Despite the scoreline, this game will be forever remembered for the fracas that took place at half time and the perception of the officials.
For what they appeared to have seen that justified two red cards and a sin bin for FCP players is still a mystery and it ruined this game as a spectacle after a closely fought first half.

The decision can only be described as grossly unfair, with regards to the way in which the officials dealt with the handbags of a situation at half time. I saw no violent conduct and at best a strong push by one of the coaches from Holland FC.

Confrontations between players and coaching staff can never be supported. The task of officials at football matches is difficult at the best of times, as any decision often leads to at least one unhappy bench. However, it was difficult to support and understand the three sanctions to FCP which resulted in an 8v11 at the start of the second half.

With regards to the game itself, the game started slowly and a little disjointed, maybe not so surprising with three changes to the starting line up from the midweek game at Whittlesey. With Vitor, Dom and Derrick missing the team needed to adjust to the new challenge of playing a well organised Holland FC team.
In the first twelve minutes, it was noticeable that Zahid at left back was seeing plenty of the ball and his run down the left wing and cross resulted in a blocked shot for FCP.

Holland’s first effort came from a blocked cross by Toby and the resultant corner should have been headed in. It was clear that we were going to struggle from corners as their big centre back was creating indecision and a little bit of panic. Ruben managed to get his first break with the ball in the 20th minute from a Holland corner but wasn’t able to play the ball in front of Ayman who could have had a long run on goal.

With the tempo increasing, in the 23rd minute Tiago cut in but shot over the bar. Two minutes later Ruben crossed the ball over the top for Ayman to run onto but the keeper easily cleared and we were unable to catch the keeper off his line with a high left foot shot.
Zahid continued to be involved in the game with passing and running with the ball and occasional tackles. We did seem to be a little hesitant playing from the back and switching to the right. We were a little fortunate in the 33rd minute when a FCP ball was charged down, the Holland player would have been through on goal but fortunately the referee saw a clear handball.

In the 39th minute Zahid had another run with some trickery but was unable to put in Ruben. One minute later Tiago committed a foul and Holland got a freekick on the edge of the box but shot high over the bar. After a brief stoppage for an injury Ruben finally got 1v1 who he beat and attempted his trademark cut in but his left foot shot was blocked in the box.

In the sixth minute of additional time Holland broke from the half way line, a split pass resulted in the Holland FC player running from the right and scoring their first goal with a shot across goal to the bottom left of the goal. How far back in play did one go in trying to understand what led to the goal. For me it was about a long 90 seconds back when Zahid who was playing on the left took a free kick on the half way line from the right by the touchline. The sequence of events involved the midfield not being able to hold or challenge for the ball to the left back stuck in the middle of the pitch, to the keeper perhaps diving too early and misjudging his angles for an easy score for Holland to lead 0-1 at half time.

With the referee’s whistle and a few pushes later on both sides. the FCP coach was shocked to be informed that he would start the second half with eight players (Niall and Mario being sent off and Dev Sin Binned ).

At the start of the second half Tiago had an opportunity to break and put in Ayman but ball was not measured. The first ten minutes were fairly comfortable considering the precarious situation with only having eight men, but then after a little run, Zahid lost the ball in the middle of the pitch and a low 25 yard shot to Lennon’s left made it 2-0. Three minutes later its 3-0 from a high corner with a back post header from four yards out.

After 62 minutes FCP were unable to get a shot off from the edge of the box and a couple of minutes later Lennon made an excellent save with the rebound being skied. In the 67th minute Ayman was nearly put through but a Holland break lead to a corner and an inevitable headed goal - the big number 5 makde it 0-4.

With tired limbs FCP were still trying to make inroads into the opposition half but a break down the left made it 0-5 after 70 minutes, with a left foot shot over the keeper who was stranded in the six yard box.

In the 80th minute Holland broke down the right and a low cross into the goal area resulted in an easy tap in from a few yards out. FCP’s misery was completed with a cross from the left, a save from Lennon and with a couple of nibbles Holland scored to make it 0-7.

It was a difficult day to analyse the performance of players especially in the second half. You can practice with overloads in training for short periods of time but you don’t expect to be two or three players short for long periods of time as was the case for 45 minutes in this game.

I have to say I was very disappointed with the officiating at the game today.
There were a number of qualified referees at the ground watching the game, and after viewing the video footage it was difficult to come to the same judgement as what resulted at half time.
Nevertheless, the players need to learn from this and ensure that officials are not having to make preventable decisions

After three games in seven days, injuries, unavailability and tiredness may result in a few more changes for the tonight’s cup game against FC Parson Drove than initially expected. Mind you, there’s nothing like a local derby to get the heartbeat going!

Hopefully, it will stay 11v11!

Zahid Bashir