Ringmer 1 Arundel 1

02/02/08

Match Report by David Ruffles

 

In a match which largely revolved around a tense midfield battle there was little to choose between the two sides and in the end a draw was probably a fair outcome. In the first hour neither side established control and although both sides made full use of the width of the pitch neither made many inroads into the opposing defence. As a result there was little goalmouth action of note.

 

In the second minute Chris Hibberd’s long range chip beat Joe Adams but passed over the Ringmer crossbar. Thirty minutes later Miles Scerri and Marc Whiteman exchanged passes to create an opening for Scerri but his shot was just wide. Then Hibberd played the ball out wide to Josh Sutcliffe and his well struck effort was turned around the post by the diving Adams. Just before half time Luke Gedling saw a delicate chip tipped over the bar by Steve Colbourne in goal for the Mullets then at the start of the second half Colbourne saves a free kick from the edge of the penalty area by Gedling.

 

By now it seemed increasing likely that the match would be decided by one moment of inspiration or misfortune. Joe Adams was the unlucky one to provide just such a moment of misfortune to present Arundel with a goal. His poor clearance from well outside of his area went straight to an Arundel player wide on the left near the half way line. With Adams beating a hasty retreat towards his goal the ball was crossed to Scott Towers who netted near the far post with Adams still struggle to get back between the posts.

 

That goal provoked a spell of pressure from Arundel that heralded fifteen minutes of madness which started innocently enough when an Arundel player went down with cramp and Ringmer were slow in knocking the ball out of play for the player to receive attention. A heated exchange of words between Dan Evans and an Arundel player about this delay saw both players sent off to be joined later after a separate incident by Mark Price. By this time Ringmer, who welcomed back Herve King newly re-signed from Croydon Athletic, had drawn level when a long range shot from Jack Johnson rebounded off the crossbar for Scerri to pounce and drive the ball home from close range. With Ringmer now pressing for a winner, Joe Dryer almost won the game for Ringmer with a free kick deep into stoppage time which forced a fine save from Colbourne.

 

 

 

No	Players.Name....	Substitution ...,,	Goals	Remarks
1	Joe Adams	.	-	-
2	Dave Soutar	.	.	.
3	Dan Evans	.	.	R
4	Ryan MacMillan	.	.	.
5	Steve Hunt	Herve King	.	.
6	Luke Gedling	.	.	.
7	Joe Dryer	.	.	.
8	Danny McLaughlin	Mark Price	.	.
9	Mark Whiteman	.	.	.
10	Miles Scerri	.	1	82 (C)
11	Nick Barden	Jack Johnson	.	.
SUBSTITUTES		-	-	-
12	Jack Johnson	Used	.	.
14	Aaron MacMillan	Not Used	.	.
15	Herve King	Used	.	.
16	Mark Price	Used	.	R
17	Andy Hart	Not Used	.	.
.	.	.	.	.
OFF FIELD
Manager		Steve Johnson
Assistant Manager		Paul Thomsett
Sports Therapist		Ian Fairs
OFFICIALS
Referee		Dominic Lyons
Assistant 1		Ian Moore
Assistant 2		Michael Wilson
Attendance		71