Sittingbourne 1-1 Walton Casuals - Some of our fans are getting ahead of themselves - Danny Ward

Tuesday 30th October 2012

SITTINGBOURNE 1-1 WALTON CASUALS
Ryman League Division One South
Tuesday 30^th October 2012
Mike Green reports from Bourne Park

After totally dominating the opening the first half, Sittingbourne in the end were indebted to a stunning save in stoppage time from keeper Adam Molloy to keep hold of a point and deny Walton Casuals all three points.

For 39 minutes it was one-way traffic and keeper Molloy barely touched the ball. Then Walton were awarded a questionable spot kick which they converted and it knocked Jim and Danny Ward's young side completely out of their stride and from an opening period when Walton keeper Chico Ramos was the busiest man in Swale.

However, he could have spent the second period reading the local paper - a point that left Danny Ward perplexed after the game.

He said: "I thought the first 40 minutes was the best football we've played all season - some of the one touch, two touch stuff was excellent. On another day Ryan (Golding) would have got five - the keeper’s made a series of great saves including a penalty. And then they go down the field after 40 minutes when they've hardly touched the ball, it was played into the box, and its hit Ryan in the face (he's an honest lad) but the referee seemed like he couldn't wait to give a penalty. What makes it even more galling for me is that we had an identical situation later in the game and got nothing. He has to be consistent - we don’t ask anymore during a game but there has to be consistency!”

It really was quite a breathtaking performance from the home side in the opening half, and how they were left to rue missed chances.

As early as the third minute, Joe Taylor was inches away from giving Sittingbourne the lead with a stinging drive that beat the full length dive by keeper Ramos but also beat the right post.

On 13 minutes, Golding was denied by a smart reflex stop from the keeper after a tremendous passing exchange on the edge of the box between Taylor and Golding saw Golding fire in a low drive which was turned aside superbly.

But from the resulting corner, Sittingbourne took the lead. A great training ground move saw full back Tom Skelton play a pin point ball into the back post for skipper Nick Davis to slam the ball home.

The one way traffic continued on 21 minutes when defender Dave Stevens, who had a running battle all night long with the Bourne's front two, produced an outstanding block to deny Golding after he'd been put through by Taylor.

Former Crockenhill striker Golding then squandered a great chance to double the lead on 32 minutes when after his own charging run into the box had been ended by Stevens lunge, Golding saw his rather tame penalty turned aside by Ramos, and the chance was gone.

After scoring from the spot in the last game against Chipstead, Golding will have been disappointed with this effort, but at least he made the Casuals keeper make the save!

Nine minutes from half time, Ramos was at his alert best again this time to deny Connor Coyne by blocking the low drive with his legs.

Then came the undoubted turning point as Walton Casuals equalised with their first real forte into Sittingbourne territory.

A cross was played in from the right, and referee Venamore deemed Golding to have handled the cross and Sam Robinson stepped up to drill the ball past a despairing Molloy - it really was a kick in the teeth for the Wards' young players and one that they nearly didn't recover from.

Indeed ridiculously they could have been behind before half time as Molloy produced an excellent low save at the base of his left post to deny Matt Robinson’s low shot.

Danny Ward admitted that he was almost speechless at the half time position - he said, "We pummelled them for 40 minutes and they couldn't believe that they were going in at half time level. As I said to the lads at half time, some of the play was excellent to watch - but when you're that much on top you have to get the second and then the third, and we didn’t.

“We gave them a sniff and they took it but we were wasteful in front of goal which is unusual for us but that’s the way it goes."

Through gritted teeth he added, "At least I'll get a pint out of our goal keeper now, but I won’t enjoy drinking it - much! He asked for a penalty saving bonus pre-season and I said I'd buy him a pint for everyone he stops and he buys me one for everyone that beats him - but as I say, it was a dubious decision at best.”

The penalty decision really seemed to rock the home side and they struggled to get into the game after half time.

Davis produced a brilliant block to deny Sam Robinson on 58 minutes as Walton probed without really testing the Sittingourne back line - until that is the final ten minutes, when substitute Kieron Dias will be disappointed that he didn't score at least once.

With 86 minutes on the watch, Davis again was on hand to produce a sensational block to deny the sub, and as the play developed and the home side broke, Taylor released Golding and his cross "struck" a Casuals defender it appeared on the arm.

This time though the official waved the appeals away, and as the home side tried to recover Dias sprinted away down the right before producing a thunderous drive that seemed destined for the top corner before Molloy produced a truly world class save to finger tip the ball around the post!

And yet, even Molloy didn't have any answer to Liam Holden's flicked header in stoppage time that whistled past the post, but in a way it was justice for the home side as after their performance in the first 40 minutes the very least they deserved was a point.

Danny Ward was full of praise for his keeper after the game. "Adams a good lad – it’s his job but when he does it well its brilliant. It was a good strike by the lad, but maybe I'm getting a bit boring as I "expected" Adam to save it if I'm honest with you, but it really was a great save."

He added: "It also highlights the level that we've got at this club now - you've got to be a decent player to get near what we've got - we had a couple of academy players on the bench tonight which was good and meant our average age was even lower tonight.

“I think that some of our fans are getting a bit above themselves, but we know where we should be. We're doing a bit of tinkering, but we're all right! It was a decent game of football tonight.”

Sittingbourne: Adam Molloy, Tom Skelton, Anthony John, Nick Davis, Jonathan Hogg, Curtis Winnett, Joe Taylor, Russell Bedford, Ryan Golding, Connor Coyne (Nick Treadwell 77), Hicham Akhazzan (Tom Loynes 65).
Subs: Michael Brown, Jack Sayer, Aaron Gough

Goal: Nick Davis 14

Booked: Joe Taylor 81

Walton Casuals: Chico Ramos, Colin Hartburn, Brendon Sebuliba, Craig Lewington, Dave Stevens, Michael Corbett, Matt Robinson (Hassan Nyang 78), Danny Fernandez, Liam Holden, Sam Robinson, Ray Freeman (Kieron Dias 66).
Sub: Byron Brown

Goal: Sam Robinson 39 (pen)

Booked: Sam Robinson 33, Dave Stevens 81

Attendance: 121
Referee: Mr Lee Venamore (Maidstone)
Assistants: Mr David Smart (Maidstone) & Mr Elad Amir (Maidstone)