Robinson, A.Pattison, Page, J.Butler, Skelly, Tarrant, Garrod, Ashman, J.Pattison, C.Butler, Simpson.
Babb (45 mins for J.Pattison), Eagle (80 mins for Page), Tubb (85 mins for Garrod).
The Bell Inn made it 2 games unbeaten after a good draw against a strong Dussindale side.
Robinson came in for the injured Aldridge in goal, whereas Page, Skelly and J.Butler replaced Challen, Anderson and Bridges in defence. The front six was unchanged from last week, with Babb joining Eagle and Tubb on the bench.
Hangovers were plenty and this showed in the opening exchanges as Dussindale dominated possession without creating any real clear cut chances. They were reduced to 30 yard pop shots, which were dealt with (just about) by Robinson.
The yellows made the most of the roll on, roll off substitute rule as Tubb made a 2 minute cameo of the bleeding Garrod, and Eagle did the same so J.Butler could change his boots.
The Bell Inn should have took the lead on 20 minutes as a front post knock down found J.Pattison, who flicked the ball onto the bar from 2 yards. The rebound fell to C.Butler, also 2 yards out, as he somehow headered wide.
The away side were made to pay for their missed chances as Dussindale took the lead on 30 mins with a good finish from the edge of the box.
This seemed to wake the Bell Inn up and they pulled it back to 1-1 after a superb C.Butler free kick found the head of Page who did brilliantly to head home from 6 yards.
HT – Dussindale 1-1 Bell Inn
Babb replaced J.Pattison in attack as Simpson moved into the free role.
The changed worked almost immediately as after 55 minutes, Babb picked up the ball on the left, rounded a couple of players before dinking it over another defenders leg and finishing from a tight angle. One of Babb’s best goals I have ever seen to be honest. It was god.
However, the Bell Inn were still celebrating as Dussindale went straight up the other end to make it level again. Another tidy finish to be fair.
As the game came to a finish, it was the Bell Inn creating the better chances but couldn’t find a winner.
Jack Tarrant had the best chance, after a cross found him 6 yards out but he smashed it wide, just inches past the post. This was also in front of his girlfriend Vicky and his baby Isabella, who was making her Bell Inn debut and couldn’t believe he had missed such an easy chance.
FT – Dussindale 2-2 Bell Inn
Page 40, Babb 55,
Man on the match – Lots of decent performances again with Richard Skelly impressing on his league debut at full back. Jamie Butler mopped up well at the back, Jack Tarrant class in midfield and substitute Ian Babb made a massive impact. But the award goes to Reece Ashman this week, who was back to his best on the right wing, beating the full back for pace every time and even managing to cross a few balls into the box (for once).
All in all, after being battered for the first 35 minutes, a point was a good result. Dussindale could have been out of sight early doors but we showed character to fight back and were unlucky not to win it in the end. 4 points from our opening 2 Premier Division games is a good start, considering 2 weeks ago we only had about 5 players.
We have a week off now then welcome old rivals William Wanderers to ours for the 1st round of the County Cup the following week. A cup we believe we can win.
Oh, and well done to Middle Green for managing to win a game in Division 2A. After last week’s hiding, I feared they may not pick up a point all season. Hopefully they can avoid relegation if they pick up a few more wins like this.
Enjoy the week off. Au revoir.
The Bell Inn F.C 