Droylsden fans 3 Raging Fever 5

Report filed by John Matthews

An unfamiliar Raging Fever team took on a Droylsden eleven (the Bloods) who were playing only their second game ever. With the main game being on television, the Fever side included a number of new players from the local student community who had been persuaded to play by Nick Pear. While this lowered the average age of the side, it also added an air of uncertainty to team selection.

The game started very evenly, and with Droylsden surprising Fever by their cohesiveness it soon became obvious that this was not going to be a walkover. It was Fever though that made the first breakthrough. Dan Pear floated over a deep corner that was missed by two defenders but not by John Matthews, who uncharacteristically scored with a header [Editor's note: Matthews header was saved by the goalie, but the ball rebounded off the back of a defender's head and into the net – technically an own goal!]. Soon after, Joe Simpson tested the home keeper with a speculative effort.

Within 20 minutes, the Bloods had equalised when the home No.10 unleashed a blistering shot that flew past keeper Danny Wells, despite a strong suspicion of offside. This was not undeserved, and Fever woke up to the fact that this would be a tough test.

To their credit, Fever continued to press. Dan Pear and Theo Dominian were marshalling central midfield and using James Longshaw on the wing as an outlet. The next goal, however, came from the other wing, when good work from Sam Student and Dan Pear forced a defensive error that fell to Matthews 18 yards out. He turned and shot low into the corner. Again Droylsden rallied and forced a succession of corners, but the defence of Nick Holloway, Nick Pear, Martin Brodetsky, and Geoff Carter held firm.

The last 15 minutes of the first half saw Fever at their best. First, Matthews crossed for Dominian, who fired home from six yards. From the next attack the ball fell kindly to Matthews, who had an embarrassingly long time to pick his spot and increase the lead. With five minutes to go, another Dan Pear corner was headed firmly home by brother Nick. In between these goals, Fever had several other chances with Sam, Longshaw, and Dan Pear all going close. The half-time score of 5-1 was not underserved and the Bloods suddenly looked tired and worried.

Two injuries (to Sam and Nick Pear) forced early substitutions though, and suddenly the Fever team had a number of players in unfamiliar positions. This showed at the start of the second half, as the Bloods quickly got the upper hand and pulled a goal back within five minutes of the restart. Ten minutes later they scored another as a mix-up between Nick Holloway and Dan Pear let in the Bloods striker to fire past Wells. Suddenly the result was looking in doubt, and it took some solid defending from Holloway (as well as vocal