THE Jersey Bulls faithful departed Springfield Stadium on Saturday evening much later than expected – held to a 0-0 draw against promotion rivals Redhill
after a staggering 18 minutes of added time in a match that was deemed “exciting for all the wrong reasons” by manager Gary Freeman.
In a heated encounter between two sides pushing hard for promotion spots, the game’s main flashpoint came in the 90th minute, when the hosts were reduced to ten men following a controversial straight red card for goalkeeper, Pierce Roche.
Emotions ran high after Roche’s dismissal, built up throughout a tense 90 minutes of football.
Both sides refused to back down from confrontation, resulting in the extraordinarily long period of added time.
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The home side dominated possession throughout, creating the more clear cut chances, particularly in the first half, but neither side was able to break the deadlock.
“I thought first half we were excellent,” said Freeman.
“We looked more like ourselves.
“The last few weeks I felt we’ve been a bit scrappy. Today there was a lot more fluidity to our football.
“We created a few really good chances and I was a bit disappointed we didn’t go into the break at least 1-0 up.”
The increased tempo from both outfits from the get-go in the second half was apparent and, as the game became more and more physical towards the end, it seemed only a matter of time before frustration boiled over.
The manager continued: “Redhill changed their shape for the second half, which made it more of a ‘ding-dong battle’.
“There wasn’t a huge amount of good football being played.”
Discussing the red card incident, Freeman added: “A lot of the boys closer to the incident said he [Roche] got the ball, but it was tough to tell from our angle in the dugout.
“I thought we clearly had a couple of players coming behind Piers [Roche] to cover him, so I feel a straight red card was a very harsh decision.
“We’ll take a look back at the video footage and decide whether to appeal the decision.
“But the lads showed great desire to battle on with ten men and not let it affect them.
“Overall however, I’m pleased with the performance and there’s lots of positives for us to take forward.”
One particular milestone came for striker Lorne Bickley, who celebrated his 100th appearance in Jersey Bulls colours.
The star marksman has netted an impressive 74 goals in his 100 appearances for the Islanders.
“It means a lot to me,” said Bickley.
“Representing my Island is a special thing for me, so I’m really happy to reach this milestone.”
Reflecting on the match, Bickley added: “I think for the most part we were happy with how we played.
“We created chances, particularly in the first half and probably should have gone in one or two up at half time.
“The second half got scrappy and it was always going to be difficult for us to get a winner once we went down to ten men.
“I was around the halfway line when it happened, but it looked harsh from my view.
“Lot’s of the boys, Pierce included, said he won the ball so maybe we were unlucky.
“But that happens in football. We had our chances, they had a few too, so it was probably a good game for the neutral to watch.
“At the end of the day, we put in a good performance against a strong team.
“If we keep doing what we’re doing and focussing on ourselves, we’ll be up there in the league come the end of the season.”
