Tigers Tigers - Burning Bright!

Worksop Town in exile (2) 3 v. Frickley Athletic (1) 1

UniBond Premier Division
At Watnall Road, home of Hucknall Town FC

(Above) Caught here in a rare moment of positional awareness the referee's assistant observes the goal line to make sure everything is all above board and fair n' square.
Worksop spot the ball for a penalty kick ... and then fail to score from it as per usual.

Where to begin?
Hmm ... refer back to the Arnold v Pickering post by way of an explanation as to why Worksop Town came to be playing 'home' games in Hucknall.

Survival, quite literally, is the priority for Worksop Town this season.
Anything else is a bonus. Staying up in the Unibond Premier was always going to be an uphill struggle this term, given the way the leaseholder of the football ground on Sandy Lane, Worksop and certain other bodies, most notably FC Brimington, have crapped on WTFC from a great height (more on that at a later date) and created massive obstacles for them to overcome at every turn.
But going on tonight's evidence, with the players, management, club officials and supporters alike all pulling in the same defiant direction, it warms my heart no end to report The Tigers are up for it and the rock solid-arity displayed tonight bodes very well for an end of season climb up the table to safety.
I'll stick my neck out and say ... Worksop Town WILL DEFINITELY stay up and by addressing the free fall and checking the descent into oblivion, in spite the circumstances they must operate under through no fault of their own. And that in turn will act as the spark to ignite a further push back up the non-league pyramid to the higher level they truly belong at.

With half time approaching and the Tigers a goal to the good, a Frickley attack broke down and the ball harmlessly crossed the goal line for a goal kick, in fact it passed it by a good four feet.
A Frickley player, frustrated at not getting on the end of a half chance, hooked the ball back onto the pitch and another put the ball into the unguarded net.
All the other players were sauntering away from the goal in readiness for the goal kick.
At first I thought the referee was signalling that he was going to book the Frickley player for kicking the ball into the net when it was Worksop's possession ... but he wasn't!
He hadn't blown his whistle and the linesman, now sprinting belatedly up the touch line in a vainglorious attempt to keep up with play, hadn't flagged that the ball had been out of play.
The goal stood. And neither official had even seen what happened.
Everybody makes mistakes, but at least one of the officials SHOULD have kept up with play called the decision correctly - neither did.
I am biased of course, but ... a Frickley player indicated by outstretching his arms to his own bench just how far the ball had been over the line before it was crossed and the visiting supporters I spoke to who were stood near us (in line with the goal line) were honest enough to admit they had got away with a large slice of luck and injustice.
Of course the Worksop players, knowing they had been wronged in a game that they must win, surrounded the match officials and angrily protested. But that kind of thing never overturns a bad call.
So Worksop, fired up by the ineptitude of the officials, surged up the pitch from the restart with a determination to put things right before half time ... their application and clinical finish delivered a far more effective means of redressing the balance than gobbing off at the useless officials and they went in at half time 2-1 in front.
After the break, the siege mentality that the officials had inadvertently instilled in the Tigers had galvanised the exiles and there was only really one team in it from that point.
Worksop finished 3-1 winners with tread to spare and could even afford a penalty miss.

Ironically, at the end of the day, Frickley might have fared better if they hadn't taken advantage of the unsighted officials, because their 'crafty' goal buoyed up both the Tigers players and fans and inspired them to up the ante ... who said cheats prosper!?

As the game moved into injury time there was an edge of niggliness creeping in and a few face to face confrontations nearly spilled over into proper aggro. Though that demonstrates there is a backs to the wall, in it to win it together mentality, maybe the WTFC players should have just let the Frickley players indulge in such theatrics instead of getting involved ... after all, how could they (FAFC) have anything to complain about?
The only thing Frickley came out of the game with was a goal that they had been gifted by a lack of concentration from two match officials anyway. Those officials kept up with play for the rest of the game mind you, with reminders as to what their roles and correct positions should be ringing in their ears.

A confession. How come I was hovering around the corner of the pitch at the end where Frickley were attacking in the first half?
Because that is where the tasty as anything hot dogs and burgers are sold. Thoroughly recommended by this humble scribe - sample for yourself and see if I'm right ;-)
This picture features a genuine size 5 football and a perspective photograph trick, the hot dogs aren't quite that big really.
Hearts won tonight too - they seem to when I'm not watching them!!!