Feltham vs Eversley and California

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnPJp9ZiGYo

The highlight of a freezing day out filming was the fantastic hospitality at Feltham F.C. Everyone at the club worked hard to ensure that the Fox in the Box team were looked after and this didn’t go amiss. The football itself was decent but the game as a contest was somewhat ruined by a poor refereeing decision to disallow a Feltham goal

Feltham couldn’t have wished for a worse start to the game. Within 10 minutes, Eversley were 2-0 up and cruising thanks to Matt Baker. The first goal was very weak. A goal kick sailed over everybody and Eversley striker Matt Baker beat everyone else to it before finishing calmly. The same player made it 2-0 on ten minutes after a perfect through ball was put through to him after a quick breakaway. Once again though Feltham defended weakly. From this point until half time the game was fairly even, but unfortunately it seemed Feltham had missed their chance of getting a result due to their inability to start the game quickly enough. The best chance before half time fell to Eversley, but their striker put his effort straight at the Feltham keeper, who did well to hold the shot. Feltham had a similar chance of their own, but it was put well wide.

Eversley almost started the second half as they had the first, but a good opportunity was squandered, with the ball coming off the outside of the post after another 1 on 1 opportunity. The next incident of the match was highly controversial. An Eversley shot was easily saved by the Feltham keeper who then appeared to drop the ball before picking it up again when he went to throw the ball out, something that is illegal. However, the ref waved play on and Feltham raced up the field before two players took the ball round the keeper and finished into the empty net. The referee appeared to give the goal before reversing his decision and giving Eversley an indirect free-kick for the incident that had happened over 1 minute before. As if this wasn’t bad enough for Feltham, Eversley scored from the free kick to make the game 3-0. After looking up the rules in a rulebook on the night of the game, it appears that the referee should have allowed the Feltham ‘goal’ to stand, as he had technically given the goal and even if he hadn’t, he still shouldn’t have given a free kick for an incident that occurred a minute earlier, after play had gone on. This decision had the effect of ruining the game as a contest. This frustration for Feltham seemed to have an effect on the game, which became more physical, starting with a small fight after a challenge that didn’t seem too bad. Eversley then had a chance for a 4^th goal when presented with another 1 on 1 but the Eversley attacker complacently went for the chip instead of the simple finish, and ended up putting his shot well wide. From this point on Feltham were the better team and were pushing for a consolation goal. It looked like they would get a late goal when they were awarded a penalty in the last minute but the penalty was poor and the keeper easily saved.

The game at Feltham wasn’t the best, although if the ref had made the correct call and given Feltham their goal it could have been different. However, despite this, the whole Fox in the Box team enjoyed the friendly atmosphere at the club. We were all looked after very well and even offered a free pin badge, free programme, free tea and biscuits, free entry and even more on top of that. At Fox in the Box, we’d definitely recommend a day out at Feltham for a non-league groundhopper or somebody new to non-league. Please note that Feltham are merging with Bedfont Town at the end of the season to become BEDFONT AND FELTHAM F.C.