Boldmere St. Michaels 5-2 Shepshed Dynamo - Midland Football League Premier Division.

Red card ravages Dynamo

Owing to a red card in the second half, a largely well-balanced battle of styles at the Trevor Brown Memorial Ground saw an unduly heavy scoreline as Shepshed Dynamo suffered a chastening 5-2 defeat to Boldmere St. Michaels on Saturday afternoon in a reversal of this fixture’s outcome last season.

Niall Prenderville and Celson Patrocinio were both on target for Dynamo, but with the score level at 2-2, a second yellow card for defender Zach Hill in the 72nd minute would prove terminal for the visitors’ hopes of securing back-to-back wins for the first time this season.

In a tepid first half, Shepshed fashioned the better chances and took an early lead in consummate style after Prenderville raced onto Pearson Mwanyongo’s splitting pass before lifting the ball over Boldmere ‘keeper Lewis Fenney.

A wonderful conflict of styles saw Dynamo play a decidedly peripheral counter-attacking game as the Mikes sought to patiently build attacks from the back.

And for all their possession, the hosts were conceding, and not creating, the better chances.

They nearly found themselves two goals behind after Karl Whymark intercepted a loose pass before firing over on 20 minutes, and shortly thereafter, Liam Hurst saw a low shot saved by Fenney after good work from Patrocinio on the left.

But the Mikes remained true to their possession game, and were level on 33 minutes after Ben Usher-Shipway’s darting run into the area saw him elicit a good save from Dynamo’s Brandon Ganley before Owen Parry blasted home the rebound to ensure the sides went in level at the break.

Dynamo, led by the effervescent Prenderville, enjoyed the better of the half, and could count themselves unlucky to have been pegged back.

And events soon took a further turn for the worse early in the second half.

Hurst gave the ball away cheaply in midfield before Boldmere’s Rikardo Reid coolly slotted home.

Shepshed rallied, and were soon level again when Patrocinio guided the ball home with his chest from Mwanyongo’s fierce right-wing cross.

But then came a telling blow. Mwanyongo left Hill in all kinds of trouble after carelessly relinquishing possession, and the latter was soon sent off for a trip on Conor Wright.

The red card opened the floodgates and a deluge of Boldmere goals followed.

Ganley parried an effort well before Reid forced the ball home for the third, and Craig Milligan soon made it 4-2 with a venomous strike into the top corner after Ganley parried once more.

And the rout was completed, and a sorry afternoon compounded, in the final minute when slipshod Shepshed defending allowed Reid to surge into the area and fire an excellent curling shot past the hapless Ganley and into the far corner.

The heavy scoreline might well be a travesty, and Dynamo’s counter-attacking game had paid dividends until the red card, but a fourth defeat in five and a glaring porosity in defence will doubtless be of concern ahead of the visit of Worcester City next Saturday.

By Lucas Monk