By CCFC Sid
February 27 2005

Despite the best/worst efforts of the referee, at least one of his assistants, and the tactics employed by Stoke, this was as good a game as has been seen at Highfield Road this season (Not that under Peter Reid there was much competition as far as entertainment goes!). Numerous CCFC penalty appeals were ignored, numerous over-aggressive, barely legal, challenges from Stoke players went unpunished, and the referee quite clearly lost the plot at various stages during the match.

With Giddings and Shaw out injured, and Marcus Hall uable to play because of an agreement between CCFC and Stoke when he re-joined, plus Adams unable to bring in cover, Staunton was drafted in to play alongside Williams, Whing was re-called at right-back, with Duffy (Touch of class!!) moving to left-back. Jorgensen and Hughes were also re-called to the side, with Osbourne dropping to the bench.

With Marcus Hall not allowed to play, I have to confess to being slightly surprised to see his name down as 14/1 to be the first goalscorer with Ladbrokes. As the saying goes: "you never see a poor bookie", and maybe this goes some way to explaining why.

Statistics on Sky Sports (Before kick-off) also revealed that this fixture had never ended 0-0, and also showed a dozen other depressing stat's regarding fixtures elsewhere, that suggested this would be a bad day for CCFC....

The matches first penalty appeal came from Stoke, who took a corner, and, despite one of their own players handling the ball, they appealed as one for a spot-kick! Unsurprisingly, it wasn't given, though this didn't stop their supporters jeering ironically every time a decision went their way!

Stern John missed what looked to be a "stick-on" goal after nine minutes - so "stick-on" that most CCFC supporters were already celebrating, before watching in dismay as his effort hit the post and bounced out of play.

Benjamin put pressure on Simonsen in the Stoke goal as a Hughes free-kick threatened to open the scoring for CCFC, though the linesmans flag was raised, and a foul against given.

A fairly innocuous challenge from Doyle saw Russell respond by going head-to-head with the CCFC midfielder. For some reason, challenging a player fairly fairly(!) and not responding to a potential flash-point situation was deemed worthy of a yellow card - though being the aggressor wasn't!

A minute later the same player hacked Doyle down, though no free-kick was given and the player was unbelievably once again NOT shown a card of any colour. A decent referee would have shown a red for the two offences in as many minutes....

McSheffrey was then crudely hacked down by Hill, and once again no card was shown. From the resulting free-kick, the ball in managed to just evade everybody (Any touch would surely have resulted in a goal), and the push on Benjamin six yards out was missed by both the referee and his trusty(?) assistant....

The Stoke keeper, Simonsen, then made two top quality saves to deny Benjamin and McSheffrey, and went on to make further stunning saves to deny CCFC a deserved lead.

A CCFC corner saw Williams allowed a free header, but, disappointingly, he only put his effort into the side netting. Minutes later, Jones was booked for what looked a nasty challenge on Duffy, leaving the CCFC player on the floor for a good few moments.

Whing went on a run down Stoke's left, took on and beat a couple of defenders, then delivered a cross that looked as if McSheffrey would go for. He dummied the ball, and Simonsen almost allowed it to cross the line, fumbling momentarily, before grabbing hold of it.

There was then a blatant climb on Benjamin in the Stoke penalty area, with a Stoke defender having one hand firmly on each of Benjamin's shoulders, preventing him from leaping to head the ball. Despite the fact no players were obscuring the linesman's view (I know this, as I was sitting directly in line!!), he simply ignored the incident.

Another quality free-kick by captain Stephen Hughes on 30 minutes was somehow cleared off the line by a Stoke defender, with Simonsen finally beaten, and minutes later the same player's delivery was well saved by Simonsen. This looked like being one of those days when whatever CCFC threw at the opposition, the ball was just not going to go in....

Jorgensen was then blatantly obstructed in the Stoke penalty area, and, despite being clearly viewed by the linesman - and probably the referee - nothing was given....

Five minutes before half-time Benjamin was put through by Hughes, and his effort was again well saved by Simonsen, with Benjamin again clearly being fouled - no penalty given....

A poor miss from Benjamin was to prove costly a minute later, with the ball being pumped down-field by Stoke. A Williams defensive header should have reached Bennett, but a rush of blood to the head saw him red carded for handling just outside the area. The decision looked harsh (With a yellow card for stupidity seeming fairer), as it looked highly unlikely that any Stoke player would have got anywhere near the ball, but the match officials decided that 10 v 11 would make for a more interesting game....

With no substitute keeper on the bench, Stephen Hughes was forced to take over in goal - and how! Fourty-seven minutes still to play, with 10 men, and no recognised keeper? Stoke must have been thinking the three points were in the bag. Under Peter Reid, they might have been - but under Mickey Adams leadership, the team appears to have grow a backbone....

CCFC, surprisingly, didn't make any changes at half-time (With thoughts of bringing off two strikers, and bringing on two more defensive players being wide of the mark!), and were the first to go on the attack. Jorgensen set off on a run, but was cynically brought down by Hill on the edge of the Stoke area, and McSheffrey's effort from the free-kick went just wide of Simonsen's right-hand post.

Stoke finally put the ball in the CCFC net on 53 minutes (With CCFC's defence allowing Stoke's attack time and space for perhaps the only time in the match), but the linesmans flag had been raised long before - nice to see one of the match officials finally get something right....

A McSheffrey surge into the penalty area saw three defenders bring him down, and a penalty was awarded - but again, no card(s) was (Were) produced. He stepped up to try and give CCFC what would have been an unbelievable lead, but unsurprisingly Simonsen saved (As I had predicted he would).

The miss possibly helped CCFC come away with a point, as Stoke would probably have taken pot-shots from anywhere and everywhere on the pitch in a bid to beat CCFC's stand-in keeper - though Hughes proved he was more than a match for anything the opposition threw at him, making a few quality saves that any keeper would have been proud of! (With those that expected him to just stand there and pick the ball out of the net every few minutes looking on in dis-belief at his agility!).

Russell was finally booked for a foul after 59 minutes, this time for bringing down Jorgensen. This came as some surprise, as the same player had got away with so much for the first hour, a Cantona-esque drop-kick followed by a machete attack, then an acid-bath for good measure, looked like it might only earn him a ticking off with the days referee....

A quick break by CCFC saw John send the ball out to Benjamin, whose 30 yard cross just eluded Simonsen, and also McSheffrey, who had nipped in at the back post. Two inches taller, and it could/would have been 1-0!!

Hughes made another quality save a minute later, though the linesman had already raised his flag for offside. This didn't stop "England's Number One!!" chants echoing round the stadium!! SGE could do a lot worse!!

Hughes made another superb save after 68 minutes, and a few minutes later the unlikeliest of potential match-winners, Andrew Whing, found himself in the Stoke area, having been set up by McSheffrey (Who had robbed a dallying Stoke defender). Whing's effort was blocked by the Stoke defence, with CCFC winning a corner.

With time running out, and Stoke players becoming ever-more petulant, some of their more level-headed players could quite clearly be seen to be telling others to behave! Clearly, not being able to take advantage of CCFC's disadvantage(!), was getting to their players....

New signing Michael Ricketts, who had come on as a substitute for Stoke, was replaced through injury with just over five minutes left, and soon after Hughes made another fine save.

Despite the fact several CCFC players clearly had nothing left to give (McSheffrey and Jorgensen for two!), only Stern John was replaced (To much deserved applause), with Adams obviously not wanting to upset the balance of a side that had held out so well.

The last chance of the match was a free-kick to Stoke - another decision that had CCFC supporters in the East Terrace hurling verbals towards the referee. Thankfully for CCFC, it was a disappointing effort....

The usual surge towards the exits with a couple of minutes left didn't quite happen in such numbers for this game, with CCFC fans staying to applaud 10 heroes from the pitch - and their heroes responded by applauding the supporters. CCFC supporters, so often criticised for being to quiet, were superb from start to finish during this match - more of the same 'til the season ends please!

Cracking stuff, and if this was the sort of entertainment that could be guaranteed at the new Arena, the supposed £20 (Or more) entrance fee would be money well spent - and a display deserving of far more supporters for the last half-dozen fixtures left at Highfield Road - GET YOUR ARSE UP TO HIGHFIELD ROAD PEOPLE!!!

Results wise (As Sky suggested it might be), it was a terrible day for CCFC, with Plymouth winning again, Jason Roberts effort for winning "Worst Miss Of The Season" helping Gillingham beat Wigan, Brighton scoring a late winner versus Millwall, and Derby yet again failing to win away to Notts Forest (Though their late(ish) equaliser did help a bit!) - with the last time being 1971.

This point and performance might just prove to be the difference come the end of the season. If CCFC play like this for the next dozen(ish) games, three other teams will have to prepare themselves for the drop instead....