he had the ball ...

I didn't see the 2nd half incident - will explain why below - but as I understand it the Stortford player punched our player first - and regardless in a brawl like that how can you penalise one side more than the other?

Ironically this stirred up the players and the crowd and we had our best spell - Cass had a shot well saved, then a header from the corner, then he shot wide in what seemed like a great chance ..  I wouldn't call it outstanding though (see David S post match interview with Andy)

The disallowed goal was the right call - Wordsworth bundled the keeper over - I was right there - and the Cold End has tweeted footage that shows this .. and then got a booking for kicking the keeper's water bottle away

I get why you would sub Cunns - probably need our fastest fittest players on the pitch, and with Cass away soon makes sense to protect him - but to me keeping him on for long punts would have made sense ..

Good to see Sam back after injury and doing his absolute best to salvage something from the game

Overall though they deserved it ..

I'll be interesting to see whether we appeal or not any of the reds - if they are just then extremely unprofessional of us - I have never seen both centre backs sent off at the same time in an off the ball incident! And Wordsworth who slotted into defence when we were down to 9 being sent off at the final whistle seems to be a stupid action .. and I believe Andy's was for swearing at the ref - again unecessary ..

Apparently the suspensions won't kick in til after Aveley on Friday, and Potters Bar are hopefully going to implode having lost their manager and lost 5-2 yesterday .. but this is now an even trickier month .. days after we release Nathan and Ryan K we have only 1 centre back for 3 games? If Nathan has been training with us then surely get him straight back? If not we need a CB and quick - dont believe we've had any youths on the bench that could step up?

Loved the Cass interview in the programme yesterday and his commitment to Enfield - I think he is now in my all time favourite ETFC XI after less than a season with us!

And the reason I missed the sending offs was because I spent over FORTY minutes in the queue for food - if you are going to have a lunchtime kick off then expect to have more people buying! Lots of moaning and people walking away from the queue - and you cant see the game properly for where it is positioned -  llots of lost income yesterday ..

So a bad day but hopefully Aveley on Friday will get us back on track ...

 

 

[4wembleyfinals]

Reading the previous few posts it seems that if the club have any video which includes the "debacle" should carefully scrutinised it find out who initiate it.

Especially, as reported, attention should be drawn to the player who was boasting about how he punch someone.  Perhaps this person would have stopped showing off if he new that his actions had been witnessed and that, even if it was perpetrated during a football match, it still can can be regarded as a Criminal Assault under the Criminal Justice Act. If found guilty it could give rise to a minimum sentence of six months jail.  Perhaps this will take the smile off his face and for him to own up instead of making his team mate take the rap. 

From what I have read I would think there is enough evidence to give good cause to appeal to delay the mandatory suspensions until the facts are established as to who actually caused the melee. Also that the sending offs were disproportionate to the number of players involved.  

Whether or not the club take this view is up to the board. But it might be worth them taking  legal advice on the matter. After all it is the club and fee paying supporters who stand to lose out by being penalised by all all the suspensions hanging over the club and their ability to maintain a play off position.   

Finally I see that Coker seems to be out of favour again. What is the news on him. I still see him as one to enhance our goal tally and would like to see him back. 

 

[djwilf]

Are Scott Shulton and Rian Mclean still with us?

[symptomless]

Good summary of the events above. 

My 2p. It was hard to see who did what in the melee but their 19 instigated it from their side after a hard tackle and left with a red card and a bloody nose, so got as good as he was giving. Both linesmen ran on, which you don't often see. You would assume they'd seen clear evidence of violent play for the red cards but it would be interesting to see a video.

It was directly after their goalie had pushed Taffe in the box, who he claimed had gone in late when he dived at his feet. The ref let that go, as well as a couple of other challenges and as a result it boiled over.

We were pretty poor up to that point. Our midfield was overrun, LDV (one off our best players this season) in the middle didn't really work and when Youngs came on it brought some structure to the team. The last half hour saw some real decent chances.

Verdict: I'd start with 9 men on Friday as we only started playing after the sendings off.

BTW, Wordsworth calling the ref a W@nker are the end not very thought through. Tough December and January made that bit harder. 

[Raingod]

In answer to the above questions

Coker and Hamilton were not selected in the squad on Saturday - I think Coker has come back this season a far stronger player and think he is in our strongest team

McLean has left - Witham I believe, and I hear Scott is still around but is doing a lot of coaching at West Ham 

[4wembleyfinals]

If your comment, Sym, on Wordsworth's remark to the Ref is correct then he is certainly living up to the heading announcing his arrival  at the club, quote " A WAY WITH WORDS"!!!!  By the way did we sign him as a Footballer or Journalist. Since AL has taken to the airwaves a lot more lately perhaps he wanted to employ a new script writer. 

Like you RG I agree that we need Coker's involvement again in the team which would add some more pace and cutting edge up front. Which we need at this time. But again no doubt another player with a long CV of teams behind him will be signed up and then shortly afterwards shown the door. C'est la vie!!!! 

   

Edited December 5, 2022 by 4wembleyfinals

[andyetfc]

On 04/12/2022 at 18:43, 4wembleyfinals said:

Whether or not the club take this view is up to the board. But it might be worth them taking  legal advice on the matter. After all it is the club and fee paying supporters who stand to lose out by being penalised by all all the suspensions hanging over the club and their ability to maintain a play off position.   

Finally I see that Coker seems to be out of favour again. What is the news on him. I still see him as one to enhance our goal tally and would like to see him back. 

 

‘Take legal advice’. Costs money and don’t forget this is the Ryman League.

[Comet]

I was at the game. Had clear site of events that started it all. Before the kerfuffle the Stortford keeper was not touched by Taffe running through on goal. Taffe very clearly stepped over him. But he reacted  very aggressively as if he had been kicked. From there we had a very good penalty shout not given. Following this the Stortford keeper continually engaged with the ref and any sort of foul by running out of area and hounding the ref (think Man U 1990’s). 
 

Must also comment on how the ref and assistants, could possibly know with 100% certainty which players to send off when it was a mass brawl. 

Edited December 6, 2022 by Comet

[4wembleyfinals]

True Andy, but as I said it is up to the club. Either way the club stands to lose out. Three players suspended could cost us several points and the failure to  qualify for a top place in the league or Play-off position come the end of the season. All involving the loss in "cash". 

Edited December 7, 2022 by 4wembleyfinals

[symptomless]

An appeal would possibly mean the players involved would be available for this tricky period of fixtures.

Also, Dulwich defender joins for one month: 

 

[The Crowing Cockerel]

One Emergency Centre Half in! Wonder whether there'll be a second...?

[4wembleyfinals]

On 05/12/2022 at 13:50, 4wembleyfinals said:

But again no doubt another player with a long CV of teams behind him will be signed up and then shortly afterwards shown the door. C'est la vie!!!! 

   

Well I never,  who would have thought we would get another Loan Player, although it seems more mainly for his rehabilitation. Mind you he does appear to have the longest CV yet. But then 10 Teams in about say 14 years isn't very many I suppose. From what I read it would seem that a one team guy like Bobby Charlton would not have enough experience for these days. 

 

Edited December 7, 2022 by 4wembleyfinals