Keeper off as Eastwood CFC lose at Blackstones, Kimberley pipped in seven-goal thriller
Eastwood CFC had keeper Sam Wilson sent off in Saturday's 2-0 UCL Premier North defeat at newly-promoted Blackstones.
The Red Badgers made the long trip to Stamford coming off Tuesday’s gruelling FA Cup penalty shootout victory away at Gresley Rovers, so this was always likely to be a testing afternoon.
Coach Stuart Coke said: “I thought the lads did okay today in tough conditions.
“After Tuesday’s game, to travel here and play like we did, I felt we looked a little bit tired.
“We controlled the ball for long periods and played some nice stuff but ultimately didn’t really threaten their goal. We’re disappointed, but we’ll dust ourselves down and go again.”
From the outset, neither side was able to find much rhythm, with the game lacking in quality.
Eastwood looked tired and lethargic, struggling to impose themselves on their hosts.
Midway through the first half, a corner proved their undoing – a firm header from the delivery finding the centre of the net to give Blackstones the lead.
The second half continued in a similar vein.
Eastwood made changes in an attempt to inject some energy, with Abdul Saad offering a spark down the right flank.
There were strong appeals for a penalty when Tyler Blake’s cross struck an outstretched arm, but the referee waved play on.
Disaster struck when a long ball into the channel left Tyler Johal scrambling.
His attempted clearance looped high into the air, forcing keeper Wilson to race out of his area.
Wilson did well to hold up the attacker, and with defenders recovering, the danger seemed to have passed – until the referee blew for a foul.
After consulting his assistant, he judged Wilson to have denied a clear goalscoring opportunity and showed a red card.
With no substitute goalkeeper on the bench, Johal donned the gloves, but from the resulting free-kick Blackstones doubled their lead.
Surprisingly, Eastwood looked a little brighter after going down to 10 men, but despite enjoying spells of possession, they could not find a way back into the contest.
Saturday also saw Kimberley MW drop points on the road after losing a thriller 4-3 at Wisbech Town.
They went 1-0 down early on following a defensive error after a long throw into the box.
Ten minutes later Kimberley were level through right back Partridge's strike from 18 yards.
But their hard work was undone once more when a free kick wasn’t dealt with and allowed Wisbech to tap home to lead 2-1 at the break.
Things went from bad to worse just after half-time when a long ball wasn’t dealt with properly and the striker found himself one on one and made no mistake.
Wisbech wrapped up the game with 25 minutes to go when a clever set piece was pulled back to the edge of the box for Wisbech to rifle home.
But Kimberley were not done and chucked the kitchen sink at it - and they got within a whisker after goals from Fin Ryder and perhaps goal of the season already from Kole Lambert.
Kimberley also went on to hit the bar and were harshly treated when what seemed a clear penalty was waived away.
CRICKET: Kimberley Institute continued their pursuit of runners-up spot in the Nottinghamshire Premier League with a seven wicket win at struggling Papplewick & Linby.
Papplewick chose to bat and made 190 all out, Finlay Moran (46) and Ben Shaw (50) putting on 85 for the third wicket, Oliver Tewatiya taking 3-35.
Kimberley reached 193-3 in 32.3 overs, Akhil Patel with 78 not out, George Bacon 31 and Rob Sutton 29.