The Avengers 2 vs 3 Hangover 96

<p>Hangover, starting the game second in the league, couldnt have gotten off to a worse start. Inside one minute a team that were expected to be very weak scored from a lapse of concentration at the back. 1-0 down within 60 seconds. It was going to be a long afternoon for the boys in red. Tackles were flying in left, right and centre. Elbows, heel taps, trips, kicks galore. The referee knew it was going to be a busy day for him. It took Hangover around twenty-five minutes to get going properly. In truth, Avengers had offered little since their goal, but the danger was ever-present. Apart from a blatant disregard for the offside rule, the avengers showed nothing on the pitch. As time ticked on, it was a Hangover debutant, Oje Etomi (BUCS) who took the spotlight as he cut onto his favoured left side and whipped a ball across the goalkeeper and into the bottom left corner of the goal. Just minutes later, after a long punt forward from goalkeeper Jamie Ridley-Smith which the keeper fumbled behind under pressure from Bertie Edwards (making his first start for the side), Etomi whipped in a delicious corner kick which The Avengers could only turn into the back of their own net. <p>The game looked to be going Hangover's way as, five minutes later, Etomi caused yet mnore havoc in the Avengers' back line as he won a penalty kick, the referee doing well to award it, rather than a freekick on the edge of the box. Captain Joey Allison stepped up confidently, only for his effort to ping back off the crossbar. Not to be downheartened, from yet another Avengers foul, the skipper steered in a scinitllating cross/shot that missed everybody, only for the keeper to allow the ball to escape his clutches, allowing Edwards to bundle the ball home from inside the six yard box in style. <p>The second half was one of great tension for the hangover boys, who could not see any way of finding their fourth goal. In fact, their frustartions were matched by The Avengers, who couldn't find a way back into the game. As tensions grew, tackles became heavier and heavier until goalkeeper Jamie Ridley-Smith received a backpass and was clattered by a two footed challenge half-way up his shin, leaving him in a rather large heap on the ground. It was later revealed that the shinpad itself has been cracked in hlaf, yet referee Rich Billingsley offered no sympathy and awarded neither a freekick nor a felony card to the Avengers player. Violence on the pitch continued, as Allison received two blows to the head, the latter leaving him with a bloody nose. <p>Nerves began to be raised and it showed, as Hangover conceded a shabby goal from a goalmoath scramble, turned in by the Avengers striker, doubling his account for the afternoon. It began to give Avengers some hope as the Hangover keeper was forced into two saves to keep the score in hangover's favour. Strong tackling in midfield from lee Mulholland aided in keeping the Avengers at bay. All in all, a decent performance from Hangover and the win put them on top of the league with six points