Brits once again leave empty handed in fiercely competitive tie
Los Británicos (1) 3
Keane, Morris 2
Meson Aragones (3) 4
Parque Ebro 31/03/19 18:30
Wells, Rooney, Slater, Ferns, Pernas, Keane, Morris, Verenka, Gilman, Slater
The Brits will be left wondering just when a little bit of luck will come their way after they were on the losing end of another 7 goal thriller. The game kicked off late and despite that, The Exiles were a keeper short at kick off so Wells once again deputized for the absent Cabañero. Despite the gap between the teams in the league, the Brits felt they had enough about themselves to challenge for the points and both teams started brightly. The Mesons were organized and connected well together on the attack and the Brits had spark and rapid distribution that posed dangers at the other end.
The game was still in its early exchanges when Mesons took the lead with a speculative long shot that had enough power to squirm past the outstretched keepers glove. The Brits upped the intensity and put the opposition under pressure with a series of corners only for disaster to strike. A goalkick sent long to a lone striker who did enough to unsettle Wells and the Brits found themselves two down. The opposition smelt blood and another long ball launched at goal found the net once more, although this time the referee did not award the goal. It was from the resulting corner that the game boiled into life. Gilman returning from injury went to close down the opposition and bound into the challenge like a Labrador looking for a kill. It was a competitive challenge but not a malicious one, that being said it looked and sounded hideous. The opposition lost their cool and tempers flared. The referee started handing out yellow cards liberally and the game became a broken stop start affair with both sides committing niggly little challenges.
The Brits struck back with another far post header from Keane ghosting in on a Ferns long throw and the game hung in the balance. Mesones struck back with a powerful long distance effort that once again got past the gloves of the keeper.
Despite the score, the Brits were by no means beaten and entered the second half with spirits high. Unfortunately they conceded again, as once again an impressive shot found the top corner and left the Brits with a mountain to climb.
What followed had the potential to be entertaining, but the referee ruled with an overtly heavy hand. The Brits, for perhaps the first time in the season started to feel genuinely aggrieved at some of the decisions that went against them. Players falling over the ball with no white shirt near them won free kicks, The referee called fouls after vocal protest. Tempers started to wear thin on both sides and even the referee began to demonstrate vanishing patience. It was on such a backdrop that the Brits started to stage a spirited come back. They managed to absorb the opposition pressure, with Rooney, Slater and Ferns rotating at the back starting to get the better of the attack despite the referee disagreeing on many occasions. Wells made a couple of good saves that restored confidence and the team started to show promise. Verenka showed raw drive and power across the park, Pernas was proving a master of the dribble as ever and Keane provided outlets through the middle. Morris chasing down everything up front started to unnerve the defence. It was Keane cynically taken out that won the Brits a penalty, well, it should have been a penalty but the Exiles were awarded a freekick on the edge of the box. As the white shirts looked bemused by the decision Morris grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck and rifled the freekick home.
The Brits pushed home their emerging superiority and clawed back a third as a Keane corner found Morris who headed back past the keeper to put the Exiles in touching distance. As the white shirts poured forward, Slater cam close to connecting, Keane saw efforts go just wide and Morris was unlucky not to have equalized as the clock ticked down.
The opposition wilted and started to break the game up once more, as they tried to run down the clock in the corner Pernas broke free down the wing and was cynically scythed on the touchline. The tackle came hot on the heels of a solid tackle by Pernas moments before and tension boiled over once more. The referee issued further yellow cards and Ferns lined up to launch the kick into the box. Morris connected and the ball sailed narrowly wide only for the final whistle to bring proceedings to a close.
A draw would have been a fair result in a game that would not have pleased the purists but was still a fascinating encounter to behold. The Brits slipped back toward the foot of the league with that defeat and with a tie against bottom placed team fast approaching, have the chance to keep themselves off the bottom of the league.
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