Late heartbreak follows mystery red
Godalming 1 Roffey 0 SCFL division one
Andy Lampard’s table toppers came unstuck when they went to sixth-placed Godalming – but the loss came in controversial circumstances.
Roffey welcomed back Johden De Meyer for a game played in a strong breeze and on a bumpy pitch which did not aid a flowing game.
The first half passed with both sides trying to master the conditions but only a header off the line by Jamie Robinson from a Godalming corner at one end and an Adrian Giles save from Jack Ryder at the other, came close to breaking the deadlock.
In the 65th minute, with ball out of play, the referee walked over to the linesman and, to the amazement of both sets of players, management and supporters returned to give Brendan Millborrow a straight red card. The Roffey centre back was distraught and both teams asked what it was for. The referee was unmoved and Roffey were down to ten men. The game was transformed. Jack Ryder was replaced by Aaron Collins as Lampard resfuffled.
Then a ball was driven into the box and struck a defender’s arm which was tucked into his body. An assistant flagged for a penalty but Ed Harvey made his first save by keeping out the spot kick. Johden De Meyer and
Ross Swaine came on and Roffey’s defensive work was effective until three minutes from time when Charlie Oakley latched on to a long ball to score the only goal.
Lampard, whose side are still top, said: “A few things didn’t go our way in terms of decisions but there’s no panic from us. We’ll re-group.”
Things didn’t improve on Tuesday – Roffey lost 4.3 atForest Row. -