18th February 2017 - Dunston (h)

The big competition to be on the cover of the next Facebook and Twitter Matchday message was won... by yours truly; beating off the stiff competition from the field of one. What a nice way to start the day!
The weather, that had been distinctly spring-like in the morning, unfortunately cooled quite quickly as kick-off approached.
The lads, on the other hand, weren't letting the cooling wind get them down as they started brightly.
First Kyle 'Little brother' Patton bore down on goal but elected to pass instead of shoot and the chance was lost. Then Robbo, hoping for a post-Birthday hat-trick, made the perfect start slotting the ball perfectly between visiting keeper Jack Norton's legs. It was all so quick that I was still consulting the team sheet in the programme when the goal was scored. There was jubilation on the 'packed' terraces.After that bright start, the lads took their foot off the gas and let Dunston get back into the game.

Terrace chaos!

There was a set-to between Dunston's Daryll Hall (not the actress: definitely!) and Robbo the Birthday Boy. The enormous Hall towered down upon Robbo for some shared thinking as he went head to head with his smaller opposition.
The highlight of that period was Callum Anderson's race with a visiting forward for a through ball. It was the Bay player who won the race, exquisitely stepping over the ball on the dead ball line before back heeling it to Professor 'Halftermholiday' Wilkinson to gleefully clear.
Into the second half and the ref adjudged the Prof to have brought down a visiting forward, which from our vantage point at the other end of the field looked a bit harsh. Warren Byrne stepped up and sent the ball low to Flynn's left as he dived right.
The Bay came straight back and when Big Brother Patton (BBP) twisted in the box and was brought down there were calls for our own penalty but the referee (unfairly in our opinion) didn't agree. Soon after, BBP was unlucky to see his header bounce harmlessly off the crossbar after Thibault had headed the ball back across goal.
Yet again, the referee lacked our unbiased distance view as a bout of head-tennis ended with Dunston being awarded another penalty. This time Byrne was outwitted by Flynn as he once again shot to the Bay super-keeper's left who dived to save. Lying on the ground, Flynn still managed to volley clear for a corner that came to nothing.
The lads picked up the pace after that and Norton was leaping to punch clear on a number of occasions as the lads searched for the winner they thought they deserved.
It was also nice to see the visiting Norton winning the day's politeness award. After the ball was collected by one of the Bay fans and passed to him, he gave a respectful "Thank you". He didn't think we really meant it when we applauded him for his great example of manners. His good manners may have been rewarded when substitute Liam Brooks hit the post.
His politeness disappeared, however, when the Bay took the lead in the final minute.

A pinpoint corner from BBP was met by Callum Anderson. Although the final touch was off a defender, nobody cared. For the second match running, the Bay had won 2-1 with a great team performance. The boys were still in town!