A rusty Ship's winning run came to an end this Sunday against a verminous opposition of angry kids. However, a draw was salvaged to maintain an unbeaten streak in a topsy-turvy and niggly game that saw Pearscroft reduced to ten men and be fortunate to not have more dismissed. The Ship were impressively ready and warmed up in time for kick-off and took an early lead when the lively Adil dispossed a defender and finished with aplomb past the keeper. Pearscroft United were already beginning to berate the referee any occasion they could and were arguing amongst themselves from almost the first minute. It was important the Ship kept their heads and despite one inevitable Alex eruption, they maintained their cool as the opposition began to self-destruct, arguing over the few brain-cells they seemed to be sharing. A cutting Kieran pass found Hurrey in the channel but Alex couldn't convert his pull-back and soon after Hurrey volleyed into the side-netting. What should have been a pivotal moment in the match then came as Pearscroft's talented but clearly troubled ginger centre-mid lashed out at Chris Boland and the ref produced the red card. The Ship sensed blood but couldn't get the crucial second before half-time, while the sent-off buffoon shared his disbelief from the sideline at the supposed injustice of being dismissed on his first game back from a lengthy ban.
A regrouped Pearscroft came out with renewed vigour and unpleasantness in the second-half and took the game to the Ship with a pacy frontline in full flow. The equaliser came in very familiar fashion as a neat move set the Pearscroft frontman clean through to score while Ship arms were held aloft looking for a non-existent offside from a non-existent linesman. The horrific happened minutes later as the Ship failed to clear a bouncing ball in the box and it fell to an opponent who poked in to trigger feral celebrations. The Ship's Judgement January was looking like it would be off to the worst possible start and when Digger limped off things were looking bleak. Hurrey boldly went to 3 at the back and brought on Chris Garratt up front and as the pressure grew on Pearscroft goal, it eventually paid off. A cross from the right found its way through to Hurrey at the back-post and he nudged it inside before crashing a drive down and up off the bar and Kieran nodded in to make sure. Ship tails were up and the opposition were still testing the patience of the referee before Adil was felled by a wild tackle that then unbelievably saw the offender try and haul a clearly hurt Adil to his feet. The level of general scumminess was the worst the Ship had faced in long time (since they met this lot last season perhaps). The Ship were knocking on the door and could/should have won it at the death. Hurrey flashed a drive just wide and then just failed to reach an Alex through-ball before the final big chance came. The ball once again bounced to the back-post and Hurrey swivelled to lash a volley over his shoulder from 8 yards that stung the hands of the glove-less keeper and Alex somehow couldn't force the ball in on the line. Although the Ship can be rightly disappointed to not claim all 3 points, if Pearscroft can keep all their players on the pitch in the future (don't hold your breath), then they will be a match for several teams vying for promotion in the division. Next up is two massive Last 16 cup games for the Ship and it's hoped that they can push on in the new year and hopefully face more human opposition in the coming weeks.
