Rocks broken by rampant Magpies (11.10.03)

THE Magpies crushed the Rocks at Nyewood Lane on Saturday afternoon, inflicting only the second home defeat of the season on the former title hopefuls.
Having announced his tactics for Saturday’s game as early as Thursday afternoon, manager John Dreyer certainly lived up to his word, as United first stopped Bognor playing, then took them apart with some sublime passing football.
The Rocks could easily have been trailing by two or more by the time they created a chance of their own on 15 minutes, only for Richard Hudson to shoot narrowly wide.
Inevitably, the visitors took the lead in the 33rd minute, when Lawrence Yaku sprung the offside trap and rounded Craig Stoner to slot home.
Two minutes later Yaku scored again, beating the offside trap for a second time before steering the ball into the back of the net.
The one-way traffic continued after the break and only a string of fine saves from the impressive Stoner prevented a slaughter.
A bizarre incident then interrupted play for almost 20 minutes, when the linesman appeared to dislocate his arm. A replacement official was finally unearthed from the crowd and play resumed where it had left off, with United in complete control.
Any hopes the Rocks had of getting back into the game were ultimately snuffed out 10 minutes from time, when former Exeter City defender Toby Redwood was red-carded for first fouling and then stamping on Mark Boyce.
The resulting spot-kick was swept home by Brendon Gallen to seal an emphatic victory for the Magpies.