Midland Football League

Premier Division
Tuesday 22nd December 2020
Sporting Khalsa 3-3 Tividale

3 games, 5 penalties, 3 points

And no goals conceded in open play.

After the disappointment on Saturday of dropping 2 points in injury time to a penalty for the second successive game. This ending was quite the opposite.

For some mad reason the squad and staff had decided to have their Covid Christmas Party in the changing room after the game. To have it away at the league leaders could have been better planned. But it was what it was

With a full squad available apart from the suspended Adam Garmson Manager Dave King rotated his squad from Saturday. In came Jacob Barnes, Brad Welding and Liam Wilkinson replacing Dan Bryson, Elliott Hartley and Cameron Milne who were all on the bench.

Tividale got off to a flyer and should have been ahead with their first attack after just 2 minutes but Darragh Bustin’s attempted chip did not get the required elevation to beat Khalsa keeper Sam Arnold and he was able to reach up for it.

Although Khalsa threatened they did not work Tividale keeper Adam Harrison and on 5 minutes the visitors took the lead. After some great work from Bustin he slid the ball through to Dan Smith who slotted home between Arnold and his near post.

As expected Khalsa came roaring back and 4 minutes later striker Ethan Jones flashed an effort wide of Harrison’s post. On14 minutes Jones’s strike partner Gurjit Singh was foiled by a great Barnes tackle. Khalsa carried on dominating possession but were always wary of Smith and Bustin’s pace on the counter.

Jones went even closer on the half hour when he worked himself a shooting chance but his shot took a deflection onto the cross bar and over. Tividale had another golden chance on 37 minutes when a Bustin free kick was met by Joe Hawkins but he swept his shot just wide.

A minute later and the host’s were level. Barnes in going for a challenge in the penalty area caught Jones and though most thought the forward had gone down easily Barnes admitted he had slipped and caught him. Gibraltar international Jake Gosling stepped up, placed the ball on the spot and smashed it past Harrison to level the scores.

The game continued in it’s end to end fashion after the equaliser with Smith heading a Lewis McPike corner wide for the visitors in the 41st minute. On 44 minutes Jones again worked a shooting chance for himself but shot straight at Harrison and then McPike ended the half with a good effort from a Bustin cross but he hit it straight at Arnold

Half Time:- Sporting Khalsa 1-1 Tividale

Tividale made the worse possible start to the second half when after 48 minutes Welding was adjudged to have fouled Gosling on the edge of the area. Again there was minimal if any contact and there were claims that the initial challenge happened outside the area. All this was in vain as Gosling again beat Harrison with the spot kick.

Both teams made a spate of substitutions around the 65 minute mark and Harrison had to produce a smart save to deny Khalsa substitute Liam Armstrong and a couple of minutes later a Bustin free kick failed to trouble Arnold.

The home side nearly extended their lead on 72 minutes when Sean Williams headed just wide a Lewis Worsey free kick. Tividale then levelled the score on 80 minutes when they were gifted a goal. The normally reliable Arnold decides to take one touch to many and McPike pick’s his pocket and from an acute angle side foots in the equaliser.

Armstrong then hit another effort down Harrisons throat on 81 minutes as the home side pressed for the winner. Then 3 minutes after pulling themselves level. Harrison comes out for a ball played into the Tividale box. He races out to gather the ball before the onrushing Khalsa striker. The Khalsa striker goes down and Mr Howe points to the spot for a third time. Which Gosling dispatched as efficiently as the previous two. Armstrong had another great chance in the 87th minute to put the game to bed but again Harrison denied him.

With the game deep into injury time Khalsa cleared the ball towards the half way line. Elliott Hartley launched himself and beat to Khalsa players to the ball. He then released Bustin down the left with a well weighted pass. Bustin then fired in a cross with the outside of his right boot and he found McPike at the back post and he slammed the ball home to earn the visitors a point.

Win. Lose or draw they would have still had the party. But the result definitely upped the volume a notch or two.

Full Time:- Sporting Khalsa 3-3 Tividale

Tividale: 1. Adam Harrison, 2. Tom Hurdman (12. Will Rawlins 67), 3. Darragh Bustin, 4. Jacob Barnes, 5. Joe Hawkins, 6. Matt Hunt (c), 7. Lewis McPike, 8. Liam Wilkinson, 9. Dan Smith, 10. Luke Carter (16. Cameron Milne 67), 11. Brad Welding (15. Elliott Hartley 60)

Unused Subs: 14. Dan Bryson, 17. Sam Bryan