Wimbledon & District Division 1: Kick-Off 2pm
vs
WOLLATON FOREST (0) 0
Murray (2)
Hudson (2)
own goal
GK: 'The' Don
RB: John Hodgson
LB: 'Damo' Freel
CB: Paul Salmon
CB: Simon Farrell
RM: Nick Drzymalski
LM: Tim Glenn
CM: Neil Dulake
CM: Paul Meaden
F: Mike Murray
F: Joel Hudson
Subs:
James Schwier (Glenn)
'Murph' (Dulake)
What a match we were getting set for! With Statto working out that Partizan need 4 points, to guarantee safety and a place above second from bottom, with two matches remaining against Forest and Brompton Rovers (third in the league), a victory was needed in this one! Partizan, with one eye on their sem-final showdown on the 26th April, produced a strong line-up with Glenn starting on the left, Meado and Dulake back from injury in the middle of the field, Don back in goal and Salmon replacing the injure Ross which occured in last weeks nail biter!! (Ankle injury, not tooth from embedding it in Bhandy's head!).
Dulake decided to play downhill first half with the wind and the gamble paid off with Partizan making all the running early on. With Wollaton making very few sporadic attacks into the Partizan half, the Partizan full-backs were set free down the flanks and Damo didn't need to be asked twice to charge forward!
Unfortunately one of this forward runs ended when he became tangled up with the opposing winger. With Damo not known for his calm head in these kind of situations there was only one outcome from this collision and it duely came when Damo unleashed a rabbit punch to the side of the opponents head! The shocked Forest player staggered towards the relative safety of the referee and almost all the onfield players expected Damo to be getting an early bath. Much to the relief of the Partizan team, the referee only showed a yellow card and Damo finished the arguement with the statement "any time you want some mate, we'll go?!" to the Forest player!
After the calming influence of Don, the game continued to flow and it seemed only a matter of time before Partizan got the breakthrough. This came when a ball over the top by Dulake fell into the path on Murray who rifled the ball home on the volley form the edge of the box. 1-0.
This seemed to annoy the Forest players and they spent the next 15 minutes trying to kick lumps out of the Partizan midfield, Glenn getting taken out three times in a row and Dulake and Meado one a piece. It was the third challenge on Glenn that caused another red mist to fall on the match, as Glenn picked up the ball on the left and ran past the opposing right back, he was visiously challenged just outside the area. Glenn was just picking himself off the turf when he saw the three Amigo's of Dulake, Farrell and Meado charging towards the offending player! Farrell got the bloke around the throat and there appeared to be a melee of shoving before the referee stepped in to calm the situation and book the Forest right back. Forest sensibly substituted him at half-time.
Just before half time Partizan doubled there lead when a great ball over the top by Nick the Pole fell to the feet of Hudson who seeing the advancing goalkeeper calmly lobbed the ball over his head and into an empty net! 2-0.
H-T: 2-0.
The second half started with the usual backs to the wall approach from Partizan trying to hold onto their much deserved 2-0 advantage. With the wind and slope in the favour of Wollaton they kept Partizan firmly in their half for about 15 minutes with a goal seeming increasingly likely and only Don keeping them at bay!
Two substitutions by Partizan to replace the weary legs and blistered feet of Glenn and Dulake were replaced by Schwier (who had almost recovered from his Friday night) and Murph (a Partizan old boy!) This seemd to give Partizan an extra lease of life and now Partizan were the ones doing all the attacking.
Three goals came in quick succession to kill off any hope of a Wollaton comeback and give Partizan their best win of the season, almost sucuring saftey from relegation. The goals came from an own goal of the head of one of the Wollaton defenders from a Damo cross which he tried without any success to claim! Then came Hudson's second goal of the game with a tap in from a couple of yards from a Murray shot which looked like going wide. The third was also a second for Murray to take him to the top of the goalscoring charts.
The only other interesting incident happened as the game turned into a exhibiton match with both teams playing out the remaining minutes. Schwier chasing a ball down the left wing like a greyhound out of the traps suddenly pulled up with what the Partizan players feared was an injury, only for them to see Schwier on his knees puking up the intake of Friday night's alcohol and dodgy after hours keebab! It lasted for seemingly minutes and even when Schwier eventually made it back onto the pitch, he was no more than a spectator!
A good win was just the boost Partizan needed going into next weeks semi final match vs Union, who stood top of the Premier Division table!