Page 12 - Raynes Park Vale vs Beckenham Town 18-04-22
P. 12

belief  and,  after  seventy  minutes
                                            of  some pretty  poor  refereeing
                                            (for  both  sides)  and a yellow  for
                                            Jake  Gallagher  it was, in the end,
                                            H&H  who  paid  the  ultimate
                                            price  with  Max Hustwick being
                                            presented with a second yellow
                                            for a careless challenge/body-
                                            check on Reece Williams-Bowers.
                                            As Hustwick sauntered off at a
                                            speed that  suggested he  might
                                            be  waiting for the Vale defence to
                                            simply fall-asleep Vale saw  their
                                            chance  to  start  applying  pressure
                                            on their promotion-bound oppo-
                                            sition.  Cue 15 minutes of nervous
                                            tension that spilled over into a brief
                                            episode of  handbags and,  as  the
                                            clock  wound down and the offcials
                                            managed to  still  find  ways  to
                                            embarrass  themselves,  it became
                                            apparent  that, despite  having
                                            most of the play and  almost all of
      Mills stepped up, stuttered and       the chances this was  not  going  to
      calmly put the pen to Billy Bish-     be  Raynes  Park  Vale’s  day.  A  cou-
      op’s left. Vale continued to pres-    ple  of  goal-mouth  scrambles  had
      sure  W&H all across the park and     Vale fans ramping up the noise and
      as the whistle blew for half-time     the W&H faithful open-mouthed
      the home team had managed to          and  faint  but,  in  the  end,  the
      get two shots on target - one of      whistle  blew,  Sham  69’s  anthem
      which was the penalty.  This isn’t    ‘Hersham Boys’  blasted  out  of  the
      to detract from W&H’s  game. This     PA  and,  finally,  the Swans  fans
      was  a good side that had the dis-    made a noise to see their Cockney
      cipline to know what was needed       Cowboys into a well-deserved
      and the calm to make sure it was      promotion on a sunny Surrey after-
      acheived regardless of how pretty     noon.  There  may  not  have been
      it looked.After the break Vale again   any lace up boots and corduroys
      took to the artificial surface  at    but no-one was complaining in
      The  Hub  with  determination  and    KT12...
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