Magpies denied by man in black (01.01.05)

AN ENTERTAINING and equitable encounter ended honours even at York Road on Saturday, as Basingstoke Town came from behind to salvage a point and some pride.
However, although the final scoreline fairly reflected the balance of play, the referee denied United a strong chance of claiming all three points, by allowing visiting keeper Scott Tarr to stay on the pitch after handling the ball outside his area when one-on-one with Lawrence Yaku.
The incident provided just one more talking point in a game which had many.
In a lively opening period, Basingstoke made the early running, only to be comfortably restrained by a very solid-looking home defence.
United then began to ease their way into the game, and only the slippery surface denied Yaku and Craig O’Connor early chances on goal.
The vital breakthrough came on 16 minutes, when Jamie Cook released Craig O’Connor, who made room for himself before rifling a shot on goal.
Tarr made a great stop but the ball broke to Yaku, whose attempted lob found Dean Clark in the six-yard box, who turned the ball back for O’Connor to stab home from close range.
Fearing a second successive defeat to the Magpies, title-chasing Basingstoke then raised their game and dominated the rest of the half, at least in terms of scoring opportunities.
On 20 minutes, Argentinian midfielder Sergio Torres flashed a snap shot just wide of the near post.
Magpies keeper Ade Bankole then made a brave block to deny Cristian Levis, and then produced a terrific diving save to palm away Nathan Stamp’s well-struck drive from the edge of the box.
Four minutes later came the controversial decision which denied the home side a one-man advantage, when Ben Townsend’s long ball put Yaku clear of the defence. Tarr came racing off his line and out of his area before throwing his whole body into a desperate challenge.
The ball hit his arm and the referee awarded the free-kick, but as everyone waited for the inevitable sending-off the mood turned to one of sheer bemusement, as the man in black only brandished a yellow card.
Whether the rule is a good one or not, Tarr should have walked.
The second half produced constant end-to-end football, with both sets of defenders and both keepers hard-pushed to prevent any further goals.
For the Magpies, substitute Barrie Matthews was only denied a stonewall penalty by an offside flag, while man of the match Peter Adeniyi had his close-range effort well saved by Tarr, following a jinking run by O’Connor.
However, just past the hour mark, Basingstoke showed just how effective a quick counter-attack can be, when a Maidenhead free-kick was quickly cleared down field to Levis in acres of space.
A strong run down the wing was finished off with a pin-point cross to Torres at the far post, who had the easy task of converting from close range.
Bankole denied the visitors the lead on 70 minutes, while only a good save from Tarr and a fine defensive block prevented Dean Clark from getting his name on the score sheet at the other end.
But the Magpies could still have secured all three points with a glorious chance five minutes from time, when Patterson headed the ball into O’Connor’s path.
Unfortunately the striker went for power rather than placement and the ball ended up in Bell Street rather than the back of the net.

ON THE SLIDE: Peter Adeniyi challenges Sergio Torres for the ball at York Road on Saturday. Ref:87515/8