Strong second half showing gives four goals Flamingos derby day win

For the second time in the space of a month, Hassocks Fatboys and Pink Flamingos met in the B2116 derby. And for the second time in the space of a month, it was the resurgent Flamingos who took local bragging rights.

The scoreline in that last meeting back in December was 4-0 to the men in Pink and although the only difference this time around was that the Fatboys managed to score once, this was a vast improvement on the hosts pre-Christmas performance at Fairfield Rec.

We were well in the game for over an hour as the encounter remained deadlocked at 0-0 and it was only some pretty cruel misfortune that saw the Pinks secure such a resounding success – one goal hitting a Tim Flowers style divot, one being a harsh penalty and one appeared to be offside but there was no flag forthcoming from linesman Nick Davie.

Yes, Davie was in the first team squad for the second week running, keeping the linesman’s flag following a blatant piece of cheating in the previous Sunday’s 6-2 defeat away at Rudgwick Panthers when he managed to get a goal disallowed which was at least five yards on side. He also scored a penalty in that game if you haven’t heard, which you almost certainly have as even an eight year old girl in a rural village in the middle of Botswana was said to have been bored to tears by the story.

Davie was part of a strong substitutes bench as the Fatboys also welcomed back Kieran Poulton and James Ballantyne. It was a huge positive in particular to see Better Bally featuring in a match day squad for only the third time this season due to a glut of injuries. It was less of a positive to see him getting injured after kicking the ball three times in the warm up, leaving him unable to play any part in the game. We await the diagnosis of what has gone wrong this time, but we’re hoping it won’t be long before Bally can actually take to the field this season for more than 20 minutes.

Such is the draw of this rivalry in the Sussex Sunday League, kick off was actually delayed by 10 minutes through crowd congestion which saw the referee not arrive until 10.40am. Either that, or he was simply late. Whatever the reasoning, an apology to both sides for holding things up and the game nearly kicking off with Flamingo’s Aaron Agate as the man in the middle might have been nice.

Two well organised defences meant that chances were at a premium in the opening 20 minutes which was a huge achievement from a Fatboys point of view bearing in mind at the same stage the previous week, Rudgwick were already 4-0 ahead. The back four this time around of Michael Russell, Jason Gander, Daniel Pidgeon and Gary Whittington stood firm against a lively Flamingos attack.

There were a few notable moments in the opening 45. The first came when Peter Martin got on the end of a John Humphrey through ball and as he went to round James Shaw, the Flamingos goalkeeper simply cleared him out.

Remarkably, there was no card nor foul given, leaving the hosts completely dumbstruck while Martin was seen making a “television” gesture in a blatant nod to the fact that VAR would’ve resulted in a Fatboys penalty. Unfortunately, the referee didn’t see this as there is little doubt given his high handed manner that he would’ve given Martin a talking to, opening up the possibility of what would surely be the first ever booking in Sunday League history for a VAR based offence.

Flamingo’s managed only one shot on target, a powerful low effort that Scott McCarthy went full stretch to turn away as Dry(ish) January begins to reap dividends. McCarthy wasn’t the only one enjoying a decent half; Jack Lewis was snapping into tackles and Chris Britton’s work rate on the left was impressive. Poulton also looked good after being introduced midway through the half for Ananda Hoque who continues to attempt a world record at being subsituted for contracting every 1920s disease, this time being removed with polio.

Martin had a good opportunity towards the end of the half when good link up between Poulton and Brown got the front runner away and he again beat Shaw to the ball, this time managing to avoid being pole axed but his effort from a difficult anger was wide.

The second half continued in much the same vein as the first despite Gander’s best efforts to liven things up with a ludicrous last man challenge on Tom Deveson as he attempted to run through on goal. Astonishingly, Gander somehow got away with only a talking to after he sweet talked the referee, perhaps avoiding a card in exchange for telling him to bet on Lord Oberon which went and won at 9/4 in the 13.55 at Southell. It is becoming a running theme of games against Flamingos that the Fatboys vice captain does something utterly ridiculous and gets away with it – last year there was the infamous two handballs in 20 seconds inside the box and now this. Long may it continue.

It was just past the hour mark when the Flamingos took the lead. Minutes early, Michael Russell had substituted himself with broken fingers with Jon Ballantyne taking his place. Ballantyne’s first piece of the action was to come onto the pitch and shank the ball out of play. His second was a touch heavier than the combined weight of the entire PDC darts roster, leaving Deveson a free run at goal. The Flamingos striker decided to take the shot on early and he was rewarded for that decision when it hit a divot right in front of McCarthy, diverting the ball high and right into the back of the net.

Devastating as that goal was to the men in green, they had a glorious chance to get back into it virtually from the restart when Lewis found Brown who slalomed his way around three Flamingos defenders but the Fatboys captain couldn’t hit the target. That miss was punished minutes later when Pidgeon was harshly adjudged to have deliberately handled a Mike Williamson shot in the box with Deveson firing the resulting penalty home low and hard to double the lead. Pidgeon picked up a nice booking in the aftermath of the decision for politely questioning the referees sanity.

With 15 minutes to play the Fatboys game themselves a lifeline when they pulled one back. Poulton was the architect, whipping in a beautiful low cross from out on the right which Martin beat Shaw to, slotting home for 2-1 and to set up a tense last quarter of an hour.

At least that is what we hoped would happen. Instead, McCarthy had to make a good one-on-one stop from Deveson as he cut in from the left and then the same thing happened on the right, except this time the loose ball spun over both the Fatboys number one and Pidgeon’s head and straight to a Flamingo’s player who gleefully accepted to nod into the open goal. Deveson had appeared offside as he went through, but there was no flag forthcoming from Davie unlike in the previous week when his arm was up and down more than a German citizen in the 1930s.

The greens pushed forward after that and Flamingos added some gloss to the score line with the final kick of the game when their midfielder danced past a couple of challenges and slammed one into the top corner.

Line up

Scott McCarthy
Pulled off two excellent stops & commanded his area well. Deceived by a nasty divot for the Flamingos opener
Michael Russell
0-0 when he left the pitch after with broken fingers & his career as a pianist in tatters
Daniel Pidgeon
Unlucky to concede the penalty. Dealt with the threat of Deveson well for the most part
Jason Gander
Great tip for a 9/4 winnter in the 13.55 at Southwell. A solid showing defensively as well
Gary Whittington
Linked up well with Britton on the left as he surprised everyone by coming through another game without injury
Ananda Hoque
Had a good 30 minute run out before he again fell foul of his recent illness
Jack Lewis
Offered a lot of going forward, linking up well with Brown in the hole in particular
John Humphrey
Won everything in the air. It was good to see the return of the much missed gardening gloves
Chris Britton
Put in some decent crosses from the left and was even rumoured to have had a shot at one point
Andy Brown
Probably should’ve scored at 0-1. Found plenty of spaces and passing was top notch
Peter Martin
An excellent finish for his goal in another MOM performance that was a real shift up top

Subs

Kieran Poulton
A real livewire out on the right and claimed a deserved assist with a superb cross for Martin’s goal
Jon Ballantyne
An interesting first 30 seconds after replacing Russell at right back but recovered well after that
Sam Lowe
Had a couple of runs down the left flank and did a decent job defensively
Nick Davie
Made a few strong challenges at left back but couldn’t repeat last weeks goalscoring heroics
James Ballantyne
(Unused)

Man of the Match

He scored a goal and again put in a tireless shift as a lone front man, never giving the Flamingos defence a moment rest so it has to be Peter Martin

Goals

Martin 73 (assist Poulton)

Bookings

Pidgeon, dissent after catching the ball in the box