AVDFC 1 Broadfields United 1

AVDFC 1-1 Broadfields United

The Dynamos were back in action 3 days after a disappointing defeat to Harpenden, this time up against fellow mid-table team, Broadfields United.

Phil Granville made a few changes to the team bringing in Ben Stevens and Dan Wilson at the heart of the defence, with Dan McAteer at right back. Bruno Brito was back in the starting line up along with Abu Khan in an attacking role.

In the early few minutes both teams were finding their feet but the first meaningful action came from captain, Joseph Fitzgerald, who played a great through ball to Abu Khan, but the keeper anticipated well and gathered.

Broadfields created a couple of good opportunities in the next few minutes with one shot just over the bar and another attack called offside as Ben Stevens held his line perfectly. At the other end Abu Khan won a free kick which Ben Gill swung into the mix, Ben Stevens the first to react but hit his shot wide of the goal.

It was Broadfields looking the more likely as they had another couple of chance, the last one needing a superb stop by James Weatherill to thwart the attack.

After 25 minutes Dynamos finally managed to get a foothold in the game. Abu Khan was busy on the right wing, Bruno Brito was holding the ball up well and Alfie Gaspar was getting on the ball a lot in the middle. In fact it was Alfie Gaspar who had a chance to shoot after some good work from Jake Baldwin, but his effort was straight at the keeper.

However, the same combination worked better moments later, again Jake Baldwin was involved and crossed to Alfie Gaspar who got the ball out from his feet and hit a shot into the corner of the net. The Broadfields keeper got a hand on it but couldn’t stop the ball going over the line. 1-0 Dynamos.

33 minutes and Dynamos almost had a second. The tenacious Ben Gill the architect this time floating a great ball to Jake Baldwin who headed just over. Five minutes later and some great skill from Bruno Brito found Joseph Fitzgerald with some space, his shot was deflected to Jake Baldwin, but his shot was just wide.

Two minutes before halftime and a decent shot from Broadfields was saved…and then spilled…by James Weatherill, but he made amends by blocking the rebound for a corner. Half Time 1-0 Dynamos.

The second half was barely underway when some quick thinking from Dan McAteer saw him take a quick free kick to Bruno Brito and his shot was palmed away for a corner. 52 minutes on the clock and Ben Gill anticipates a pass, controls the ball and hits a great first time shot which flies just wide of the target.
It was Ben Gill again in the thick of it on the hour mark as his quick feet set up Abu Khan racing in from the left wing, he found space and curled his effort just wide of the far post with the keeper scrambling.

The match was starting to get tetchy with some tackles flying in from both teams and Alfie Gaspar picked up a yellow card for a crunching tackle on 65 minutes with the Broadfields bench demanding a harsher punishment. Moments later Dan Wilson was taken down and another yellow card was produced. The match was starting to get ugly in the middle of the park and the referee was stopping play regularly.

With 20 minutes left Ben Stevens won the ball and played the ball out wide to Dan McAteer, he looked up and played a sublime ball over the top to Bruno Brito, he raced clear, but the referee gave a free kick…the linesman didn’t flag…so a strange decision. Moments later Dynamos were having déjà vu as in the previous match, James Weatherill came out of his goal and pushed the ball away from the advancing attacker who jumped over James and rolled around a bit. The referee, unbelievably, pointed to the spot?!? After 2 minutes of dealing with irate players from both teams, the Broadfields defender scored the penalty sending James Weatherill the wrong way.

This was the catalyst for a series of events which unfolded afterwards. Firstly Dan Wilson picked up a yellow card for a tackle and then a Broadfields player had the same punishment. Moments later Joseph Fitgerald got in a tangle with Broadfields No.8 and both ended up on the floor. The No.8 then punched Joseph Fitzgerald in clear view of all which resulted in every player in the middle of the park trying to sort things out.

The referee made the correct decision to send off the No.8, and he also was advised of an incident involving Dan McAteer who also got his marching orders. We were down to 10v10 for the final few minutes.

The final action of the match saw a free kick to Dynamos taken by Ben Gill and his cross was met with a great overhead kick from Jake Baldwin which the keeper saved. Final Score AVDFC 1-1 Broadfields.