Pelham Suffer First Defeat Of Season

<p>Casuals and Pelham slumped to a 4-2 loss away from home against Bishops Stortford Wanderers. With both teams unbeaten in the campaign so far Pelham knew it would be a tough game for them. With key players missing from the last few weeks and with a bare 11, the away side knew they had a task on their hands. However they took to the task well as with only a few minutes on the clock Rob Parrish was taken out by a Wanderers defender with the referee awarding a penalty to Pelham. The man who won the penalty slotted it home with Parrish making it 1-0. However Wanderers responded well and their danger man was allowed too much time and space on the ball, making it 1-1 with only 10 minutes on the clock. The game then swung in the home teams favour as Wanderers struck again in quick succession on minute 12 making it 2-1. It was turning out to be a good game and a good battle and Pelham evened the scores once more on 25 minutes. Steve Callan whipped in a corner which Mark Jolley powered a header home making it 2-2. Rob Parrish shortly after had an opportunity to put Pelham in front but could only find the keeper during a one on one. With Pelham missing their opportunity to retake the lead, Wanderers took theirs with the home sides main striker netting his third of the day just before half time making it 3-2 to Wanderers. The second half saw Wanderers take over the match and although there was only one goal in it, the performance told otherwise. Pelham looked disjointed and dejected and Wanderers took full advantage of that, by scoring a fourth goal on 55 minutes making it 4-2. Pelham still couldnt get into the game and struggled to get on the ball at all. They did however create a few chances in the second half, with Dan Boyce chasing down a lost cause managing to force a last ditch tackle from the wanderers centre half and Rob Parrish striking the bar. However Pelham were lucky in not conceding a penalty in the second half, with the ref giving a leniant view on the situation. The game ended at 4-2 and a win for Wanderers which in the end was deserved. It was definately Pelhams worse performance of the season and with some key players missing, it wasnt a true reflection of where the two teams match up against eachother. However to only just lose to a team pushing for the league on a performance like that tells you about the standards set. Micks man of the match goes to Jamie Richards who had a solid game filling in at left back, doing everything simple when needed.