Goalscorer Danny Watts skips past a challenge at the Track. (Picture by Peter Frankland, 0624958)
SYLVANS negotiated their way past Rovers and into the semi-finals of the Rawlinson Cup last night after being involved in one of the worst games imaginable.
Any hopes that two young teams would serve up a treat of football soon disappeared and neither managed any shots or chances of note for the first 40 minutes.
However, just as it seemed inevitable that half-time would be a stalemate, Danny Watts beat Rovers keeper Jason Oliveira in a one-on-one situation to give Sylvans the lead.
Once the goal had been scored, Sylvans livened up a fraction and could have easily doubled their advantage before the half-time whistle was blown.
Oliveira made a smart save from Watts, before a 35-yard pile driver from Aaron Ferbrache was tipped around the post by the alert keeper.
Rovers coach Gary Stevenson would have been glad to get his men in the dressing room at half time, after enduring a woeful 45 minutes, even by their standards of recent seasons.
Any hopes of salvaging the game soon disappeared, though, when newly appointed captain Luis de Jesus stupidly kicked out off the ball and referee Geoff Ogier gave the winger his marching orders.
Sylvans gradually took control of the game and midway through the second half, Wayne Bishop made the game safe.
He shot from the edge of the area and although the effort was not venomous, Oliveira could only push it into the bottom corner.
Further chances fell to Tom Duff and Bishop again, who somehow failed to score with a header in the six-yard box.
The final whistle eventually came as a relief and Sylvans were through to face CI champions Bels at the weekend when coach Clive Bateman knows they will have to improve dramatically.
‘We have got the job done and it is a good workout. However, I am very disappointed with the performance. I thought that our decision making was bad and we didn’t do much with the ball.’
Rovers coach Stevenson tried to take encouragement from the performance, but admitted that the sending off of de Jesus changed the course of the game.
‘I felt we had a chance of pulling it back, but after Luis got sent off, we knew the game was lost. However, it’s another 90 minutes under our belts and the lad’s fitness levels look good. There are obviously problems and we now need to work on them in training.’
Article posted on 20th August, 2008 - 2.00pm
One Article Comment
I’d like to comment on the issue of dog mess. As a responsible dog owner who cleans up after my two dogs, please don’t punish the majority for the laziness of a few. Perhaps a pro-active approach such as taking the registration of the dog owners vehicle and reporting what the’ve seen, or just challenging the owner, if they feel it appropriate, may help. I have to say though, manys the time I’ve had to walk a long way carrying dog mess in a bag, before I can find a bin. We need more dog mess bins on the Island.
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