National League South Play Off Final 21st May 2022
Match Officials: Ref-Jason Richardson Assitstants- Jorden Gibson ,Thomas Kelly, Matthew Horton
Hello ,good afternoon and welcome to a game that had everything, except the result for some!!
The game this afternoon is ‘THE GOOD BAD AND UGLY’
The first shock of the day was sitting next to me it was an electric one, the man from the beeb was bleeping.
We are off ,Ebbsfleet straight at it,’ Duracell’ Egan, has been charged up ,and alongside teammate’s Chapman, Paxman and Bingham all at the ready. Ebbsfleet very organised able to drop into a defensive line and break away into attacking position’s with ease being conducted by Captain Chris Solly. Dorking were up against the ‘The Jolly Green Giants’-(maybe not so jolly) and were unable to get down the flanks and therefore struggling to get a foothold on the task ahead. Dorking got sucked in and when Ebbsfleet broke their was a’ clash ‘as Dorking’s wide apart back three, were thinking ‘should I go or should I stay now ‘ Bingham still rolled on, Cheadle backing off ,the ball was precise and Bingham finished bottom corner ,maybe keeper Lincoln could have shut the angle down better, who knows-not me.21 mins and 1-0 Ebbsfleet United. Dorking go on the hunt, a great defensive splitting ball by McShane into Muitt ,the cross was met by Prior who headed just over on 28 mins.33 mins saw a good save from the ‘man in pink’ keeper Louie Moulden-very fetching I must add, your know when he’s around and he was accomplished all afternoon.37 mins watched Cheadle hit a free kick into the face of Egan ball cleared.-ouch !! Then on 41 mins and Dorking looking in ‘Dire Straits’ a short pass into Rutherford it seemed as if the world had stopped as he lays it into McShane path and its ‘something for nothing and the goals are free’ 1-1.Just after ref Richardson blows for the break ,followed by the players blowing even more.
Dorking start us off ,attacking towards their own supporters and Ebbsfleet likewise its all to play for. Two quick corners but on the latter the ball cleared and Paxman shows great skill and nips a cross in for Bingham, but a great cover tackle from Muitt as it looked like the forward was going to put it to bed .We’ve the good ,now for some ‘ugly’, one strong is normally met by another and a bit of handbags started, hardly ‘Louis Vuitton’ more ‘Primarne’.58 mins Chris Solly saw a free he delivered gathered by keeper Lincoln, no alarm bells either end yet. Ebbsfleet replace Romain with Lee Martin ( thought it was Bob,he kept snapping away) 70 mins Paxman feeds Chapman a chance but a lack lustre shot-tired legs ,he has put in a good shift. 73 mins Muitt replaced for Bobby Joe Taylor,maybe to get some change from full back Joe Martin, who wasn’t giving much away. Ebbsfleet change more personnel, attacker Graig Tanner replacing Joe Martin-clever move, and they drop in Chapman if and when needed.79 mins Dorking’s Cheadle hits a beauty far post where Priors makes himself into ‘elastic man’ and scores ,only to see a big call by ref Richardson to rule it out for offside-Prior down injured ,he must of stretched something-all for the cause, but not good.85 mins saw the ‘man in pink’ pull off a great save ,to keep Dorking at bay. Then Poleon replaces Bingham, at the same time a double sub by Dorking, both Prior and Wheeler off Harris and Oldaker replace. Frantic to say the least then 6 mins added on, Dorking gain a corner but when its cleared fresh man Poleon gathers ,a static looking backline in front of him,he takes a gallop and although ushered out a little ,he fires towards goal Lincoln pushes it onto the post but the ball returns to the distributor who calmly stoked the ball across for Tanner who puts it into the net and Ebbsfleet into the National League 2-1. Now we all know the words -‘ they think—–‘. A flare was thrown onto the pitch, ref Richardson adds time, I’ve wrote this, put stuff in the bag, Dorking restart Harris has a shot heading for Paris, what’s going on, crowd in front up and down, sorry I didn’t see the delivery, you couldn’t ask for much more but there was ‘Moore’ back post 2-2.Extra -Time 30 mins,
Dorking change Cheadle for Wills ,Ebbsfleet look dejected and that flare has ignited Dorking and the crowd.7 mins into the half ,a short cross into Rutherford, marked fairly tightly, looks like he paying to go into a turnstile, has complete control turns and its 3-2 Dorking. He is injured and for the rest of the game its like being a prisoner -just a number, but what a number. Ebbsfleet swap Martin for Coulthirst ref blows the whistle.15 to go ,Dorking now backs to the wall, like the wall of China-no way through ,only around. Have Ebbsfleet got a Gengis Khan to get them around, sadly not, although not that the effort was not there.The juice had or was running out of both sides ,a great advert for non league football. Thank you both teams for showing your skill ,class, effort and commitment . FINAL SCORE – DORKING WANDERERS 3 EBBSFLEET UTD 2
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