Sun Sports 2 London Colney 2                                 1990/91                       HCL Prem

Sun earn point from physical battle

American football without the padding came to Hertfordshire on Saturday with intimidatory tactics creeping into the Premier Division match between Sun Sports and London Colney.
The game ended in a 2-2 draw and overall was brightly entertaining but it was too often marred by two footed tackles, swearing and argumentative reactions to the official's decisions.
Colney were the main culprits as at times they appeared to rival Arsenal in the physical stakes with the Sun bench none to pleased with some of the challenges.
And there were some neutral watchers who felt Colney were lucky to finish the game with 11 players on the pitch which was a shame because when the visitors knuckled down, their more direct approach to the game caused Sun immense problems.
The match was always going to be a pressurised performance with London Colney wanting to bounce back quickly after their defeat at the hands of Mount Grace last week and Sun looking to build on recent fine form.
It was up to the referee Mr S Pinkham to assert his control but he did not have one of his most consistent games, although one or two Colney players disputed every decision, right or wrong, with Steve Seabrook leading the way.
Such inconsistency was displayed after only 13 minutes when Colney's Mick Wright was dispatched to the bench to remove a ring from his finger - a somewhat incomprehensible interruption when Sun's Graham Joyce was sporting an earring of such proportions to have made Blackbeard the pirate totally envious!
Colney began with three at the back and Adey Fisher in a sweeper's role but the presence of Sun's Joe McGuire always caused problems.
The game looked fairly even, although Steve Pattison did fire an effort over the bar for the visitors, but on 15 minutes Sun took the lead which will no doubt be attributed as a goalkeeping error on behalf of Alan Gesmundo.
A corner form mark Anderson saw McGuire cause havoc in the box and force Gesmundo to hesitate while Martin Ashby squeezed the ball past the keeper and a defender.
Colney's Steve Murphy was booked soon after for dissent and it was a surprise that Pattison, Murphy and Wright were not spoken to for over vigorous tackles bordering on the crude, while Sun's Ashby was reproached for a lesser matter.
And Steve Seabrook to should have been spoken to about his over exuberant verbal barracking.
That apart, at times Colney certainly showed that they could play, despite the fact the side was depleted through injury.
They used the whole width of the pitch and were quick on the break and it was no surprise when they equalised on the half hour.
A through ball by Pattison saw Wright flick the ball on to Kevin Haskins who slotted the ball home.
Sun's Ashby was spoken to for a second time after a poor tackle and was booked before Colney saw a goal disallowed for handball following a corner.
The strong wind played its part with Sun keeper Stuart Greaves seeing his goal kicks barely reach the halfway line but the visitors made use of it - john Coffer striking a volley sweetly with the laces that was only just wide of the left post.
Just before the break there was a suspicion that Ashby was headbutted but nobody was reprimanded, although the Sun player left the pitch with a bloody nose.
After the break Colney showed why they are a feared side as they took the lead on 54 minutes with Adam Cottingham cutting inside Tony Spicer and setting up Coffer for the goal.
Greaves was forced to make a point blank save while up front for Sun Maguire ran the show although he was all too often let down by Mark Anderson, who really needed to become more involved.
The experienced Maguire certainly showed other players up as he rode tackle after wayward tackle without retribution or foul language towards the referee.
It was Maguire who gained the equaliser two minutes from the end, with a header that was so delicately placed it almost ambled into the net with Gesmundo looking for it to go wide.


Sun Sports: Greaves, Joyce, Spicer, Hows, C Price, Woods, Ashby, White, Anderson, Maguire, T Price. Substitute: Williams.