Wyoming vs Barnstoneworth D South match report

** We have edited part of this report as it has caused offence for which we sincerely apologise **

This was a closely-fought game that started out as a walkover, and ended in farce, debacle and a seriously disabling injury for fullback Anthony Broadbere, cut down in the midst of the best attacking foray we’ve ever seen from him.

The tone seemed to be set by Barnstoneworth (Terrigal) putting three un-answered goals onto Wyoming in the first half hour. Before the game, Adam Chandler had emphasised the importance of a strong centre, and that’s what Barnstoneworth delivered, with Daryl putting in a particularly gutsy and competitive effort at centre-mid.

Up front, the Lynch brothers and Pez were carving it up, kicking and chasing down the wings, crossing, passing and, with the exception of a couple of total sitters, scoring. We would come to rue those two sitters later in the game, but in the first half it was a stellar performance upfront.

It would have been 3-0 at the break, but for a charge down the left side by Wyoming a minute before half-time off a goalkeeper kick that led to series of uncontested passes. This sudden offensive left the defence scrambling and out of position, and the Wyoming winger made a cross from the corner that stuck.
With the sun in their eyes in the second half, Barnstoneworth found themselves defending against a suddenly far more determined Wyoming attack. Wyoming appeared to have re-arranged their team and a new set of forwards began running freely through our centre, putting the defence under all sorts of pressure. Inevitably, this led to a goal, and it was 3-2.

Still ahead, Barnstoneworth launched a series of attacks through the front three, with Chris, Stuart and Nick in the centres all getting the ball to the strikers, but to no avail. The Wyoming defenders had also clearly been switched around at half time and there were slide tackles coming in left and right. Meanwhile the counter-attacks kept coming, and Simon Ashley-Binge was busy being rock-solid in goals.
The worm began to turn with twenty minutes to go, when Will gave away a free kick while getting between an opposition player and the ball, which apparently is called “obstruction” now under one of the new rules that was introduced along with the requirement to have your tape and underpants match the colour of your socks (colloquially known as ‘The Ravenswood Rule’). The kick was headed into the goals by the ponderous 6ft 4” Wyoming number 15, making his first and only contribution to the game, and it was 3-all.

Five minutes later, Simon Ashley-Binge took a kick from goal, and those on the sideline noticed that the touch judge (oops, Linesman, soccer terminology fail) had his flag up for about five minutes before the ref noticed and brought play back, just as we were pressing hard on their goal. Apparently Simon had fallen foul of another new rule dictating that the goalkeeper can’t allow his foot to pass over the edge of the box. Unsurprisingly, Simon arced up something horrid at this and had to be physically restrained back into his goalmouth, where he suffered the ignominy of having the penalty kick bounce off a Wyoming player and roll past his outstretched hand as he dived to the right.

4-3, two minutes to go, and there were some fairly pissed-off players on the Barnstoneworth team. Not just because of the injustice of the two pettifogging free kicks, but because of the tendency of the Wyoming team to take every fall they could and yet put in slide tackles, seemingly with impunity. This became painfully (!) evident when Anthony got the ball 50 metres out and went for the goal. He dribbled, he cut, he weaved, he kicked ahead and chased, he moved like quicksilver until his fourth touch, when a Wyoming defender came sweeping in from the side, slid into the tackle and cut him down, snapping his fibula and tibia as neatly as if he’d struck him with an axe.

The ref blew the game up and we waited for the ambulance, Anthony showing remarkable forbearance, given that his foot was at a right-angle to his leg. Fortunately for him, Bec Lynch was on hand to put a blanket on him and keep him calm while the ambulance arrived. We wish you well Anthony with knitting those two rather important bones back together, and hope to see you back on the field as soon as possible.

Final result: 4-3 to Wyoming.