Blue
Square Premier - 26th December 2007
At KitKat Crescent - Att 3,042 (69 Droylsden)
Report
After getting caught cold early on, City responded in grand
style, dominating the Boxing Day game against Drolysden for
all but a late period, thereby securing Colin
Walker's first home win. A great Christmas present for the
boss then, but not quite as good as the news that followed with
the announcement of his permanent appointment as manager of
the club.
Given the good football City played at times, and that of Drolysden
too, it was a shame that the main focal point of post-match
discussion over foaming pints in the pubs and clubs of the city
was all about Mr David Webb - the man appointed referee for
this festive fixture. It was difficult to come up with a suitable
simile to describe his performance. The best way one thinks
of summing it up would be that it was like the films of Terry
Gilliam; like the books of William S Burroughs; like The Beatles
in their I Am The Walrus period. In other words it had moments
of clarity and even, possibly, glimpses of genius, but in the
main was surreal and baffling. The first real decision he had
to make was a pretty simple one. Already a goal down after Ashley
Burbeary had turned home a shot from the tricky Chris Denham,
despite several opportunities to clear, City went up the other
end and Martyn Woolford
was felled in the box by Lee Roche. Mr Webb pointed straight
to the spot and Craig
Farrell put the penalty away with aplomb for his tenth goal
of the season. From there on in, Webb would frustrate at every
turn.
Booking Stuart Elliott
for an innocuous challenge seemed to be influenced by the Droylsden
players, but when Elliott transgressed in much worse fashion
in the second half, his inaction was similarly inexplicable.
It did allow City to play on with eleven men rather than ten,
with Walker making the hugely sensible decision to replace Elliott
with Nicky Wroe -
who then went on to play a starring role in the rest of the
game.
Enough of the referee though. For now. The second half was just
seven minutes old when a Woolford corner failed to beat the
first man. Nothing new there, and Walker admitted as much post-game
that corners are an aspect of the game that City need to work
on. This time, Woolford retrieved the situation and swung in
a much better ball which found the outstanding Darren Kelly
barely marked on the back post and his free header made it 2-1.
Wroe had a couple of long range efforts which brought out the
best of Paul Phillips in the Droylsden goal while Danny Parslow
made a great recovery tackle on substitute Terry Fearns to keep
City's goal intact. There were plenty of opportunities to make
the game safe with a third goal, despite Phillips' best efforts.
Woolford had a shot well saved and it rebounded towards Onome
Sodje whose reflex shot went narrowly wide. Woolford almost
had a shot diverted into the goal by a defender after he sprung
the offside trap - not the last time that would happen. Meanwhile,
Richard Brodie,
on as a substitute for the hard-working Sodje, got himself booked
in the midst of a running battle between himself and Steve Halford.
In truth, if one was going to get booked, then both of them
should. Or neither. But to pick out only Brodie from all the
shenanigans seemed odd.
With four minutes of added time found from somewhere, Droylsden
got their act together and put the York goal under the first
period of concerted pressure of the afternoon, but Tom
Evans would not be beaten. Well, on the occasions that it
got that far, as the back line beat out pretty much everything
before Evans was called on to do anything too spectacular. Our
old friend Mr Webb had one final trick up his sleeve though.
Woolford again sprang the offside trap and burst clear. One-on-one
with the keeper, Woolford's quick feet took him past Phillips
and all Woolford had to do was put left boot to ball and 3-1
it would be. But an arm came out and brought down the City man.
However, one man among the 3,000 inside KitKat Crescent saw
it otherwise and booked Woolford for diving. "Martyn wouldn't
fall over if he didn't have to" was Walker's verdict. "It
was and absolute stonewall penalty" and it was exceptionally
difficult to disagree.
A win, however, is a win and that was what satisfied Walker
most. "I just wanted a win; any win" he said after
the game, adding that he "wasn't worried" by Droylsden's
early goal. A number of players really stood up in a game that
was scrappy at times, but saw City ultimately outclass limited
but determined opposition - opposition the like of which have
been City's downfall at times this season to date. Darren Kelly
got the sponsors nod for man of the match and that was a good
shout. Wing backs Anthony
Lloyd and Ben Purkiss
were excellent while Manny
Panther's drive and leadership shone through and Craig Farrell
worked himself almost into the ground. This is a busy period
and there are a number of players knocking on the door and pleading
with Walker to play them - Wroe almost demands a start in this
form and Darren
Craddock is keeping the pressure on the whole defence. "It's
a difficult job", said Walker in regard to the numbers
he has available, "but I love it". Play like this
every week and the fans will love it too.
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