Report

Our first cup game of the season pitted us against highly fancied Rednal Social in the Champions League Bridgewater Cup. A strange format placed us in a group of 6, with only the top team qualifying for the knockout stages; essentially making every group match a knockout game in itself.

After a couple of slow starts in previous fixtures, Chaps started incredibly well, sweeping in cross after cross from left and right with excellent work from the front four of Tindall, Watkins, Jones and Dowsett. Oh it was a joy to behold from the half way line, the front pairing looked incredibly comfortable with some superb link-up play throughout, this bodes well for the season ahead.

It wasn't long before a foul on Dowsett on the edge of the box provided a free kick opportunity, and Whalley took complete advantage of the situation. Calm as a fox waiting for his turn to speak, he stepped up and bent the ball round the right hand side of the wall and just inside the post, keeper no chance. Robert Carlos wasted a lot of effort and energy to achieve something similar in a much more shouty way, if I remember correctly.

Superb technique from Whalley then filtered through to the rest of the team as Chaps took a 2-0 lead inside 20 minutes. Dowsett, possibly latching onto a lofted ball from the high-spirited Whalley, superbly danced around a defender right on the goal line at the edge of the box before slamming home past the keeper.

Chaps handled the rare attacks from Rednal with grace and discipline, but to the detriment of the beautiful game Rednal forced their way back in after their midfielder hauled down Moore inside the centre circle. A more blatant disregard for the rules of the game - and, for that matter, the art of being a true Chap - you will not see, as Rednal then pounced on a 2-on-1 situation and scored.

Just a few minutes later a controversial throw-in decision was then awarded to Rednal, and, with Penny out of position readying himself for what he thought was a clear Chaps ball (and may I add, a more honest player you will not find, ludicrously this was overlooked) Rednal pounced down the left and claimed another goal, all square at 2-2. With the Chaps feeling cheated, heads dropped slightly which allowed a rejuvenated Rednal to sneak a third goal before the break, a hat-trick for their striker to really kick Chaps' backsides.

Half-time brought about a change, with Mosedale replacing Tindall. A tactical shift at the back placed Penny into a man marking sitation with the Rednal number 9. The Chaps were looking sprightly, and Mosedale in the middle again showed his importance to the side with a number of winning tackles to stop Rednal from playing.

Continued pressure from the Chaps provided plenty of opposition box action, at one point Dowsett being thwarted by an unusually timed worm from Jones across the six yard box, blocking the goal bound strike with his head. Not content with this level of disruption he then stole the ball from Watkins who for once had a clear shooting opportunity. Luckily, the ball then broke to Mosedale who had ventured forward and found himself on the edge of the area with the ball at his feet, ready to strike an equaliser Birthday goal for the Chaps, but sadly his expertly curled effort was saved by the keeper. Moments later, a superb cross-field ball of the quality we have been accustomed to from Cromwell found Dowsett on the edge of the area, who expertly controlled, turned his man and drilled it into the far corner for 3-3; "...a header from a Tom Cromwell cross Jesus Christ wouldn't have minded getting onto." said the striker in a post-match interview.

After a period of battling football, Chaps then set the crowd up for some sublime viewing. A number of corners were won in succession, with the enigmatic Whalley leaping high and in fine levitational style at the back post to head a curling corner from Cromwell into the back of the net. Superb tickets had me placed again at the half way line and this goal left me feeling absolutely glorious, Chaps take the lead 4-3.

Eager to prove his real worth, Jones then tore the Rednal defence apart after latching on to some excellent through balls from the midfield, lofting the ball over the keeper from 30 yards for his first goal and finding the corner of the net from a similar position for his second in quick succession, fantastic movement, positioning and finishing. Both goals were ruled offside, obviously, it was to be one of those days...

What followed next was one of the darkest moments of football to occur in the past two decades. Having been on the end of a number of niggly fouls and an elbow to the jaw in his man-marking duel with the opposing striker, Penny had a mental slip and stroked him on the shoulder after being out-positioned right in front of goal, which of course caused the striker to collapse. The referee, ignoring the linesmans' call of a handball in the tussle, promptly awarded the penalty and the obligatory yellow card. Despite a very formal and eloquent discussion from Chap Penny, the referee insisted that there was no room for Gentlemanly conduct in the game his decision was final and Rednal tucked away their penalty to level the game once more, 4-4 a real cup tie.

With just 10 mintes left, both sides rallied to find the winner but the game was now getting stretched, with tiredness creeping in. Into the first minute of stoppage time, Chaps rushed a free kick to create a counter attack but lost possession, leaving them out of position for the resulting Rednal attack. A cross came in and Rednal overloaded the box - clearly positioning themselves offside - and managed to sneak into the lead, 5-4.

One last chance for the Chaps came from a left-sided corner, with debutant goalkeeper Bradshaw in the box but unfortunately forcing his far-post low header wide. Leaving the pitch, a distraught Moore was rumoured to have swore never to pass to Dowsett again after the striker failed to square the ball to him a yard from goal in the closing moments of the game. A teary Moore, recently married (ahaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!) recollected a pre-match conversation in which Dowsett allured to not passing to anyone all game. Manager Fronk has refused to comment on the matter labelling it as an internal affair that will be dealt with internally via internal measures.

Losing to a decent team puts us in a difficult position in the group now, but Chaps will continue fighting and hope Rednal can slip up. Chap of the match today was a tough one, the effort from all involved was superb and our play in the first half especially showed what we can now do as a team. It was tough to choose between Whalley, with two outstanding finishes and his presence as a constant engine in the midfield, and Cromwell, delivering two expert assists to get Chaps back into the game and his willingness to play football at all times. However, late information has come to light that Whalley possibly may have actually assisted Dowsetts' first goal as well so he sneaks it, despite not being a proper defender.