Teversal’s start to life in the East Midlands Counties League has been a mixed bag. Impressive home form is counter-balanced with two draws and now two defeats away from Carnarvon Street after Anstey secured victory with an added on time spectacular winner to take the points in an ill-tempted encounter.
The game started off at a lively pace with Anstey's Hirst setting the tone of the afternoon when the midfielder put in an unsavoury challenge on Luke Bacon in the first five minutes that should have received a straight red card for an uncontrolled two footed challenge on the Teversal player. The fact the Referee took no action and awarded a throw in to Anstey saw the control of the game lost from that one incident.
On 7 minutes Anstey were gifted the lead when Darren Taylor’s effort from 20 yards was allowed to slip through the grasp of the normally dependable Josh Turton to reward the host bright start with a deserved lead. Four minutes later it was 2-0 when a superbly placed free kick found its way into the top corner from Hirst. The irony is Hirst shouldn’t have been on the park after that early challenge. Likewise a challenge by Brett Watson on the half hour mark could/should have received a red card, but the Referee did at least award Anstey a free and to the dismay of the visitors (on the back of the earlier decision) issued the Tevie number 6 with a yellow card.
The visitor’s settled into the game creating their first offering when Matt Wilkinson held the ball up before picking out Kurt Bamford whose deflected effort went for a corner. A series of three corners saw a Khyle Sargent effort from the second one headed off the line by Day. The more even encounter drifted to half time with the host maintaining their two goal lead.
Teversal were quick out the blocks for the second half when Matt Wilkinson released Danny Fletcher to drive low cross to Khyle Sargent to smash effort against post. Kurt Bamford raced in to slot home from three yards away from an open goal but was denied by a rugby style tackle by Day to deny the Tevie man, penalty was called for and should have been awarded, but it wasn’t given. The visitors were enraged even further when only a minute later a rash challenge by Reynold upended Khyle Sargent who had turned the defender in the penalty area, again no penalty.
On 54 minutes Teversal’s efforts were rewarded when they halved the deficit when Brett Watson’s through ball released Matt Wilkinson who calmly finished under pressure. Anstey were now looking vulnerable under the constant pressure, especially when a quality whipped in cross by Blake Vincent had Russell’s attempted defensive header forcing Smith into a superb stop to save the blushes of his team mate.
Five minutes later Teversal made it 2-2 with what looked like an illegal goal. Blake Vincent drove a corner into the near post, with the ball smashing against the post without touching any other player and back to Blake Vincent to deliver a low cross that was deflected towards goal by Khyle Sargent for Smith to make another excellent reaction save, but Danny Fletcher reacted the quickest to bundle the ball home. The home side protested to no avail with the tension now taken up another notch.
The challenges continued to fly in with it no surprise to see Hirst was again at the heart of yet another unsavoury challenge, this time a yellow card was issued to the Anstey player, but Teversal lost their skipper due to the injury sustained from the challenge.
The ticking time bomb that started by that first challenge in the game exploded on 75 minutes when Turland who had only been on the park as a substitute for 8 minutes put in a late challenge on Teversal keeper Josh Turton who had raced out of the penalty area to clear the danger. Turland made a lunge to block the clearance but simple took the keeper out, he and Sam Lavelle argued the value of the challenge and adopted an aggressive attitude. This lead to a mass coming together and once things settled, both Turland and Sam Lavelle received a straight red card.
The ill-fated encounter wasn’t finished with the drama, but thankfully not of the ill-disciplined type. The game had gone into added on time when Ireland who had been ineffective for a large part of the game turned Jason Gregory and was fouled by the defenders desperate challenge, Ireland picked himself up to produce an absolutely superb free kick that was out of the reach of Josh Turton to restore the host lead in the 92nd minute. The locals stating that cancelled out Teversal’s illegal goal, however it was clear to see Teversal also felt disappointed to have had two stonewall penalties turned down along with another when Danny Fletcher was brought down during a challenge, that you will see a spot kick awarded on another day.
Anstey will have felt they deserved their win, but in a game when the host had the better of the first half, the visitors the second, the Tevie Boys with their three penalty claims they felt disappointed they haven’t left the superb Davidson Homes Park with at least a share of the spoils.
Teversal have an opportunity to put the disappointment of this loss behind them when on Tuesday 5th September, Aylestone Park visit Carnarvon Street for an East Midlands Counties League Premier Division fixture with a 7:45pm kick off.
ANSTEY NOMADS; Dan Smith, Jordan Reynolds, Daryl Russell (Chris Rudkin 83), Oliver Preston, Myles Saxton, Joe Hopewell (Lewis Turland 67), Mason Hirst, Luke Day, James Ireland, Darren Taylor, Sam Marshall (Sam Marshall Liam Prescott 52) Subs Not Used; Reece Medway, Jack Lane.
TEVERSAL; Josh Turton, Luke Bacon, Blake Vincent, Tom Laister, Jason Gregory, Brett Watson, Khyle Sargent (Joe Geeson 70), Sam Lavelle, Danny Fletcher, Matt Wilkinson, Kurt Bamford. Subs Not Used; Danny Tighe, Dean Short, Craig Charlesworth.
REFEREE; Tom Burt ATTENDANCE; 97
MAN OF MATCH; Anstey Nomad Dan Smith, Teversal: Tom Laister.
YELLOW CARDS; Anstey Nomad Mason Hirst, Teversal: Brett Watson, Khyle Sargent, Kurt Bamford.
RED CARDS; Anstey Nomad Lewis Turland, Teversal: Sam Lavelle.
# | Team | Pl | Pts |
1. | Dunkirk | 40 | 89 |
2. | Anstey Nomads | 40 | 89 |
3. | Teversal | 40 | 87 |
4. | Selston | 40 | 81 |
5. | Belper United | 40 | 74 |
6. | Kimberley Miners Welfare | 40 | 71 |
7. | Radford | 40 | 70 |