Ran Out Of Steam

The attitudes and conduct of our opposition is all you needed to know as to how close we came to a major upset in the competition.

MA were clearly expecting an easy game and a walkover but found themselves in a battle for 90 minutes as MV pressed from the off and were arguably the better team throughout.

Starting with a 4-5-1 formation to make us hard to penetrate with the instruction to close down quickly and don't leave space whilst playing on the break utilising Jeppo's pace up top worked well and chances were created early doors.

A well earned corner was swung directly in by Geeson, over the top of the outstretched hand of the number 1 for an early and surprising lead.

MA looked rattled and M continued to press, not satisfied with the 1-0. Dingle pulled up with a thigh injury early in the first half and Ricky's long standing knee problem took its toll half an hour in to see MV needing to make 2 first half changes and losing 2 big players from the mix also.

This setback allowed Sunnydale back into the game, but not before their own frustrations after the first goal brought about a dismissal when a poorly timed tackle from behind followed by handbags saw Sunnydale down to 10, and their management team also heading for the stands.

Sunnydale with 10 men found an equaliser before half time but MV were still more than in the game and a man up at the break, not before a 3rd injury in the half saw McGurk on for Dale.

A further change was made at half time to bring Tommy into the middle to make a nuisance of himself and give Hatcher a break after a solid shift in the opening 45. He returned to the play early in the second half as yet another injury left Tyler to make way.

MV had no more options on the bench by this point and had to put a big effort in second half with the 11 on the park. This is exactly what they did with both Jeppo and Dennett covering numerous ground on either flank, both carrying niggles and playing on through exhaustion.

Brom, who came on for the injured Dingle, thought he'd put MV 2-1 up and despite the referee indicating such, after a few solid minutes of protesting was convinced to change his mind about a potential handball in the build up. It was harsh on MV as not against the run of play.

MV continued to battle but in the closing moments were running on empty. 5 minutes from the end, a free kick 25 yards from goal was struck in beyond the despairing Toon to give MA a fortunate 2-1 result.

The game was soured further when MA had a second man dismissed for an offensive remark towards the referee and it was clear that they were clearly not expecting the force they had faced today. MV can hold heads high after setting up to make it a tight contest and came so close to reaping the rewards from this. Even a draw would have felt harsh overall.