In a game that wasn’t for the faint hearted, Teversal showed they were up for the battle to claim the three valuable points despite the disappointment of being the victims of some unbalanced and overzealous and inconsistent match officiating.

It was clear what sort of an afternoon we was in for when McCann picked up the first yellow card in only the 8th minute when he was knocked off balance and handled the ball with his out stretched arm he was using to correct his balance, free kick to the visitors awarded yes, did you break up a Selby attack or prevent them a goal scoring opportunity, no. If anything it actually broke up a Teversal attack that was just in the Selby half, so a harsh yellow card.

It was clear that Selby came with a game plan to be nasty and try and pick out a weakness that they thought was Teversal’s young Keeper Josh Turton who put in a manly performance and rose above the intimating tactics to show why he has made the Teversal number one shirt his own in recent weeks.

The opening goal arrived on 20 minutes when a hotly disputed penalty was awarded when Weaver was alleged to have caused an infringement when a corner was contested and the home side scrambled the ball clear, but Mr Ahmad thought differently and pointed to the penalty spot with all parties looking amazed. Scott Jones drove the gift home despite the young custodians attempt going the right way. The striker 3 minutes later put what can only be a disgraceful late challenge on Turton and picked up the visitors first yellow card of the day.

The home side were rocked by the setback but the backline superbly marshalled by Mark Camm held firm with the highlight for the home side during this period was when Turton produced a top draw save when Ramsey put in an header from 6 yards after the ball shot up from another scramble by the Tevie Keeper went full length to his left to paw the effort wide of his goal.

The defensive qualities inspired the home side and gave the foundation to build up a period of pressure and deservedly pulled level on 39 minutes. James McCann nipped in to pinch the ball only to be tripped by O’Neil’s desperate attempt to prevent the Tevie midfielder being through on goal with a penalty awarded. The inconsistency of the Referee saw the Selby man let off with not receiving a yellow card but Danny Fletcher dealt up the punishment when he calmly sent Lawrie the wrong way to make it 1-1 at the break.

The stop start of the game prevented any free flowing football in the second period, but was clear there wasn’t going to be any change to the issuing of the cards like confetti with Fletcher being the next casualty when he knocked the ball too far with Lawrie diving to collect the ball with daylight between him and the Teversal striker. The Keeper implied he was caught by Fletcher with the Referee branding him a yellow with the Keeper smiling as he took the free kick when quizzed by a supporter that he had conned the Match Official. Only a minute later Jones went in on Turton with the sole intention of wiping out the Keeper as he had no chance of playing the ball, free kick awarded but only the Referee can explain why a yellow card wasn’t issued, especially after the one Fletcher received.

The home side was the ones pushing for the winner and a period of sustained pressure reaped its reward on 79 minutes when Dave Cockerill making his first appearance of the season was given the time and space to fire an effort from 20 yards that looked like it was going to drop in over the Selby Keepers head but Lawrie manged to get a fingertip to the effort to deflect it on to the bar, but the Tevie Skipper Sargent reacted the quickest and raced in to fire into the roof of the net to make it 2-1. A minute later the Selby Keeper showed his quality again when a Dawson effort brought the best out of the Keeper.

On 86 minutes even more card controversy took away from the game when Fisher put in a timely challenge to halt a Selby foray, with Ward holding the defender down as the ball was cleared into the Selby half with the Referee following the game with his back to the tussle. Fisher managed to become untangled from Wards grasp and when running away Ward made out he was stamped on by the Teversal substitute. On hearing the calls by the Selby player and supporters the Referee turned to see Fisher two or three yards away from the player putting in an Oscar performance, but on the shouts the Official awarded a penalty and gave Fisher a red card. Poetic justice prevailed when Ward picked himself up to hit the bar with the spot kick, but yet again the Referee failed in his duties as Turton gathered the loose ball with a gathering of Selby players engulfing the Keeper putting in a foot even though the ball was clearly in the grasp of the Keeper. Outcome free kick no cards, totally against the Referee’s ethos in this game and far more lenient than what had been afforded to the home side.

The dying minutes saw yet another assault on Turton who again stemmed another last ditch attempt to pinch a leveller and again the mass surge by the Selby players on him saw a mass gathering after yet another free kick awarded and no action by the Referee. The final whistle was blown and the Referee performance took the headlines for all the wrong reasons, with the home side taking the points and facing an FA Charge due to the inconsistent and unacceptable amount of cards they received against those their visitors picked up.

Next up for Teversal is an away game next Saturday (26th December 2016) in a Toolstation Northern Counties East League Division One fixture at Glasshoughton Welfare with a 3:00pm kick off at the Leed Road ground.

TEVERSAL; Josh Turton, Mark Camm, Jacob Tittley (Jason Dawson 45), Jason Gregory, Tom Laister (Luke Fisher 69), Luke Weaver, James McCann, Brett Watson, Danny Fletcher (Danny Bacon 63), Khyle Sargent, David Cockerill. Subs Not Used; Macauley Short, Sean Dickinson.

SELBY TOWN; Peter Lawrie, Thomas Hogg, Leon Cusworth, Will Ramsey, Craig Maynard, Josh O’Neil, Wayne Brook, Ashley Lattimore (Walton Tusfa 69), Scott Jones (Ash Hope 88), Liam Flanagan (Calum Ward 67), Craig Tonkinson. Subs Not Used; Gary Lumley, Alex Ward.

REFEREE; Waqar Ahmad ATTENDANCE; 42

MAN OF MATCH; Teversal: Josh Turton, Selby Town; Peter Lawrie

YELLOW CARDS; Teversal: Jason Gregory, Luke Weaver, James McCann, Danny Fletcher, Khyle Sargent, Dave Cockerill. Selby Town; Thomas Hogg, Will Ramsey, Scott Jones.

RED CARDS; Teversal: Luke Fisher, Selby Town; None