10 men!, we still only need 10 men ================================== The first half hour the game started pretty evenly with good build up play from both teams, but with very few chances being created. Rovers started as they meant to go on with Hayles diving whenever touched by an O's player. In fact it wasn't long before Hayles was booked for falling in the box trying to cheat the ref into giving a penalty. It was with some surprise on 29 minutes that a defence splitting pass was threaded through to Inglethorpe, who cut across the corner of the box to beat the keeper, and cooly slotted home from a tight angle to put the O's one-up. The O's needed to keep calm and try and get to half-time at 1-0, but it took Rovers only 3 minutes to equalise with a sloppy goal that seemed to bounce off Hayles after the initial shot, and trickle past MacKenzies right. Still, 1-1 was encouraging at the break, and although we never really dominated, we were playing neat football at times, and Rovers couldn't really do anything near our penalty box. The only down-side to the first half was probably the defence of Hicks and Clark looking a bit naive at times, resorting to shirt-pulling and 'subtle' trips, giving away needless free-kicks. The second-half followed the pattern of the first, except with Morrison replacing Inglethorpe, and Warren replacing Griffiths. Morrison started slowly at first, looking a bit reluctant to tackle or take men on, but grew in confidence as the game went on. Warren was a straight swap for Griffiths and immediately showed good pace trying to latch onto the through balls from midfield, but was caught off-side every single time. The was not a fault of Warren, but the linesman, who wasn't interested in thinking about the decisions but just gave Rovers the benefit of doubt every time. It remained 1-1 after 90 minutes, with a performance that was increasingly back to the walls stuff, looking for the counter attack goal. So it was down to extra-time, with the home fans getting more and more vocal, and the game getting more heated. After only 7 minutes of ET gone, Smith and a Rovers player went slidding in hard for a 50-50 ball, with Smith getting there first, putting the ball out of play. Amazingly, the Rovers player writhed around in agony and the ref wasted no time in sending Smith off. This happened right in front of the O's bench, and both fans and management were furious. We were gutted. We felt really cheated. Similar to the first half, it was now a case of hanging on and getting to the break, to get a breather and reorganise. Morrison must have been unfit, and was replaced by Reinelt (or Renault according to the PA), just before the break. Incredibly, as at Chester, we played the second half of ET as if we had 11 men. Every player from MacKenzie through to Warren & Maskell did everything they could not to lose this game. It was about this point of the game that Maskell won my vote for man-of-the match for his tireless running and chasing. He may not have made many scoring opportunities but the amount of times he ran to every corner of the pitch to close down the Rovers player was amazing, and broke down several Rovers' attacks. Rovers were applying the pressure and winning several corners, but MacKenzie was taking everything that was coming into the box. With a few minutes remaining, a low hard shot came in from the Rovers left flank, and for once MacKenzie was beaten, only to see the ball rebound off the post. A goal at that point would have made for a very long journey home. But the drama wasn't over as yet another Rovers shot came flying in, this time from the right flank. This one had goal written all over it, until MacKenzie made a brilliant reflex save. Nails were being bitten, hair being pulled out, the tension was unbearable, and the thought of penalties sent Ian Sheen off to the toilet. And then, the mother of all through balls finally beat the off-side trap, Warren raced onto it like a man possessed passed the two defenders, he had the keeper to beat, could he score? Could he score! Just the keeper to beat. Oh my god I can't believe, he's SCOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORED. As Ian said, cue delirium. The O's fans went absolutely APE! Tommy Taylor, the subs, everyone just went nuts. We could see the Rovers fans leaving in disgust, and the ref blew up for full-time. Trully one of the hardest matches to watch. An absolute nightmare, and driving back both me and Ian had headaches from concentrating so hard on the game. So, Rotherham? I told you, freak result. Att: 4,235 Team: MacKenzie, Walschaerts, Lockwood, Smith, Hicks, Clark, Ling, Ampadu, Griffiths (Warren 58), Maskell, Inglethorpe (Morrison 45 (Reinelt 112)). Subs: Simpson, Raynor Sent Off: Smith Booked: Clark, Ampadu, Maskell, Lockwood Entertainment Factor: 9/10 Star Man: Craig Maskell ******************************************************************** Paul West, Systems Engineer EMAIL: paul.west@uk.sun.com Software & Technology Group VOICE: +44 (0)1494 468549 [x.18549] Sun Microsystems MOBILE: +44 (0)4100 69515 High Wycombe, UK. ********************************************************************