Feltonmix Metro and Placemakers Cook Street Central United fought out a 1-1 draw at Albie Turner Field on May 23, but both sides will be left wondering how they didn’t end up taking home maximum points from this well-contested Bluebird Premier League affair.
Central can do the greater amount of pondering, because Metro know full well when their hopes took a mortal blow - in the 21st minute, to be precise. Steve Nickson lost his cool for the second time in four minutes, leaving referee Peter Budgen no option but to issue the striker a second yellow card, followed by a red one. The referee booked four more players in the match and, all in all, handled what could have been a potentially explosive game very firmly but fairly, a fact players eventually got to grips with - there were five yellow cards shown (including Nickson’s brace) in the first 27 minutes.
Once the disciplinary side of the game was under control, both sides set about putting on a very absorbing encounter, rich in passing, movement and creativity. In short, it was a pleasure to watch, and both sets of players and referee Budgen should take due credit for making it so.
Central had the better of the opening exchanges, with both goalkeepers, Metro’s Wayne Roach and United’s Peter Evans, in action during this time, before Willie Thompson swept home the fourteenth minute opener to cap off a fine move featuring the outstanding Sakdy Phommahaxay.
The visitors had the ball in the net four minutes later, only for Scott Harrington to be adjudged offside when delightfully flicking home a Billy Harris cross. Central’s player-coach had made some surprising team selections, leaving talented young strikers like Stephen Mack and the Urlovic brothers, Paul and Mathew, on the bench. That said, Metro’s player-coach, Sean Hird, picked himself for “splinter duty” on this night - I guess he, too, must have missed training this week!!
From the half hour mark, the game took off as a contest. Stu Roberts and Danny McHenery both went close for Metro soon after this time, with the latter just inches away from meeting Thompson’s cross a minute shy of half-time. Farrington, meanwhile, provided Central’s only real threat on goal prior to the interval, the visitors failing to turn that plentiful possession into shots on goal.
The second half saw a pile-up of goalmouth incidents inside the first ten minutes, one of which brought about a 52 minute goal. Jeff Keskic was the marksman, following the inspired play of Farrington - his best game yet in a Central shirt.
Roberts and McHenery, making light of the absence of their banished striking partner, both tested Evans in this time, while headers from Matt Fowler and Paul Urlovic - Harris recognised the fact that his attack lacked punch, and duly altered things at half-time - weren’t far away, before a period of play took place in which the game swung too and fro without actually producing anything of consequence.
That all changed when Greg Uhlmann charged forward to cap off a flowing five-man move in the 72nd minute. His header missed the target, but, at the same time, made his side realise that the game was theirs for the taking.
This theory was almost shot to smithereens five minutes later, when Roberts and McHennery set up Kenny Harlock for a shot. His teasing drive was matched by a fine save, low down at his left-handupright, by Evans.
That was Metro’s last chance, but the ten men held out for a draw despite Central repeatedly pounding away at their defences in the last ten minutes. Uhlmann headed over, while Roach twice saved from Fowler in this period to earn his side a share of the spoils, and leaving the visitors to rue a lost chance on closing the gap on leaders Lynn-Avon United.

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