Saturday 20 OCTOBER 2007

Blue Square South

For the third game in succession, County were a long way short of their best, and following a win at Maidenhead and a defeat against Bath in the previous two, we completed the set with a draw against an enterprising Bognor side.

Four successive league wins for County and five straight defeats for the Rocks suggested this would be a home banker, but any such thoughts were soon dispelled as the visitors made much of the early running.  Peter Beadle had made several changes from the side beaten by Bath with fit again skipper Steve Jenkins returning at right-back while Ian Hillier moved across to the centre of defence where he displaced Mark Dodds.  The other adjustments were straight swaps with Lee Fowler taking Lee Collier’s place in central midfield, Richard Evans losing out to Sam O’Sullivan on the left while Craig Hughes stepped in for Charlie Griffin.

County struggled to exert any early midfield authority with the safety of some players endangered by what has become known by the macabre name of ‘hospital passes’ because the recipient has their welfare endangered.  Hughes and Fowler both picked up cautions for late challenges as did Bognor’s Alex Haddow in an unsatisfactory opening quarter of an hour.  Luke Nightingale netted for the visitors on 23 minutes but was clearly offside and his moment of joy was fleeting, while Glyn Thompson risked life and limb to spare Hillier’s blushes by racing out of his area to kick clear as Nightingale was preparing to pounce on the defender’s error.

Bognor’s organisation was causing County problems and with Scott Harris anchoring their midfield, the forward runs of David Ray, Mark Knee and Haddow were splitting the County defence.  The Exiles had to adjust their attacking system with Julian Alsop injuring an ankle to give Griffin an early opportunity from the bench and enjoyed a brief spell of pressure with Hughes forcing Stoner to save before a delightful cross from a previously subdued Jason Bowen gave Griffin a heading chance which he directed straight at the Rocks keeper from eight yards.

But Bognor pressure built up as the half-time whistle approached and HADDOW ensured it was the visitors who enjoyed their interval refreshments with a headed goal as the final act of the opening period.  County needed to raise the tempo of the game after the break and there were suspicions that the hairdryer would be on full blast as Beads sought a massive improvement.

Early indications were that he was unsuccessful as Rocks assistant manager Michael Birmingham struck the crossbar with a free-kick from 25 yards in the 48th minute and Dan Beck fired straight at Thompson three minutes later.  But a neatly worked throw-in between Jenkins and Bowen in the 52nd minute set up the chance for the County skipper to hit a dream of a centre which took out Stoner and was simply begging for the far post finish which was duly supplied by the head of HUGHES.

For the first time County looked likely winners and the replacement of O’Sullivan by Evans on the left produced added impetus as the winger quickly made an impact with some effective crosses that provided Hughes with more chances.  Visiting boss Jack Pearce was straining his vocal chords from the dug-out as the Sussex side wasted time to the fury of the home fans and the indifference of referee Johnson, and the game had taken a different perspective with the Rocks desperately holding on for a draw.

However, completely against the run of play, skipper Nightingale found himself in an advanced position and his cross was met beyond the back post by KNEE whose angled 78th minute effort beat the desperate attempt of Thompson to clear.  The tide had turned again in the Rocks’ favour and County were grateful to their excellent keeper for a superb save to stop Nightingale killing off home hopes.

But FOWLER who had been peripheral to most of the action suddenly came to prominence with a very good deep cross from which Lee Jarman forced a save from Stoner, before saving his best contribution for the 87th minute when he hit an unstoppable left-footed effort from 20 yards which gave Stoner no chance. 

A draw was a fair outcome and it gave both sides something to be positive about, but for the home fans, it was certainly a case of two points dropped.

Man of the Match:

County: Steve Jenkins (sound at the back, and a threat going forward).

   Bognor: Scott Harris (the key to their long spell of first half midfield superiority).

© Colin Jeremiah