And so the story goes like this: Wolfe Tone 3-4 St. Anthony’s It was a wet and windy Ballywaltrim this morning, when Anto’s took on their cup final opponents from last season in a Shield game. This was always going to be a tight match, Anto’s were unbeaten in the Shield this year and Tones were coming off a couple of very good results. The game kicked off at a steady pace, but was marred by driving wind across the pitch. Both teams cancelled each other out, but 15 minutes in Anto’s scored a dubious goal. A long through ball was played to Cormac Lock who was at least 4 yards offside, but I think his deceptive pace bamboozled the referee and the home defence. Lock nicked the ball through to Stephen Hunt, who was also 3 yards offside, but for some bizarre reason the ref allowed play to continue and the “Beast of the East” scorched a screamer off his ankle which trickled in by the post. 1-0 Anto’s. Tones clawed their way back into the game however, and only a fingertip save from the legendary Eoin Vines kept them at bay, but the pressure told as a cross from the right was rifled into his own goal by Luke Byrne. 1-1. Honestly though, the standard of refereeing in this county is shocking. A corner from the right saw Anto’s keeper Vines bundled into his own net as Tones scored the worst goal I have ever seen in my life. I think it took 42 ricochets??? 2-1 at half time. Anto’s tactics were rocked at half time when the Egyptian superstar Muhammed Ahmed wasn’t allowed join the action. Manager Hunt was hoping his marquee player would be able to influence the game and was holding him back for the second half, but the referee wouldn’t let him play because his shorts and socks didn’t match. What did I say about referees? The second half was played in a similar vein, with the ball on the deck 10% of the time. Sean McHugh was heavily involved in the action, marking a big lumbering diving Tones number 11, as was Lee Turner who rattled the crossbar with a rasper. Anto’s were plying the pressure and against the run of play Tones got a third following a save by Vines which fell at the feet of an anonymous home player. 3-1. Still Anto’s tried to play football, despite the conditions, and it was soon 3-2 when Daniel Grehan bundled the ball home, following good work by the Cookie monster. Then the game changed – remember what I said about referees. A blatant corner wasn’t given to Anto’s despite everybody except the ref seeing it. Tones broke away and the big thick number 11 rounded the keeper to score, 4-2 Tones. With time against them, Grehan burst through one on one and as he shot he was lifted out of it by tubby in the Wolfe Tone goal, the ball trickled wide, but the referee awarded a penalty and a yellow card – surely a red card??? Do you see where I’m going with this? Hunt stood up and smashed the ball in the exact same spot that he has hit every penalty he’s ever taken in his life. 4-3 and as Hunt tried to retrieve the ball the keeper kicked it at him – First he shouldn’t have been on the pitch and second why was this not another yellow? Referees anybody?? A narrow defeat which ends the teams unbeaten run, but there were a lot of positives to take from the game. Manager Hunt was upbeat after the game saying “we lost a game which we should have drawn. I’m confident we won’t drop many more points in this division. There was some controversy at half-time, when the Wolfe Tone players informed the ref that Momo wasn’t wearing matching socks and shorts, so my game plan went out the window, squealers. At least they didn’t notice the cast on his arm…!.”
Posted on: Sat, 02 Nov 2013 14:42:06 +0000
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