Harsh Lesson For Terrors Away At Staines
- Official TMUFC
- Aug 16, 2017
- 3 min read
It wasn’t so much the proverbial game of two halves at Wheatsheaf Park tonight, rather it was a game played in two halves.
Despite not being able to get the better of Staines Town’s strong defensive unit, Tooting nevertheless played some good football when they were in the attacking half of the pitch with plenty of good, quick passing and movement off the ball. In contrast, in their own half the Terrors struggled to move the ball forward, too frequently giving up possession with passes failing to reach their intended targets and immediately allowing a fast moving and physically strong Staines Town side, to put them under pressure.
Tooting fell behind in somewhat controversial style in only the fourth minute of the game, when to the surprise of most, referee Mr Shaun Farrer pointed to the spot after Peter Wedegworth had slid in on an opponent on the edge of the box. Whilst no one disputed that a foul had been committed, the mark left on the pitch where the Terrors’ full back had slid in, clearly suggested that the offence had taken place outside the box rather than in it. There was still more to come though. Elliot Buchanan stepped up to take the kick off a long curving run but the effort was saved by Kyle Merson in the Tooting goal with his feet.
Unfortunately though Buchanan, with a head start, reacted quicker than anyone in a purple shirt and made no mistake in putting the rebound away. Eight minutes later, Buchanan scored his second after being put clear with only Merson to beat when Callum McNaughton tried to play a pass up towards the half way line from midway inside his own half. The pass only found a Staines shirt and when Buchanan was sent clear he made no mistake with his finish.
If things weren’t tough enough for Tooting they became even harder after 22 minutes when they were reduced to 10 men following a second yellow card of the game for Kevin MacLaren. Shortly after the dismissal, Sandy Cunningham was sacrificed to allow the midfield to be bolstered with the introduction of Chace O’Neill. For the next 20 minutes or so it looked as if Tooting had begun to settle and with plenty of bodies in the middle of the park, Staines weren’t looking quite so dominant. However in the penultimate minute of the half, Staines won a corner out on their left. As the ball was swung in, it was met with a good header, albeit unchallenged, at the near post by Mitchal Gough to put the home side three up.
The goal of the game came just five minutes into the second period when Max Worsfold picked up the ball on the left hand side, just outside of his own penalty area. He ran with it, almost the full length of the pitch, evading numerous attempts to dispossess him, before rounding Kyle Merson and slotting the ball home from just outside the 6 yard area. Despite the increasing margin, the ten man Terrors continued to battle and never gave up, holding out for a further 16 minutes before conceding number five when Mohamed Bettamer headed home unmarked on the edge of the 6 yard area after the ball had been curled in from out on Tooting’s right hand side. The final goal of the game came in 90th minute when Bettamer scored again, from close range.