Dock made it three from three with a late rally in the second half to secure maximum points against a strong and well organised Heygarth side. The advantage of having a large squad was vindicated as Manager McGraa had only thirteen players to select from for this fixture. The main reason for this was that Ross Carragher held an All Male Speed-Dating night in Birmingham in which Ross and Johno found out that they were compatible with each other but Ross’s Uni mates threw a strop and a fight broke out. Another Uni puff, Matty Carlin, had three pints of larger shandy and cried off and Saunders has got a gob on because his injury has scuppered his big money move to The Mighty Arm.
The only legitimate absentee was Ian Brunt (more later) The first half passed the Dock by and they were clearly not at the races although they could point to a clear penalty claim that was turned down by F.I.F.A. referee Mr. George Lester. The Goose pulled off two vital saves to keep the score level and Tony ‘The Wardrobe’ Sample was like Papa Bouba Diop in the midfield winning vital tackles and headers and holding the Dock together until they found a rhythm.
With five minutes to the half time whistle the Dock conceded to a surging run down the left and once the ball was pulled back inside the six yard box, it was left to the Heygarth striker to find the net from close range.
Early in the second half the Dock had another strong penalty appeal turned down and it was starting to look like one of those days. On 55 mins, the injured Tommy Hunt was replaced by Lord Charles McInnes and on 62 mins, Iggy McGraa was replaced by Paul Howells. With the formation being adjusted at the interval, Dock started to enjoy a bit more possession. Ian Brunt was present on the touchline and he had radio contact with McGraa and Packenham, like Phil Brown had at Hull City, only Brunty is a lot darker than him since he won a year’s subscription to ‘Tantastic ’ for retaining The Mr. Gay U.K. title in Brighton last month.
On 70 mins, a strong run down the left by Charlie McInnes saw him power through a couple of tackles and his low cross shot took a slight deflection to wrong foot the keeper and give the Dock a life- line as it nestled in the back of the net to make it 1-1.
5 minutes later, Charlie was involved in a fracas as he again got stuck in and all of a sudden Heygarth were rattled. It resulted in a harsh yellow card for the boy but the damage was done and you could sense a winner!
With 4 minutes remaining Dock were awarded a free kick on the left hand corner of the Heygarth box. Lee Hammond delivered and Jamie Kenyon glanced a superb header into the net to make it 2.1. Heygarth had a man sent off in the dying moments as they lost their discipline completely and seconds after that the whistle blew and the Dock had three more precious points.
Man of the match: Ian Brunt ( for changing the shape via radio headset ) But a mention must go to Tony Sample who was right in the thick of it when needed.
Report by Mike Stevens
Pictures by Chris Stading
