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Brave Danson Lose Unbeaten Record

Intertrac FC 3 – 2 Danson Albion B

Sunday 23rd October, reports Michael Radley

Round two of the London FA Cup saw Danson Albion B take the long journey north of the river to Cockfosters to play Intertrac FC. The journey went surprisingly smoothly and all made it to the ground in good time.

As is tradition now, some members of the team were looking slightly worse for wear upon arrival. A special mention goes to Dishot and Barry whose attempts to get lucky with the ladies had varied levels of success. Dishot actually ended up losing his underwear, unfortunately for him it was only to the eager Eastman in the changing rooms before the game.

There was a full squad to choose from this week and former captain Hewitt graciously decided to make himself unavailable as he would only have been able to make 45 minutes of the game anyway. Tarr played left wing, Dishot in defensive midfield, with D.Jarman just behind Potter. Perhaps the biggest change to the team was the arrival of new recruit McCarthy, who took over the goalkeeping duties in Silley’s absence and looked the part from the word go.

Playing on a large pitch, control of the ball was to be key and Intertrac started the game well in this regard. However for all their possession, clear cut chances were difficult to come by. Every ball over the top for their speedy forwards was well judged and called by McCarthy, with each clearance made cleanly. On one of their first attacks, Danson took the lead. A ball forward was flicked on for Eastman to place past the on rushing goalkeeper. It was against the general run of play, but no-one in red was complaining.

There in, there was a midfield battle the raged throughout the remainder of the half. Possession stats would have looked ugly from a Danson point of view, but the Griffins stuck to their guns and continued to chase down every ball and throw in a challenge whenever it was possible. Just before half time, Intertrac got an equaliser that could only be described as scrappy. A cross into the box bobbled around, hit various knees and despite many Danson attempts to clear their lines, the ball fell for the Intertrac forward to roll into the bottom corner of the net.

The team took their half time drinks in a positive spirit. Intertrac had mainly been limited to long range efforts and Danson were not out of the game in any way shape or form. About ten minutes into the second half, Intertrac FC took the lead for the first time. A shot from outside the area was parried by McCarthy and it unfortunately fell to Intertrac’s volatile number 8. McCarthy actually still managed to block the follow up, but at the second bite of the cherry, the forward put his chance away.Those in the crowd knew that this would be a huge test for Danson. A long way from home, against a good side and now a goal behind. How would they respond? Would heads drop? Not on your nelly.

Danson fought on and Tarr went some way to justifying his starting spot on the left wing over regular starter J.Radley with a goal for the ages.After controlling a difficult pass on the bobbly pitch, Tarr outmuscled the opposing defender, cut inside and unleashed a beauty right into the top corner, leaving the Intertrac goalie flailing hopelessly as the ball flew past him. The roar from the Danson boys was surely audible back at the Co-Op Ground. The change in the form of the game from when it was 1-1 to when it was 2-2 was quite amazing. The Griffins had transformed into a collective phoenix from the flames; completely reinvigorated and suddenly it was wave after wave of red shirts charging forward.

For all Danson’s endeavour, there were not many clear cut chances to talk of and the winning goal was similar to the first scored by Intertrac. A cross from a corner was not dealt with and after another goal mouth scramble, there was another goal. Defensive frailties from crosses are becoming an unwanted feature of DAFCB’s season it would seem.3-2 down with only five minutes to go, Danson threw caution to the wind. Straight from kick off the clearest chance in the whole half was carved out. Red shirts invaded the home team’s half and a solid shot was blocked by the keeper. The ball bounced out and Potter was bearing down on the loose ball with a semi-empty net before him. However, under pressure from the recovering defender, Potter did not connect as he would have wished and the goalkeeper managed to fall on top of the follow up effort.

There was still time for a red card late in the game which, until this point, had shown no bad will. Danson had won a free kick on half way and the blue and black’s number 8 tried to make a nuisance of himself and delay the quick taking of the free kick with only seconds remaining. M.Radley stepped in to move the number 8 along, simply to expedite the taking of said free kick. This was clearly an injustice of epic proportions to “Oz” who reacted as if he had just found out the stylish right back had been getting busy with his missus. A head butt was aimed at the well-proportioned, Mr South East London 2011 and the referee stepped in to prevent any damage to the loveliest mug on this and many other pitches. Red card.

There was not long to make the extra man count and although Danson threw the kitchen sink at Intertrac, the opposition held firm and overall probably deserved to progress to the next round of the cup.

DAFC B will be disappointed at the result, but they did put across a good account of themselves and went down fighting. The London Cup was always going to be the hardest of the competitions they were entered in and as the cliché goes, they can now focus on the league. Speaking of which, the next game is Sunday at the Co-Op against Queens Legends, 10.30am kick off as usual. Jon will be taking match reporting duties (I assume) for the next three games as I will be on holiday.

Team – McCarthy, M.Radley, T.Kersey, White, Jelliman, Dishot, Eastman, T.Jarman, D.Jarman, Tarr, Potter. Subs: J.Radley, Redpath, Barry.