latest news ...

 
home page | latest updates | site map | site index

about this site | audience participation | copyright notice | technical issues | accessibility statement | read this | contact me

VISIT MY ON-LINE MEDIA STORE

THE FARM

MY LIFESTYLE

ON MY TRAVELS

There are more links at the top and bottom of each page.
These concern the administration of the site, but you should visit them just the same.

 

SEARCH THIS SITE

powered by freefind


SITE SPONSORS

please support them

Click here to buy & sell on eBay!

Pay me securely with your Visa, MasterCard, Discover, or American Express card through PayPal!

In Association with Amazon.co.uk

In Association with Amazon.com


 

 

 



since 01 January 2008

To see a larger image, click on a thumbnail.
Appuyez sur une image afin de voir une copie plus grande

You can contact me to order a full-size high-quality image.
E si vous voulez commander une image en plein dimensions et á haute qualité

Please if you would like to add anything to the text of each image or to correct an error.
Si vous avez des choses á ajouter, ou vous voudriez corriger quelque chose que j'ai écrit,

2nd XI v US MENETROL 24th OCTOBER 2009

First of all, excuse the poor quality of these images. I didn't set the quality to Raw Data - it was left at *.jpg so it hasn't been possible to edit them to any degree at all as I would usually do.

football club pionsat st hilaire club de foot menetrol 24 octobre 2009 24 10 2009 copyright free photo royalty free photo

The first goal is scored by Menetrol, after a dreadful mistake in the cenrte of the Pionsat defence. The ball is played to one of the central defenders who is under no pressure at all. He sets off on a run upfield, but leaves the ball behind him.

Of course there just has to be an attacker from Methanol loitering in the area and he is quick to seize on the ball. He's in a one-on-one with Michael here with the goal at his mercy.

football club pionsat st hilaire club de foot menetrol 24 octobre 2009 24 10 2009 copyright free photo royalty free photo

It doesn't matter how quick the Pionsat defence might be in getting back into position, no keeper in the world is ever going to stop any forward who has been presented with a simple chance like that. And no wonder that the forward is delighted. He won't score an easier goal than that for the rest of his career. It's a dreadful start for Pionsat so early in the match.

It the defence may well hang their heads a little here. But this is the big problem with the whole of the Pionsat teams - all three of them. It's all down to a simple lack of concentration at vital moments.


football club pionsat st hilaire club de foot menetrol 24 octobre 2009 24 10 2009 copyright free photo royalty free photo

But Pionsat are quickly on the attack. They win the ball and break down the field. The Menetrol defence play what is known as the "Easter Island" defence - they all stand around like statues and watch the forward burst through the centre. He finds himself in a one-on-one with the keeper so he pushes the ball past the latter and runs round him.

The angle is pretty narrow by now but nevertheless he should have done much better than ... er ... hitting the post. The Menetrol keeper and a central defender both rush to clear the ball and have a dreadful collision.

football club pionsat st hilaire club de foot menetrol 24 octobre 2009 24 10 2009 copyright free photo royalty free photo

Play is held up for quite a while in order that the two players might receive treatment. You can see the magic spray in operation here leaving its little cloud around the leg of the goalkeeper while his colleagues and one of the linesman look on with no little concern.

The keeper looked pretty much out for the count but a good dose of the spray had him back on his feet after a while. But he looked well-shaken up and quite groggy. Much as I like to see Pionsat win a match, I would hate it to be on the back of an injury to the goalkeeper.


Early in the sedond half Pionsat score an equaliser, and what a moment of controversy that was! The Methanol goalkeeper rushed off his line to take a high ball almost off the head of a Pionsat attacker, and he caught the ball cleanly. But what he did while doing it was something that you see goalkeepers do every week whether down on the local playing field, at the local football ground (whether it's Farrar Road or Old Trafford) or even on television - just you watch for it at the next opportunity. He came out with his leg and foot outstretched to ward off the forward.

Now a goalkeeper coming out with his foot raised is quite simply "dangerous play" and if he makes contact with the forward then it's a definite foul, and seeing as it happens in the penalty area it ought to be a penalty. Yet how many referees do you see with the courage to actually award one?

football club pionsat st hilaire club de foot menetrol 24 octobre 2009 24 10 2009 copyright free photo royalty free photo

Today was the first time that I've ever seen a referee blow for a penalty and it sparked off some considerable controversy. The keeper quite rightly claimed that he took the ball first but that is hardly the point.

So once everyone calms down for a moment the penalty can be taken. And the keeper is only about half an inch away from getting to it as well. I suppose that Menetrol can consider themselves unlucky here on the two counts. But in my opinion "foot forward" from a goalkeeper ought to be punished every time.


And if that wasn't controversial enough, what happened next would be enough controvery to last for the whole season.

Pionsat scored a second goal, but I actually missed it. Like everyone else on the ground I was waiting for the referee to respond to the linesman's flag for one of the clearest offsides I have ever seen. The flag was clearly and timeously raised and how the referee didn't see it is a total mystery to me. I just do not understand it.

The Menetrol players were furious, and I have to say that had I been out there on the pitch, so would I have been. But still, I'm not refereeing the match and the only reason that you have referees at football matches is because you cannot rely on 22 players to play the game fairly.


football club pionsat st hilaire club de foot menetrol 24 octobre 2009 24 10 2009 copyright free photo royalty free photo

But Methanol aren't behind for long. The go forward into the attack and Pionsat's only way of stopping this particular surge was to bring a forward down just outside the penalty area.

The free kick is lobbed into the area and one of the Menetrol forwards gets in half an inch in front of the Pionsat defenders. I lose count of how many times that that has happened. The forward lunges himself at the ball and his excellent diving header goes into the far corner of the net past Michael. I can't say that I begrudge Menetrol their equaliser, I have to admit.


football club pionsat st hilaire club de foot menetrol 24 octobre 2009 24 10 2009 copyright free photo royalty free photo

Late in the game Pionsat score a third goal that puts them back into the lead, and what an absolute peach it was - a typical 2nd XI effort.

The new-look Christophe minus all his hair has come on as a substitute and he goes racing off downfield after a long punt out of the Pionsat defence. He controls the ball well between two of the defenders and this entices the keeper off his line to block any shot. And isn't that a fatal mistake? Christophe goes for the shot, trying to go wide of the keeper but the ball hits one of the Menetrol defenders and bounces down and up over the keeper into the net. It was a lovely move and a lovely goal.


So what can you say about this game? A contentious penalty that wouldn't be awarded anywhere else; an offside that wasn't given; an unlucky deflection. Menetrol will be driving back home absolutely cursing their bad luck in this match and if Pionsat don't have any more good luck for the rest of the season they cannot complain at all.



Back to the footy page


Il y a sans doute des francophones qui aimeraient lire cette page en français. Donc vous devez m'aider á á la traduire!

En plus, si vous avez des choses á ajouter,


back to top

home page | latest updates | site map | site index

about this site | audience participation | copyright notice | technical issues | accessibility statement | read this | contact me

 

page last modified 19:02 - 1st December 2009
site last modified

©