No goals and not much else either as City extended their unbeaten run to five matches ahead of the FA Vase visit to Westfield next week.
A poor game that provided very little entertainment on a dank afternoon and which will probably be best remembered for all the fouls, tetchiness and indecisive refereeing rather than any football, but then again, on the other hand, it is a game that is probably best just forgotten!
It was any easy afternoon for the two keepers who were both woefully unemployed as neither side could really boast of having too many chances let alone ones requiring their intervention. Sam Bewick screwed a long shot well wide for the hosts while City’s Dace Pilcher weighed in with three attempts, a free-kick struck across the goal that just cleared the angle and a couple of shots, one off target and another providing a comfortable save for home keeper Aiden Prall.
City were putting together some decent passing moves early on, but couldn’t get the ball far enough forward to put the home goal under pressure, while a shot from Bradley Large bounced up nicely for City keeper Jack Delo. A lack of progress from both sides was frustrating to watch and must have been so on the pitch as well as the game became very niggly and tetchy and whilst you would normally applaud the referee for keeping the game going and his cards in his pocket, sometimes he has to take a firm hand and exert himself on the game and his failure to clamp down on some of these incidents eventually built up to a full scale melee near the end which could probably have been avoided if a firmer stance had been taken earlier.
Joe Nelder volleyed well over from distance for City while Lewis Clarke saw his shot charged down by Josh McCallum. Chances were at a premium to say the least and Pat Nzuzi was convinced he had been impeded in the Corinthian box during one City attack, but, as with many other fouls and challenges, the referee just wasn’t interested. A short spell of pressure from the hosts saw them win a couple of corners – one requiring a great challenge from City skipper Laurence Harvey to thwart them, before the ball was struck wide from the rebound as City closed ranks to keep it out.
The last minute of the half brought the best opportunity of the game thus far when Gary Sayer drove forward from the back and fed Matt Martin who twisted and turned past three challenges before being upended on the fourth about one inch outside the box. Pilcher stepped up and speared the free-kick in, keeper Prall just managing to double fist the ball away without too much conviction, the half-time whistle then preventing City from following up.
Nothing much to see here as the teams trooped off for the break.
The second half didn’t prove to be much better, although the foul count and the arguments and disputes increased as the referee continued to leave too many robust challenges and poor tackles unpunished. Pilcher hit another effort wide while a brace of corners from the home side failed to put City under any pressure with just James Billings volleying well over the bar from the second one.
Another spell of Corinthian pressure saw them waste plenty of good opportunities to get the ball forward and into the City box as time after time, a pass was misplaced, or a player either dallied on the ball or ran it down a blind alley, although Harvey did have to come to City’s rescue once again with a brilliant piece of defending sending the ball high over his own bar to safety.
City made a couple of changes bringing on Tom Walmsley and Sam Conlon in a double switch which also seemed to bring a bit more urgency, but still there was little to note. Delo comfortably saved a home free-kick before City made their final change as Rob Lawrence came on but still the game remained devoid of any real chances.
On eighty minutes, City almost benefitted from a miscued clearance but Prall reacted swiftly enough to slide out and rescue his side, while Oscar Housego then went well wide for the hosts. A lengthy delay for a farcical piece of officiating that could and should have been avoided if only the referee had spoken to his linesman straightaway, would also have spared us all and him the site of several Corinthian players surrounding and harassing him and at least one of them stamping his feet in a tantrum typical of a two year old who has just had his sweets taken away. An extreme and blatantly unnecessary reaction but still our man in the middle, somewhat surprisingly, kept his cards in his pocket.
The significance of his failure to act previously eventually and predictably spilt over when a shocking challenge on a City player begat a huge melee with the world and his wife wanting to get involved and have their say all of which took a bit of quelling, followed by an official’s committee meeting in the centre circle, which eventually led to the first yellow card of the day for a home player and then a second for someone, but it’s anybody’s guess who that card was actually waved at!
A frantic end to the game, which included around six minutes of added, time saw City go close to snatching it as firstly Martin chipped the keeper but also the bar and then the same player pinged a brilliant low ball right across the front of goal, but there was no-one there to touch it home. Lawrence then provided another great ball in but it was hurriedly hacked away to safety for a City corner which then flew right across the Coronthian goal missing everybody, but again, desperately needing anybody to stab it home.
Plenty of incident, but unfortunately most of it had nothing to do with the football.
Final score; Canterbury City 0 Corinthian 0
City: Jack Delo, Gary Sayer, Jamie Maxted, Joe Nelder, Laurence Harvey, Josh McCallum, Pat Nzuzi (Sam Conlon), Dan Keyte, Sam Lawford (Tom Walmsley), Dave Pilcher (Rob Lawrence), Matt Martin
Unused sub: Cory Walters-Wright