For over a hundred years football was played by two teams of 11. If a player was injured and couldn't continue then it was 11 v 10. Sometime in the 1960's it was decided to allow a substitute to cover injuries only. A couple of seasons on and the rule was changed to allow the substitution to also cover a tactical change. As you know over the years the one substitute became two and is now three. Unfortunately this only applies to players, if a referee is having a poor game then everyone has to put up with it. Except in the case of injury there is no method to replace the man in the middle. Sadly last night was a case where you needed a substitute. We had two players go off with ankle injuries and two with head injuries, luckily none are two serious but that isn't the point. We also had Karl Roberts sent off for two yellow cards, no problem with the second, I was the opposite side of the field and I'd have given it. However the first was in front of the dugout and Karl won the ball cleanly but he was yellow carded, that bad decision meant we finished the game with 10 men. 

All amateur timekeepers at the ground also know that the second half lasted only 44 minutes yet there were several injuries, we made two substitutions as did Cambrian. We were short changed in the second half by a good 5 minutes yet the ref reckoned he'd played 46 minutes which was in my opinion still too short. Steve Davies had a blinder at Cambrian, he scored two goals and was a thorn in their side. Last night he didn't get the chance to repeat the performance as he was fouled after three minutes right under the nose of the linesman, I won't call them assistants because they didn't assist. A throw in to Cambrian was given and Steve had to leave the field, he did try to come back but it was obvious he couldn't continue. Damon Thomas replaced him after 11 minutes, he was immediately into the action when he was fed on the edge of the area by Corey Thomas, Damon played in Karl Lewis but from a good position he shot well wide. 

On the quarter hour we were awarded a free kick and knocked the ball into the area however the ref spotted a foul by Ian Jones. Cambrian took a quick kick and cleared to half way, one of the midfielders tried his luck from 40 yards with the ball just missing the right hand post. Cambrian had a series of free kicks around our penalty area, but they either went wide or we cleared them. It was a game of stop-start spoiled with far too much whistle. We won a corner right side after 25 minutes, a poor delivery by Michael Waters allowed Cambrian to break quickly. We knocked the ball behind to give them a corner within 15 seconds of ours. We got the ball into the net on 35 minutes, Michael Waters took a free kick 40 yards out, the ball was cleared to Karl Lewis who passed to Ian Jones who netted. However the linesman flagged giving him offside. In a first half of 49 minutes despite both sides having a couple of corners in the final minutes neither keeper was troubled. 

Five minutes into the second half Michael Waters won a corner left side, Corey Thomas swung it in but the ref gave a free kick for a 'foul' on the keeper. On the hour we almost took the lead, we had a free kick in the centre circle, Dan Williams knocked it in to Steve Cox who turned and shot, the keeper got a touch to turn it on to the crossbar and clear. Minutes later Leon Cosker outside the area missed a back pass and with it looking as if Cambrian would take the lead Dan Williams got back to make a vital tackle and clear the ball. Leon Cosker knocked yet another free kick into their box and Ian Jones from a good position shot at the keeper. With a quarter of an hour to go Corey Thomas made a great run to his right and was found by Damon Thomas, Corey crossed into the box and from point blank range Ian Jones again shot at the keeper! With six minutes to go we had the ball and were making ground towards the penalty area, the ref blew up to book their central defender, needless to say with everyone back the free kick was a poor substitute for the possible chance lost. Cambrian were now conceding free kicks all over the park, the final one found Ian Jones who from a narrow angle hit the post. Supporters near the incident were adamant the keeper touched it on to the post but a goal kick was given and not long afterwards the full time whistle went.

Lido side
Leon Cosker  Karl Roberts  Steve Parry  Dan Williams  Shaun Morgan  Kieran Howells  Steve Davies  Karl Lewis  Ian Jones  Corey Thomas  Michael Waters

Subs
12  Damon Thomas for Steve Davies 11
14  Justin Williams for Kieran Howells 51
15  Steve Cox for Karl Lewis 46
17  Gareth Couch

Bookings  Kieran Howells 31 Karl Roberts 39

Second Yellow Karl Roberts 81

Attendance:85

Report by Peter Reynolds.