Northern League Division 1
26 January 2008
Team: Chris Rookes,
Liam Bramley, Dominic Gamble, Luke Ball, Paul Moss, Paul Crager, Stuart
Campbell (Andrew Harrison 73mins), Gus DiLella (James Crossman 60mins), Gavin
Parkin, Carl Chillingsworth (David Littlefair 85mins), Sean Joseph
A disastrous second half performance condemned Bishops to
another defeat, and a place in the relegation zone. An injury to Joe Fairish in the warm up wasn’t
the greatest of starts to the afternoon, with James Crossman disturbed from his
pint to take a place on the bench at ten to three.
Fairish’s late replacement in the starting eleven made an
immediate impact when in the second minute he blazed a shot in from over 20
yards which crashed against the underside of the bar. The ball rebounded to Chillingsworth who
headed yards wide from an unmarked position just ten yards from goal.
Morpeth had a great chance to take the lead on four minutes
but Rookes did enough to deny the Morpeth forward after a ball over the top of
the Bishops defence caused chaos. The ‘keeper
blocked the ball as it passed him and the fast retreating defenders did enough
to clear the danger.
Bishops took the lead on ten minutes when a low ball split
the Morpeth defence and Joseph slotted the ball under the advancing Poskett.
Morpeth were denied a penalty when Gamble leant into a low
cross and the ball appeared to strike his arm just after the half hour. On 35 minutes the equaliser came with a
bobbling shot creeping in at the far post.
Bishops opened the second half brightly in the light
drizzle. Gavin Parkin created a great
chance for himself, cutting in from the left before firing a low shot just
inches wide.
Another chance came on 55 minutes. Parkin crossed and Poskett inexplicably chose
to punch a ball that should have been an easy catch. The ball flew up from the fists over the ‘keeper’s
head, but was cleared by a defender.
Rookes was in action on 58 minutes when he tipped a dipping
long range shot over the bar.
However, the game turned on events in the 60th minute. Bishops were on the attack and Ball shot the
ball in from 20 yards. The ball struck a
Morpeth defender and fell kindly to Parkin who fired the ball home, only to see
the referee’s assistant flagging for offside.
The referee clearly viewed this as a legitimate goal, and headed over to
the assistant to question him on his interpretation of the rules, but the
assistant stuck to his original decision and the goal was disallowed. Seconds later a smash upfield saw a Morpeth
defender in acres of space with no defenders to be seen and an accurate shot
made it 2-1.
Bishops pushed for an equaliser but with little success, and
further goals on 82 minutes, when Crager turned a shot into his own net, and on
90 minutes gave the scoreline a flattering look.