League Play-Off

Heybridge Park
Spectators: 38 (Terracing: 29, Seating: 9, VIP seats: 0) The mood of the audience was pleasant when Gradimir Mudrić made the kick off which started today's match. Gradimir Mudrić sent away a hard shot on goal in the 6th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. In the 8th minute Neđo Janjić shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Frank Lewington saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. In the 10th minute, Neđo Janjić left the goalkeeper for dead before tapping the ball into the right side of the net. The Whiteley fans were clearly happy with the effort and the scoreboard reflected the new score: 0-1. When Ralf Downing came up free with the goalie in the 13th minute, the Heybridge fans jumped to their feet. But the shot missed the goal by a fraction of an inch, and the fans sat back down disappointed that Ralf Downing couldn't finish the play. In the 25th of the match, Ralf Downing tried to place the ball in the upper right corner, but Janićije Karanikić got in the way and made a wonderful save. Janićije Karanikić didn't succeed in stopping the ball in the 30th minute, which inside left pole to 1-1. In the 34th minute, Ralf Downing got an opportunity to score, but he didn't get a solid hit on the ball and ended up kicking it wide of the goal. Ralf Downing recieved an excellent pass in front of the goal in the 36th minute. Unfortunately, he received the ball on his off foot and could only manage a weak shot that went over the goal. After 37 played minutes Heybridge got a freekick which was hit by Darius Gale. In the 39th match minute, Heybridge was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Marty Nash to maneuver through the defense. Frank Lewington made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Neđo Janjić in the 40th minute of play. Janićije Karanikić made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Ralf Downing in the 41st minute of play. Gradimir Mudrić sent away a hard shot on goal in the 44th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. After some fancy dribbling in the 48th minute, Neđo Janjić managed to get in a good position for a shot. Whiteley's supporters rose to their feet, but Neđo Janjić was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Frank Lewington breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. The score stood at 1-1 when the half time whistle went. Both sets of players seemed reasonably pleased with how the match was going.

Both teams looked relatively alert before the second half when the referee blew his whistle to tell Ralf Downing to make the kick off. If Leon Lobb had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 53rd minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. 56 minutes into the match, Whiteley's Gradimir Mudrić sent off a blazing shot straight on target, a shot that Frank Lewington narrowly saved just below the crossbar. An unexpectedly hard shot by Gradimir Mudrić in the 61st minute of play forced Heybridge's goalkeeper Frank Lewington to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. In the 64th minute, Ralf Downing left the goalkeeper for dead before tapping the ball into the right side of the net. The Heybridge fans were clearly happy with the effort and the scoreboard reflected the new score: 2-1. The Heybridge fans' excitement grew in the 73rd match minute when Heybridge's Ralf Downing looked to have a clear shot with the ball near the goal. The shot wasn't hard, but the ball still rolled over the goal line to make it 3-1 before the goalkeeper had a chance to intervene. Gligorije Paljević hit a great freekick 80 minutes into the match. In the 82nd match minute, Whiteley was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Adam Bogićević to maneuver through the defense. After 91 minutes of play, Whiteley's Neđo Janjić made it 4-2 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Frank Lewington was left in no man's land by his defense there! An unexpectedly hard shot by Ralf Downing in the 97th minute of play forced Whiteley's goalkeeper Janićije Karanikić to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Whiteley's players left the field with heads hung low after losing a match that had been finely balanced throughout.