Thwaites held by Craven in furious encounter!

Thwaites FC could only manage a 1-1 draw against lowly rivals Craven VII
in the 7-a-side league yesterday. Tempers again flared between the teams
with referee Ibby Mulla sending off four players each for 2 minutes.
Craven lost 3 players at separate times and Thwaites defender Damian
Tabbinor was dismissed for a clumsy challenge in retaliation as he was
mounted against the wall by an opposition player.

The brewery team dominated proceedings right from the start. However, it
was Craven who took the lead after some sloppy defending. Thwaites
equalised shortly after when Simon Tipton slammed home a superb
free-kick. The game then turned sour with a series of nasty challenges
from both teams. Before the start of the second half, referee Mulla
lectured the two teams about their on-field behaviour and were warned
that he would have no option but to send players off who broke the
rules. However, things again spiralled out of control with two more
Craven players being dismissed. New signing Dominic Hopwood was lucky
to stay on the field as he looked to have elbowed a Craven player in the
face. Mulla failed to spot this. Thwaites had several great chances to
take the lead, hitting the wood work twice. The Craven keeper was in
fine form and the scores remained at 1-1 by the final whistle.

The brewery giants go into the remaining three games on 12 points in
seventh place. However they lie 6 points behind sixth placed Punch
Hotel. They take on refrigeration company Acme next week.

Meanwhile, the Thwaites board of directors have declined to comment on
the behaviour of players Damian Tabbinor and Jamie Hopwood at the
weekend. Several eye witnesses and two national newspapers reported that
the duo were involved in a drinking binge around Manchester city centre
on Saturday. They were both unavailable for comment. Hopwood had a book
launch to promote his new book called 'Hopwood: The Stella Years' in
local public house the Station Hotel. Tabbinor was locked in his bedroom
as a pigeon got in his house which caused chaos for several hours.

Match Ratings: -
P.Slater 7 - Pulled off some good saves. Possibly could have done better
for the goal he conceded
Tabbinor 7 - Mr Consistent. Could have had no complaints about his
sending off though.
D.Hopwood 8 - A solid display from the debutant. You can tell he is the
older brother of inspirational midfielder Jamie.
S.Tipton 7 - Scored a great goal. Should have passed the ball earlier on
several occasions.
J.Hopwood 7 - Not one of his better games. The nature of the game made
it hard for Hopwood to show us what we all know he is capable of. Did
well to escape being sent off as his disciplinary record slowly
improves.
D.Southworth 7 - Average display from the manager. Could have scored lat
in the game.
M.Slater 8 - Had several chances to break the deadlock. Caused Craven
all sorts of problems at the back.
Stig Inge Bjornebye 6 - Defended well. However his distribution let him
down.