Saturday 10th September 2011 Evo-Stik League Southern Premier Division

Arlesey Town (Mason 16) 1 Swindon Supermarine (Dean 89) 1 Gate 114 Dean 89Ref- Mr M. Mellor
Bookings: - Arlesey Town: -Cameron Mawer, Joel Mason, Dean Sinclair. Swindon Supermarine: - Gary Horgan

Arlesey M.O.M- Joel Mason
Arlesey Town
Richard Hayward, Cameron Mawer, David Perpetuini (Bufano 61), Ryan Frater, Derek Brown ©, Stuart Sinclair, Dave Deeney, Dean Sinclair, Chris Dillon, Joel Mason (McGovern 90+1), Aston Goss (Fenemore 77).
Subs:-, Dennis Fenemore, Fabio Bufano, Liam McGovern, Liam Toomey, Mark Osborn.

Swindon Supermarine
Kent Kaupinen, Alex Allard, Danny Allen ©, Gary Horgan, Tom Cole, Ben Wells, Harry Etheridge (Wood 70), T.J. Bohane (Prictor 70), Bradley Gray, Max Etheridge.
ubs:-, Sam Morris, Sean Wood, Jamie Prictor, Danny Urry, Matt Robinson. W

ith Chris Marsh unavailable for this game, Arlesey introduced another new signing in Dennis Fenemore who has transferred from Hemel Hempstead and who was second highest goal scorer in the Premier Division last season. But for this game he had to wait his turn as Joel Mason made his first start of the season. Arlesey started brightly with Aston Goss attacking down the left from the start and winning a corner but the strong breeze was blowing to put the ball behind the bye-line to give a goal kick. A good goal kick out by Richard Hayward went right through and with Joel Mason pressing him well Kent Kaupinen did well to collect on the edge of his area. Another good move stemmed from a throw in on the left that went to Stuart Sinclair who fed Mason, who in turn fed Chris Dillon who turned and shot in the box but his shot skimmed just over the bar.

Swindon managed a counter after 10 minutes as the lively looking Bradley Gray put in a good cross from the right and found T.J. Bohane but he put his header well wide under good pressure from Derek Brown. Arlesey kept pressing, another good move down the left by Goss fed in Dillon his shot was blocked but the ball was pumped back in from the right and Joel Mason managed to get a deft header to the ball on the post to beat Kaupinen and to squeeze the ball past him into the net for the vital early lead.

Arlesey were now flowing, pushing the ball around confidently, another good move down the left by Goss won another corner from his good cross and although this was cleared a note of desperation was creeping into Swindon's defending as Arlesey kept up the pressure. Goss again who was looking dangerous in this game attacked down the left and was floored with a heavy tackle by Alex Allard, the loose ball was picked up by Mason who fed in Dillon again, his low hard shot was stopped by Kaupinen but the keeper didn't collect it cleanly and took two attempts to collect the ball.

Cam Mawer picked up a somewhat unnecessary yellow card for kicking the ball away from a Swindon free kick. Swindon were starting to get their game together through Bradley Gray who seemed to be at the heart of most of their attacks and an attack by Gray led to a good cross in that was partially blocked by Ryan Frater, the deflection allowing Hayward to collect the ball. Grays fellow forward T.J. Bohane beat Frater with a neat body swerve and put in a shot that was well taken by Hayward.

Arlesey had a great chance as Dave Deeney delivered in a great free kick from the right that found Dillon, he got in a great back head that almost caught everybody out and just skimmed the wrong side of the post. Swindon also had a great chance when Ben Wells got in a good cross toward Bohane in the middle but the forward just could not get to the ball at full stretch and in a good position.

With the half running down Arlesey seemed to put in an extra effort, Mason found Goss from a cross from the right, Goss trapped the ball and got in a shot that was crowded out, and from a free kick out by the dugouts that the ref very briefly held his hand up for a indirect free kick, Dave Deeney dropped in a very deep ball that Kaupinen seemed to either get a glove on or just withdraw his hand in time enabling the ball to go past him into the net. The ref then disallowed the goal saying that nobody had touched it. With more than one player and the crowd unable to understand why the goal was disallowed the ref booked Mason for asking the question just a little too vigorously. A Swindon free kick in that was well dealt with by Hayward was then the last action of the half allowing Arlesey to go in at half time with a 1-0 lead.

The second half started with a marked increase in the wind strength that was now blowing straight into Arlesey's faces and Cam Mawer starting with an impressive head bandage from a wound he received in the first half. With both sides competing in the middle Gary Horgan picked up a yellow card for dissent before Arlesey made a good break when Chris Dillon won the ball in the centre and fed Mason who fed Dillon through the defence. With only the keeper now in front of him he drew the keeper wide but Kaupinen did very well blocking his shot on the edge of the area, Dillon picked up the loose ball again and this time rounded the keeper, but the defence had by now got back and Dillon's goal bound shot was blocked again by a covering defender by the post.

Swindon responded by Gray breaking through the centre, he fired in a low shot past Hayward into the net but the linesman's flag was firmly up for off side to disallow his effort. With the strong wind at their backs Swindon were pushing forward forcing Arlesey back onto the defensive, a long ball up found the inevitable Gray who headed onto Bohane who was stopped by a good tackle from Derek Brown for a corner that Frater headed clear strongly. Another good ball in found Bohane who put in a low shot that Hayward did well to push round the post for another corner which he claimed as his own when the ball came in.

More and more long balls were coming in on Arlesey as the increasing wind started to tell, although these were generally dealt with by the home defence they were now having trouble in clearing the ball back out. Arlesey replaced David Perpetuini who had taken a knock with Fabio Bufano as Swindon pressed on. A ball in from Danny Allard found Gray who tried a scissor kick which didn't come off and he then went down as he was closed down by the defence but nothing was given by the ref.

A long shot by Max Etheridge was well taken by Hayward but as he was trying to kick the ball against the wind it was going straight up and then back toward him keeping the momentum in Swindon's favour as they kept up the pressure. Swindon replaced T.J. Bohane with Jamie Prictor and soon after Harry Etheridge was replaced by Sean Wood. Bradley Gray got in a long shot that went past the post before Dean Sinclair won a ball in the middle and beat his defender and fed in Mason; he attacked into the box and unleashed a great shot that again skimmed just past the post. Arlesey then replaced the tiring Aston Goss with new signing Dennis Fenemore up front for his first game of the season. Dave Deeney was fouled on the right wing and then clipped by Danny Allen and although the ref gave Allen and Horgan a long lecture no further action was taken other than the free kick. From this delivery in by Deeney, Fenemore got in a deft well disguised header that trickled just the wrong side of the post

Swindon kept pressing and a deep cross in from the right was well taken by Hayward, and Prictor got in a long shot that went just wide.

With time running down it looked like Arlesey were going to hold on for the victory but from a free kick in by Ben Wells which was well headed out by Frater, Robert Dean picked up the loose ball and fired it through the crowd from the edge of the area. The ball went through everybody and passed the diving Hayward into the net giving Swindon an 89th minute equaliser, the second time in 2 home games that Arlesey had conceded in the 89th minute.

With added on time left, of which the ref seemed to find at least 6 mins from somewhere Swindon pressed on to try and find a winner with Dean Sinclair also receiving a yellow card for asking too many questions whilst trying to defend a corner.

Joel Mason was replaced by Liam McGovern in the first minute of added time but he didn't get a touch before the final whistle went to end another game that left Arlesey feeling that their pocket had been picked.

This was another game that left you thinking that good times can't be far away but are not quite here yet. The shortage of goals should in time be sorted as Arlesey undoubtedly have the firepower up front especially with recent signings. Next up, an away trip to Hemel Hempstead on Tuesday and then the trip to Tilbury in the F.A. Cup 1st qual round next Saturday.

Chris Sterry.