Station Crash... again!!

Samba Seven 4 – Station Hotel 1

Manager Jamie Hopwood is under severe pressure to resign today, as his Station side lost again last night; this time they crashed to a 4-1 defeat to Samba Seven. Station, without several first team players, including Matthew Strahan and leading goalscorer Lee Lysons still struggled to deal with the pace of Samba. Even the new Inter Milan-style jersey did little to inspire a lacklustre Station.

Both teams started off brightly, with Station and Samba both hitting the woodwork in the opening minutes. Hopwood should have scored 5 minutes into the game; Kenny chipped over the hapless Samba defence and found the Station manager free on goal with the keeper on the floor. However, he miss hit his shot and with the goal at his mercy. The ball narrowly sailing over the bar. Station were sluggish in defence, quite obviously suffering from the amount of alcohol consumed over the festive period. This led to Samba storming into a 2-0 lead before the half time whistle.

The first goal was scored in controversial circumstances; the ball broke down the right wing and a blatant handball went un-noticed from the referee, with Kenny and Shinks stranded at the back, Samba slotted home. Samba doubled their lead shortly after as Station lost possession on the edge of their own area.

The second half didn’t improve for Station, despite having several chances and again hitting the woodwork – they fell a further goal behind early on. Hopwood, fouled on the corner of the box and Samba were awarded a free kick. Somehow the ball evaded the Station wall, along with the rest of the Station defence for Samba to tap in. A chorus of boo’s and jeers around Witton astroturf greeted Station after that piece of woeful defending. Despite a tremendous finish from loan signing Chris Riley, Samba took control of the game midway through the second half with a fourth goal. Station pressed for a consolotion but it never came, with the hard working Paul Warnock isolated on his own up front.

Station now lie second from bottom, and have yet to register their first win of the season.

The board of directors have played down suggestions they are to bid for Corrado Grabbi to solve their goalscoring crisis. However, they didn’t rule out a move for a ford transit van to park across the 6 yard box in a bid to bolster their leaky defence.

Station: Dawson, Shinks, Riley, Hopwood, Kenny, Fitzpatrick, Warnock

Attendance: 3