Yew Tree 3 Unison 0

WITH a strong wind blowing over Garnett's pitch this was never going to be a good game for the purists. Even the thought of it was too much for the match day official, who didn't bother to turn up.

Local man Ian Dawson volunteered his services for the refereeing duties but after a 20-minute delay the match got going when Unison's manager took the newly bought whistle and started the match.

Early exchanges were missed, with the wind seeming to have the large percentage of the ball in its possession. Unison had the first chance but this was well saved by 'keeper Kirk. Neither side really got any sort of passing going and the sparse crowd braving the elements must have been asking themselves why they hadn't stayed indoors and watched the bowls.

Yew Tree took the lead midway through the first-half when Steve Richmond lobbed the goalkeeper from all of 30 yards with a speculative effort. Unison immediately tried to get back into the game but found the stern rearguard of Haddock, Pollard, Sharp and Wrigglesworth hard to breach. Good play just before half-time from impressive midfielders Jeremy Willaby and Timmy Armitage led to Ben Kelly beating the off-side trap and slotting past the goalkeeper.

After the half-time entertainment had finished both sides came back onto the pitch hoping to improve on what had been an extremely poor first-half. Both wide men for Yew Tree, Malpass and Richmond were constantly causing problems for Unison and it was no surprise when Yew Tree added to their lead.

The goal came after another period of pressure saw Ben Kelly score from close range after a good cross from Jason Potter. Unison never gave in and could have got themselves back into the game when the referee awarded them a penalty, after a rash tackle from Hollingdrake. But to the relief of the Yew Tree, Steve Prendergast hit the post with the penalty and the ball was cleared.

With full-time approaching, a tackle in front of the away supporters led to a mass brawl with both players and fans involved. The referee for the day found this incident hard to control and the brawling continued for a few minutes until both sides calmed the situation down. To the amazement of the home players the referee then dismissed Jeremy Willaby and not the Unison instigator.

However, it was another three points for the Yew Tree in what has been an inconsistent season and Match Point went to Geoff Sharp for his never-say-die attitude.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.