League

Harleston Park
Spectators: 5000 (Terracing: 4000, Seating: 1000, VIP seats: 0) Machiavellian's Walter Castledine started the match with a crisp pass. The crowd had been anticipating this game for weeks and the excitement in the stadium was easily visible. Reg Christensen took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Ray Alsop, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Jack Weeks was astounded when the referee showed him the red card after a seemingly innocent challenge, 15 minutes into the match. In a very dangerous position, a player in Harleston fell when an opponent tried to get the ball from him in the 14th minute. Penalty! If Ray Alsop had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 20th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Keanu Wardell received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 24th minute. Reg Christensen tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. After having played for 25 minutes, Walter Castledine managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Machiavellian's supporters crossed their fingers, but Walter Castledine was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. If Walter Castledine had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 28th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Francis Routledge hit a great freekick 29 minutes into the match. Walter Castledine scored 0-2 in the 30th match minute with a shot that went into the goal to the right of Reg Christensen, who was just a little too slow in reacting to the shot. Walter Castledine fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 35th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Reg Christensen having to interfere. If Ray Alsop had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 36th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Jo Kirk sent away a hard shot on goal in the 38th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. 41 minutes into the game, Sammy Pack was given a yellow card after he appeared to trip an opposing player. Harleston's manager was livid on the sidelines, but the referee was unmoved and gave Machiavellian the free kick. Shawn Sutton's late challenge caught a Harleston's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Shawn Sutton helped the player get up and apologised. After 45 played minutes Machiavellian got a freekick which was hit by Shawn Sutton. Disappointed in the 0-3 score, the home team went to the dressing room to adjust tactics for the second half.

The hometeam waved at the audience when it was time for Jo Kirk to strike the kick off in the second half. The audience was convinced that Walter Castledine's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Reg Christensen was relentless in the 50th minute of the game. In the 53rd minute, Machiavellian's Walter Castledine dribbled the ball into the box and hit a shot with the outside of his foot, sending the keeper the wrong way. 0-4. 57 minutes into the match, Harleston's goalkeeper Reg Christensen had to clear away a ball on his right side after a cunning shot by Ray Alsop. Shawn Sutton kicked well hit freekick during the 58th minute of the match. After having played for 59 minutes, Jo Kirk managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Harleston's supporters crossed their fingers, but Jo Kirk was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. Machiavellian's Walter Castledine got a good chance for a goal in the 64th minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. After some fancy dribbling in the 66th minute, Ray Alsop managed to get in a good position for a shot. Machiavellian's supporters rose to their feet, but Ray Alsop was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Reg Christensen breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. Jo Kirk fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 70th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Johnny Brooke having to interfere. Ray Alsop received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 75th minute. Reg Christensen tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. After some fancy dribbling in the 79th minute, Walter Castledine managed to get in a good position for a shot. Machiavellian's supporters rose to their feet, but Walter Castledine was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Reg Christensen breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. Harleston's Jo Kirk got a good chance for a goal in the 82nd minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. Walter Castledine fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 85th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Reg Christensen having to interfere. During the 96th minute of the match Shawn Sutton completely mistimed his tackle and brought down his opponent. The referee gave Shawn Sutton a yellow card, his second in the match, which meant he could no longer take part in the game. In the 96th match minute, Machiavellian was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Shawn Sutton to maneuver through the defense. The Machiavellian supporters could be heard counting down the last seconds of the match. They errupted in celebration when the whistle blew, knowing Machiavellian would go home with victory in their luggage after a match that easily could have ended differently.