Goals
1 - Lee Hodges - Beagrie crossed the ball from deep and there seemed to be no danger as Glennon came to collect it. However, Edwards decided to attempt a clearance, swang and missed, and Glennon also failed to grasp the ball, allowing Hodges to roll it in to the empty net from the corner of the area.
53 - Steve Torpey - Hodges' cross from the right was met by Torpey, who got in behind Whittle and headed past Glennon from 8 yards. He looked possibly offside from TV replays.
65 - Lawrie Dudfield - Alexander played the ball in behind the Scunthorpe defence to find Dudfield, who got round Evans and tapped the ball home from a tight angle.
Bookings
None
Sendings Off
61 - Mike Edwards - Foul
Attendance - 6,479
Tigers Support - 2,000 - Sell out; the Scunts came nowhere close to filling their areas of the ground...
Match Report
Well, it was certainly an incident-filled game, as most derbies are, but ultimately, City lost on the road for the fourth time this season, failing ti capitalise on poor results for some of their promotion rivals. Again, the Tigers turned on the style for a limited time only, really taking the game to the Scunts after going down to 10 men following the dismissal of Mike Edwards. It took them a long time to recover from conceding an awful goal in the first minute, and the 20 minutes of pressure was not enough to get anything out of the game.
Disaster struck almost immediately after the whistle blew to start the match. Glennon came out to collect Beagrie's cross from the left, but Mike Edwards decided to attempt a clearance, and missed. Unfortunately, Glennon could not grab hold of the ball, and Lee Hodges promptly tapped it in to the empty net from the corner of the area. It was an awful goal to concede and at the very worst time - We really needed to settle for this one.
Our defence looked jittery, and Steve Torpey could have doubled Scunny's lead on 25 minutes, but he shot wide from inside the area after being through on goal. Moments later, however, the scores could have been level, as Petty crossed for Dudfield, who saw his shot saved by the leg of Evans. The Scunts came close to a goal again before the break, as Glennon saved Beagrie's rasping shot, only to see the ball cannon off Edwards and head towards goal. Thankfully, he managed to grab it as it trickled closer to the line.
City started the Second half brightly, but in scenes reminiscent of Lincoln a few weeks ago, conceded a goal against the run of play which severely damaged their momentum. Hodges crossed from the right and Torpey got in behind Justin Whittle to head home. He looked offside from TV replays, however. Still, we now had a mountain to climb.
And it got steeper on 61 minutes, with the incident the game will be unfortunately be remembered for. Mike Edwards challenged for the bal with Richard Kell, both of them lunging in with their studs showing. Either one could have been hurt, but Kell got to the ball fractionally before Edwards, knocking it away. There was no way Mike could stop, however, and he clattered in to Kell. The Scunts immediately surrounded the referee and chased after Edwards, shwoing no concern for their stricken player on the floor. (Watch the highlights on TV and you'll see) Mr Crick eventually inevitably showed Mike the red card and Kell was stretchered off; with a broken leg, we now know.
A lot has been made of this tackle, although none of it by the players involved, ironically. Typically, Brian Laws has completely over-reacted and suggested they are looking at legal action, which is complete nonsense. Equally ludicrous were Russell Wilcox's comments on the Radio following the game, saying that he thought Edwards deliberately waited for Kell and "set out to get him." What rubbish. It was a 50-50 tackle, both players entered it in the same way and unfortunately, the ball was not there to act as cushion, and one was seriously hurt. I can understand the sending off, but in reality, if Kell had been fractionally late instead, it could be Mike with the broken leg right now. To say the tackle was malicious in any way is absolute bollocks, quite frankly.
Anyway, back to the game. Bri quickly made a double substitution, bringing on Holt and Sneekes for Beresford and Matthews, and it had a good effect, as the Tigers suddenly moved up a few gears and took the game to their opponents. The Scunts were clearly rattled as City piled on the pressure, and sure enough, we got a goal back on 65 minutes. Alexander's clever ball in behind the defence found Dudfield who took the ball round Evans and slotted it home from a tight angle. Game on again.
5 minutes later, McCombe under-hit a pass back under pressure from Alexander and fell as he attempted to get to the ball first, leaving Alexander with a great chance to score. Unfortunately, the defender took Alexander down with him, first pulling himback and then dragging him to the floor. It was a clear penalty, but the ref, who had minutes earlier produced a strong decision to dismiss Edwards, did not give the decision. If that had occured anywhere else on the pitch, it would have been given. Absolutley scnadalous, and it cost us a point. Despite that travesty, Alexander nearly levelled the scores anyway, but saw his goal-bound header cleared off the line as the game drew to a close. Peter Beagrie also went close for the home side, hitting a free kick just over.
But it was not to be, as the Scunts held on for the win. We could and should have had a draw based on the penalty not given, but really should have done better overall. Again, we played remarkebly better when against the odds, not when we were on more even terms. To be honest, the early goal was a huge blow and it took some time to recover. Still, we played averagely in the opening 45, as did Scunny, and there was nothing in the game. It looked as though we had a chance after the break, but another poor (and debatable) goal stopped our momentum. We had them on the racks after going down to 10 men and could have got a draw on that poeriod alone, such was our dominance. But as we found out, 20 minutes is not enough time to win a game.
Man Of The Match - Lawrie Dudfield
Worked tirelessly and took his goal well. Another top-notch display.
They Said...
Brian Little's verdict on City's fourth away defeat of the season
Dudfield confident Tigers will bounce back against Southend |
