| If they are not careful Spartak's
season will turn into an episode of
Roadrunner with them cast as
the Coyote who almost gets the prize but
in the end blows up and
staggers off in disbelieving despair.
In comparison to last season when they started slower than a paralysed
stoned snail in a saltmine, Spartak have come roaring out of the
blocks this year and played some lovely football. They have
dominated all but one of the five games they have played and so it
is incredible that they have garnered only four points so far.
This game though, is a perfect illustration of why
that may be. From the kickoff Spartak looked strong. The defence
looked solid and employing a 5 man midfield they took control of
the game and the ball early and created chances aplenty with Dave
in the thankless role of the lone striker working well up front. It
seemed only a matter of time before they would be rewarded. And it
was. Breaking through from
midfield Ronnie controlled well and sent
a powerful shot into the top
left hand corner. All well so far. And
it got better. Spartak were
first to every ball, had the game by
the scruff of the neck and while
rarely threathened at the back
they created numerous chances. A second
goal was to follow, Rich
Bowman rising unchallenged in the box to head
home a lovely free
kick from Dave Withers, returning for his first
start of the
season. And then a third, Ronnie again, this time with an
attempted
lob which looked doomed until the keeper made a hash of
it. 3-0 and
after a few more chances for Spartak and precious little
for
Wheatsheaf it was half time. A walk in the park really. What could
go wrong?
Everything went wrong.
From the start of the second half a dark
spectre which had haunted
Spartak last season and which seemed
banished this year returned.
Yes, they were assailed by the Asleep
After Half-time demon!
Wheatsheaf had found some fire in their bellies
and set about the
task of trying to retrieve the game. Spartak
meanwhile were still
mentally on the sideline drinking water and
congratulating
themselves on their greatness. Suddenly they were under
pressure
and not dealing with it very well. They lost shape and seemed
unconcerned. They were 3-0 up after all. The game was over. Was it
shite! Things were about to take a surreal turn. After making a few
contraversial substitutions, Spartak were about to come
unstuck. Withers, performing wonderfully on his return was chasing
behind an attacker in the box when the ref's whistle blew. Both
defender and attacker stopped mystified at what the whistle was for.
"Penalty!" said the ref.
"You what?" said 22
footballers.
"Foul in the box, penalty!"
In the
league of poor decisions it ranked up there with making David
Platt
manager of Sampadoria and putting Eurodisney in France.
Wheatsheaf were not about to look a gift horse in the mouth though
and
dispatched the spot kick. Spartak were somewhat stunned but
still
seemed unconcerned. Their strange lethargy remained and in
their
hearts they knew the game was theirs. Was it shite!
Wheatsheaf got a
corner and from the resulting pinball in the box,
where shouts for the
ball were ignored, they sent in a second.
Minutes later and a long
range free kick which the keeper should
have taken managed to slip
through his fingers and it was 3-3. Few
blamed the keeper though, he
had spent the last 5 minutes pulling
fantastic saves out of the bag.
And there it was.
From complete domination and 3-0 up at half time,
Spartak were back
to 3-3 fifteen minutes into the second half. Only
second rate sides
the likes of Tottenham can know the pain involved.
To be fair to the Spartak lads, they did rally. Realising the
predicament they were in and knowing it was all their own fault
they
restarted their engines and began to take control again. And
for the
remainder of the match they camped in the Wheatsheaf half
and
generated chance after chance with little worries of a counter attack.
None of which went in. Posts
were
shaved, brave defending stopped sure goals and shots which
should have
hit the target went astray. 3-3 it remained and time
was running out.
Still though, there was one last
minute of contraversy left. With
seconds on the clock the
ever-running Steve broke into the Wheatsheaf
box and was cruelly
and quite obviously hacked down.
"Penalty!" thought 22 footballers.
"Play on!" said the ref.
Disbelief was in every
face and the game
ended soon after.
Of course it is not the ref's
fault Spartak drew. Leaving aside the
two inexplicable penalty
decisions he had an otherwise generally good
game and it was
refreshing to have actual fouls punished. Also,
Spartak can hardly
blame that for dropping two points here, they
should have had the
game in the bag and threw it away. They will need
to start playing
for a full 90 minutes and putting away the chances if
they are to
reap any reward for their otherwise good efforts this season.
| 
League