Filed by Pat Wehmeier

Raging Fever were back in action on Saturday against their counterparts from Burslem, also knows as Portly Vale FC. It had been around 2 months since the last Fever game, so naturally all the lads were chomping at the bit for a game.

It was unclear what sort of opponents Portly would turn out to be, but Fever, after some scrabbling around, were boosted by news that the gaffer Nick had found the former Yellow Eagles keeper Nick Brown, so that gave them some confidence.

Sadly, however, hopes of a positive result appeared at first to be misplaced. The first half can be described as a total shambles for Fever who looked every bit like a team lacking confidence, and who hadn’t played for some time.

A combination of individual errors, including a poor back pass by Pat Wehmeier and some lacklustre play in general, led to Fever finding themselves 5-0 down at the break. In truth, not one of the Fever lads can look at their performance in the first half and say that they can be satisfied with themselves.

Some strong views were made known at half time, and Fever were determined to come out of the game with some pride restored at the very least.  Within a few minutes of the 2nd half it became clear that this second 45 minutes would be a different story.  Stuart Burson and Thom Airs started to see a lot more of the ball in midfield, pulling the strings and using the ball wisely.  Simeon Bean on the right wing also showed a commendable second half display.

Fever were breaking quickly and creating numerous chances and Portly Vale were stuggling to get on the ball.  From one attack, the ball was fumbled by the keeper, and Nick Wehmeier found himself presented with an open goal.  This was the start of the fightback, or so it seemed.  Nick’s shot looked like it was going in, but possibly needed to be lifted or struck harder, as a Port Vale defender appeared from nowhere to make a great goal line block.

Undeterred, Fever pressed on, and a few minutes later, were awarded the most blatant penalty kick you will see. Nick Wehmeier was chopped down in the box, making the referee’s decision an easy one. Some Vale players still felt the need to protest however! Matthews, restored to penalty duties, calmly despatched the spot kick, and Fever finally had a goal.

Portly’s attacks were more rare in this half, but it still seemed everything was going there way.  They scored two more from long balls over the top, including one very lucky one where Pat Wehmeier’s clearance smashed the Vale striker in the face and rebounded straight to his feet so he could tuck it away past Nick in goal.  The unfortunate Paul Lucas also smashed one over the line for an own goal, trying to hook the ball over the bar. In fairness, this would have been almost impossible to clear the ball as it was almost over the line anyway.  A famous Lucas outburst followed including several expletives, followed by stunned looks on the faces of the Vale players!

Fever did get themselves on the scoresheet again, however. A flowing move involving Airs, Burson, Longshaw and a foray forward into the opposition box by Robb Milne, led to the ball landing at the feet of Nick Wehmeier, who calmy tucked the ball past the Vale keeper.

So, the final score was 8-2, which is certainly disappointing for Fever.   However, they can be happy with their 2nd half display, and hopefully they will play well for 90 minutes in the next game up at Northampton v the Cobblers fans team.

The game was played in a good spirit overall, and we thank our opponents for making the trip down from Burslem. Hopefully, they managed to find an alcoholic drink in Horspath before the afternoon game! It was also good to see the return of a certain Mr Steve Gilbert.  Welcome back Steve, hope to have you back regularly from now on.

Thanks also go to our guest players, Damon Farrant and Nick Brown the goalkeeper.

Fever: Nick Brown, Paul Lucas, Steve Gilbert, Robb Milne, Pat Wehmeier, Stuart Burson, Thom Airs, James Longshaw, Nick Wehmeier, Damon Farrant, Geoff Carter, Andy Clyde, John Matthews, Simeon Bean.

Goals: Matthews, N Wehmeier