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| 04) TWTD Issue 56, Mar 2001: "Raydon match blighted by inaccurate pitch markings" |
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| Written by Daniel Harvey And James Powell | ||||||
| Saturday, 17 March 2001 | ||||||
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Roving Raydon reporter Malcolm Baggio, is here to inject TWTD readers with their latest dose of media medicine from Clockton Park Following a rip-roaring start to the season which saw them collect maximum points from their opening seven games, Raydon slumped to their first defeat away at top of the table rivals, Bentwaters Rovers in controversial circumstances. From the moment manager Roland Peters set eyes on the pitch, he was commenting on the inaccuracy of the pitch markings, especially the over-sized goal areas. So when, 10 minutes into the game the referee awarded a penalty to Bentwaters after defender Crankleshank had pushed over an opponent right on the edge of the Raydon box, Peters was understandably infuriated. After several minutes arguing with the referee that the offence would have been outside the area had the pitch markings been accurate, the referee ordered the pitch to be measured. It materialised that the area was 22 yards long instead of 18 and the referee insisted that the lines be repainted before the match could continue. After a 30-minute delay to allow the Bentwaters groundsman to repaint the markings, play resumed with a Bentwaters free-kick on the edge of the Raydon box instead of a penalty. Peters’ arguing with the referee proved to be in vain as Bentwaters scored direct from the free-kick with a speculative curling effort.
Raydon battled away throughout the game but failed to create any clear-cut chances. As if to rub salt into their wounds, striker McManahammond was brought down right on the edge of the repainted box towards the end in a position which would have been in the penalty area at the start of the game. Les Candlestick blazed the resultant free-kick way over the bar and Bentwaters held onto their one goal advantage.
There was much screaming, shouting and clattering emanating from the Raydon changing room after the game as manager Roland Peters dissected his teams performance. Peters stormed out after twenty minutes followed by his shell-shocked players. Both Jack Crankleshank and Dougie McManahammond were nursing bloody noses whilst goalkeeper Jason Gooseflesh was hobbling severely. It is the first time that Peters has displayed his notorious violent temper towards his players since Chattisham Chasers beat them 3-0 back in 1997. After that game the fire brigade had to be called after Peters forced a metal waste paper bin over the head of defender Mortimer Bruno so far that he couldn’t remove it. The fire brigade could only remove the bin with special cutting gear which left Bruno with such severe scars that he ironically now permanently wears a balaclava to save people the torture of having to see his hidously disfigured face.
The squad were ordered to attend an additional midweek training session in order to prepare them for the following week’s Bank of Credit and Commerce International Cup match against Washbrook Wanderers. Defender Jean Pierre Duval was back in his native France attending a garlic convention so Colin Muggles was drafted in at left back. The real shock was that star striker Dougie McManahammond was left on the bench in favour of George Mnunga, who was once an unused substitute for the Nigerian Under 14 national third team.
McManahammond’s exclusion from the starting eleven heightened speculation that he made a pass at the wife of manager Roland Peters at the clubs Christmas party. Mnunga seized his chance with open breasts, turning in an electrifying performance in which he scored three goals to help Raydon to a 5-0 win. His strike partner Dave MacKinackie and defender Jack Crankleshank notched the others. The 6’ 10” MacKinackie has now scored twelve goals this season in competitive action, all of them headers.
After the game, unused striker McManahammond said, ‘I’m gutted to have been left out. I didn’t make a pass at Roland’s wife at the Christmas party. I was pretty pissed though and I think I might have got a bit carried away and tweaked her nips.”
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