Standon & Puckeridge Hares 2:1 Thaxted Rangers Yellows

The Yellows were most unfortunate not to come away with a point in this exciting and hard-fought encounter. Two goals disallowed and two rattles of the crossbar meant that all three points went to the home side but it could so easily have gone the other way; with a little more luck and perhaps a little more discipline when challenging for the ball in dangerous areas.

The Hares took the lead a quarter of an hour into the match when a silly shirt-pull resulted in a free kick and the first goal swiftly followed, arguably against the run of play. In fact, the Yellows had the majority of chances throughout the game but for the Hares it was a question of shoot twice, score twice.

The Yellows equaliser came immediately after half time. Rory’s penetrating cross hit the legs of a defender and rebounded past the stranded keeper for an own goal. Again, the Yellows looked most likely to take the lead until a somewhat soft goal was conceded in the 70th minute. At this point, frustration began to set in and both sides were guilty of dangerous tackles and silly off-ball confrontations which, bafflingly, the referee didn’t see fit to punish with a card or two, the clear and obvious way to calm tempers and restore order.

A disappointing result on balance but, with only a Hares’ breadth separating the Yellows from the current unbeaten league-leaders, this result bodes well for a genuine challenge for the top places this season.