The Bisons made it five wins in a row with a comfortable 9-1 incident packed win over William Twigg. Two players in the sin bin (one from each side), a red card, three penalties and plenty of ‘interesting’ tackles from the opposition to keep the referee busy. It was from one such tackle that saw Ravi take the free kick just inside Twigg’s half. His perfectly flighted ball into the box resulted in the Bisons taking the lead as the defender under pressure from Duncan could only steer his header into the far corner of the net. Prior to this Twigg actually had two good chances but Harry had his angles just right and both attempts went wide of the goal. With every referee decision being verbally contested by the opposition it got worse for Twigg as a clumsy challenge resulted in a penalty to the Bisons, which Duncan hammered into the net off the underside of the bar.

On a difficult pitch the Bisons were beginning to find their rhythm and started to use the wings more and more where the playing surface was less muddy. Kev in particular was picking up loose balls in midfield and either finding Joe or Kiran on the flanks from which the Bisons were able to get behind the Twigg defence on countless occasions. It was no surprise then when Harvey made it 3-0 showing great strength to hold off the defender after great approach work by Kev and Joe.

Kiran then produced one of his trademark turns to release Joe who cut the ball back to Kyifer and his goal bound effort was superbly saved by the ‘keeper. There then followed a period of increased tension with a number of mistimed tackles and an increase in ‘on pitch’ verbals. To his credit the young referee held firm but it was a surprise when Kiran was sent to the 10 minute sin bin for an outburst towards the referee for failing to award a free kick following what looked like a blatant kick from behind to Kiran’s ankle. With tempers on a knife edge it was not long before Twigg were also temporarily reduced to 10 men.

At 3-0 the Bisons were well in control at half time and would be kicking down hill second half against an opposition that only had 11 players. Discipline was now key.

The Bisons nearly made it four with a superb four man passing interchange involving Harvey, Joe, Duncan and Kyifer. Only an excellent save by the ‘keeper prevented Harvey from scoring. Soon after the keeper was again called into action saving from Joe after good work by Kyifer and Duncan. It surely was only a matter of time before the 4th goal and when Duncan found himself clear wide on the left and with only the keeper to beat his goal bound shot was handled on the line and the referee had no option than to produce the red card and award a penalty. Claims that this was Sunday football and the offence only warranted a yellow card were quickly dismissed by the referee. Duncan again stepped up and struck the perfect penalty high into the top left corner of the net. 4-0.

As with the previous week the match reporter was unable to keep detailed notes as he took over the line 15 minutes into the second half and with a further 5 goals to the Bisons it was impossible to remember who passed to who and in which order the goals came ! Save to say that with the ten men of Twigg tiring and offering little resistance the Bisons were finding gaping spaces across the park and by using intelligent passes behind the defence were creating excellent goal scoring opportunities. The keeper who in my view was man of the match pulled off countless 1 on 1 saves but his heroics could only last so long. Another penalty saw Duncan complete his hat trick with a carbon copy of his first penalty, in off the bar. Small margins as an inch higher and it wouldn’t go in but where it did hit made it impossible for the keeper to reach. Joe and Kyifer added to the scoring with well deserved goals for their general all round play and contribution and Owen grabbed a ‘brace’ in his borrowed boots having come on in the second half. The only disappointment was conceding a goal but Twigg aren’t a bad side and have some good individual players. If they could sort out their discipline and channel their aggression in the right way they would give any team in this division a game, especially if they manage to keep their newly found ‘keeper. All in all a great result but a special mention to the solid defensive unit of Harry, Ben, Ravi, Jack, Max and Elliot when he came on second half together with Jamie sitting just in front in the holding role. This group has provided the platform for the attacking midfielders and strikers to flourish in recent games and they give very little away as was the case today.