‪#‎AA2‬ – Dunbar vs. Redfern Raiders- 07/08/16 (3-3 AET, 7-8 penalties) ‪#‎GlennReports‬

With the apple weather app predicting a downpour for much of the week, Jim Booth’s AA2’s pushed for the game to be moved to an all weather pitch to remove the possibility of an eastern suburbs park ranger making up for a lifetime of bullying and disappointment by closing The Reg at the slightest sign of precipitation in the air. The desire to stamp their authority over this grudge match was strong – the sides had already faced each other 3 times this season, with the latest two games coming in the last few weeks at Redfern’s barren potato field. The lads got off to a strong start, and soon found themselves 1 up as Ronnie made himself some space after shaking off two players to calmly slot the ball past the keeper. Expecting another gritty long ball game and revolving door substitution policy, Coach Booth instructed his charges to get back to playing their possession based football.

Then disaster struck as Josh “touch tackle” Maingard expertly controlled the ball the ball on the half turn with the grace of wounded wildebeest, his knee collapsing in the process. With the noise it made and the quiet confirmation that “it’s fucked”, we feared the worst for the springbok now in his 6th season at the club. Visibly shaken after seeing the injury, the team lost their rhythm and Redfern started to disrupt play wth their multiple substitution tactics and endless running making up for basic footballing nous. They soon levelled after Dunbar failed to clear their lines as their feral looking midfielder stabbed home to take the score into half time at 1-1.

The second half started slowly with Dunbar still struggling to find their rhythm. With passes going astray, Redferns relentless pressure and “substitutions every time the ball goes out” policy was working until the French master produced a stunning goal. Rolling back the years with a fine display on the wing, Christophe drifted in behind the defence, with the quinquagenarian plucking a lofted ball out of the air from Shaun before poking home leaving the keeper stunned – “Touch!”. Although finding themselves back on top, Dunbar were unable to capitalise with passes going astray and frustration growing. A questionable free kick on the edge of the area gave Redfern their chance to equalise for the second time in the game, the ball ricocheting off the bar only to be headed back into the top corner. Ending 2-2 in normal time, an additional 30 mins were added which played in to the “5 minutes on, 5 minutes off” policy Ron Jeremy’s dad had stuck with throughout the game.

Composure was lacking despite the flat surface, with Redfern’s players frothing at the mouth and snapping at heels. Shortly after their number of substitution’s hit triple figures, Dunbar broke through with a nice interchange between Turkish and Ronnie, the latter then getting felled just on the edge of the box and earning a free kick. Ronnie’s shot was curled in high at the far post, the keeper motionless as the lads wheeled away taking the lead for the 3rd time. With 5 minutes left, Redfern’s coach, seemingly refreshed from his tough night’s sleep on the park bench, made further substitutions as Redfern launched more long balls at the Dunbar defence and looked to go to ground at every opportunity. Having dominated in the air all game with the presence of Kettle, Darragh and Glenn at the back, the referee decided giving a penalty in the dying minutes for a push as the Dunbar cleared the lines once again. Big T was unable to keep the shot out as Redfern came back again to take the game to penalties.

In the midst of the frustration and learning about the rigorous jobsworth application of FIFA rules at amateur level, the first 6 penalty takers stepped forward. Dunbar should have put the game to bed before extra time struck, and had the opportunity to win the shoot out on 3 occasions only to be foiled by crossbar, keeper and what could only be described as “temporary striker’s stroke”. I would have liked to end this report on a high, but we lost. Next game is the qualifiers against Maccabi, with the prospect of coming up against Redfern again in the Semi’s. After 4 games against them this season with a win, draw and 2 losses, we’re hoping to get another chance to right some wrongs!