University FC see red as they crash out of the FA Cup

FA CUP EXTRA PRELIMINARY ROUND STAVELEY MINERS WELFARE 2 LOUGHBOROUGH UNIVERSITY 1 LOUGHBOROUGH University FC’s interest in this year’s FA Cup ended at the very first hurdle when they lost 2-1 at Staveley MW but the result tells only part of the story.

The Students, fielding several new faces ended the game with nine players having had Christian Eneremadu and Jacob Croud sent off. Eneremadu received his red card for retaliation after having been manhandled by a Staveley player and can have no complaints about the decision although the referee could quite easily have done likewise to the home player who received just a yellow card.

However Croud can consider himself somewhat unfortunate as all he appeared to do was have a coming together with an opponent on the edge of the University penalty area, there was certainly nothing malicious about the challenge and again the decision could have gone either way. Instead the referee deemed the offence worthy of a red card as he viewed it as a goal scoring opportunity and Croud the last man.

To say it was a baffling decision to those stood immediately behind the goal would be an understatement.

The early stages of the game were a bit scrappy but the Uni were holding their own against the much more experienced Miners Welfare side.

Neither goalkeeper had been seriously troubled in the first half hour and a goal didn’t look likely until a Staveley defender was adjudged to have handled in the penalty area and Alex Dinsmore netted the resulting spot kick.

Although there had been a physical element to the game there hadn’t been anything out of the ordinary but after 41 minutes and with the Uni looking relatively comfortable the game changed with the first sending off. The Students held out until halftime but faced an uphill struggle considering the obvious inexperience in the side, five of whom were making their debuts at this level.

The equaliser came after 64 minutes when Bell hit home with the students thinking they should have been awarded a free kick – it was turning into one of those afternoons and it got worse.

The second sending off happened with a quarter of an hour left and it was a poor bit of refereeing and you had to feel for the player. Staveley naturally piled on the pressure but the Uni were doing a valiant job in keeping them at a safe distance.

That was until three minutes of added time had been played when following a long throw the ball was scrambled over the line to send the Welfare through.

All things considered there are some bright prospects in Karl Brenan’s squad and one who caught the eye was central defender Joel Bonner, a Fresher who could feature strongly if his performance in this game was anything to go by.

This Saturday the Students vacate the Campus again to travel to Coleshill for their opening league fixture before entertaining Coventry United on Tuesday evening at Holywell Park with a 7.45pm kick off.