Nervy, tense, feisty and with a sprinkling of quality.
That was the instant reaction from Bulls’ supporters – who had travelled in large numbers – after seeing their side draw 1-1 at fellow promotion aspirants, Badshot Lea. Neither side were able to strike the decisive blow.
It was the game’s first boiling point that led to the shredding of fingernails for the rest of the afternoon for those in the Jersey camp, Fraser Barlow seeing red before the quarter-hour mark.
His clash with Adam New was deemed to have involved a stray elbow from the Bulls winger and, after consulting with his assistant, the referee brandished a straight red card – as if the occasion wasn’t littered with a host of sub-plots before that.
For a large, expectant crowd, one of those was to see who would prevail out of three of the top four goalscorers in the division – Dean Rule and Mal Thomas chasing hard to catch Bulls’ Lorne Bickley, currently leading the way with 27.
Barlow’s dismissal, though, changed the DNA of the game and at half-time there was nothing to separate the sides. Both teams were content to sound each other out.
Indeed, someone will surely need to check in on Bulls’ boss Gary Freeman this week, who exuded calmness – on the outside – as he lost yet another starter, Francis Lekimamati succumbing to injury before the interval.
But as he so often has this year, Bickley showed his all-court game with a sublime opener and provided the spark which brought the match to life.
A sweetly-hit strike, curled perfectly beyond the reach of Luke Roberts in the home goal, was the cue for euphoria in the away end and, crucially, it gave the visitors something to hold on to.
Adam Trotter had a half chance before Bickley – whose physical presence with and without the ball underlined his top scorer status – placed an attempt just wide when well set.
Badshot, however, were always in the contest and they punished Bulls with a well-taken goal by Thomas, who got on the edge of a clever through-ball from substitute Jake Hawker before calmly going past Euan Van Der Vliet to finish.
And that was the way it stayed, Bulls content to keep their hosts at arms-length as the game inched to is conclusion, happy to return back home with a point and still within reach of the top two.
‘Was it a red card? I don’t know, I think it’s harsh,’ said Freeman, discussing the referee’s decision to dismiss Barlow. ‘He’s has gone over to talk to the assistant but he (the referee) is ten yards away, so that’s a little odd for me.
‘I’ve said over the course of the past few weeks that teams in the top quarter of the table will drop points, and nobody would have predicted Camberley winning here last week. Badshot were unbeaten at home before that, so there’ll be lots of twists and turns still to come.
‘When you throw all of that together, we’re happy with the point. You can’t help but be frustrated when you think what might have been if we’d kept 11 players on the pitch but at this stage of the season if you can’t win, you have to make sure you don’t lose; pragmatism isn’t a bad thing.
‘We have games coming up now against teams we’ll be expected to beat and we have to deliver. And apart from Fraser, the group is fit and happy and they’ll relish these last couple of months of the season. We’ve worked hard to put ourselves in this situation and have learned lessons from this time last year.’
Bulls, who remain one point behind Badshot, from a game more, and nine behind leaders Raynes Park Vale, with a game in hand, meet the league’s bottom two sides this week, starting with a trip to strugglers Frimley Green tomorrow night.
They then welcome Banstead Athletic to Springfield, on Saturday, and journey to Horley Town – also inside the bottom five – on Tuesday 7 March.
