Spireited Potton Unitd beaten at high-flying Arlesey Town
Potton gave a very spirited display against Arlesey Town who are second in the league on their way to a 4-2 defeat.
Potton scored two early goals then had Ben Holmes sent off in the 25th minute, then had two players injured who had to be substituted.
With manager Jack Galatis away on holiday coach Micky Nathan took charge of the team and Potton welcomed back Jack Thomas who played in place of Cameron Watson—who was also on holiday. Adewumi Aladetimi made a good run before passing to Reece Crowter in the penalty area but he delayed his shot and eventually Arlesey blocked his effort.
Arlesey attacked early on and Jordan Brown forced a save from Sam Galatis and then Jordan brown forced Galatis to save with his feet. Potton were now playing some good football and Cole Butler saw his shot blocked. In the 15th minute Matt Gilbert made a run into the penalty area and was fouled with the referee pointing to the penalty spot.
Josh Brown made no mistake to give Potton the lead.In the 23rd minute Mike Tieney passed to Aladetimi who beat his man before scoring goal number two. Two minutes later Ben Holmes was shown a red card for what the referee deemed a reckless challenge and Josh Brown took his place as a central defender. Two minutes after this an Arlesey defender deliberately stopped Gilbert making progress down the left but the referee chose not to shown any yellow card—the first of many strange decisions. At the other end Stewart saw his free kick go over the bar.
In the 33rd minute Arlesey reduced the arrears when Alia Bangura ran on to a through ball to score. Josh Brown went down injured and was replaced by Dan Wappett in the 36th minute. Jordan Brown fired a centre across the Potton goal but no one was on hand to score. In the 42nd minute Jordan Brown had the ball in the net, but the referee’s assistant was flagging for offside, but after consultation the goal was allowed to stand as the referee claimed the ball had been deflected off a Potton defender. Just before the interval Miftari saw his free kick saved by Galatis.
In the 53rd minute Mikey Tierney suffered an injury and was replaced by Mamadou Diallo, which meant another reshuffle with Harvey Vegh moving to defence and Diallo coming into mid-field. A good move by Potton ended with the ball with Reece Crowter but he delayed his shooting.
In the 60th minute Alia Bangura was allowed to run with the ball and scored with a fierce shot to give Arlesey the lead. Eddie Connolly sent a ball across the goal but no one was on hand. Diallo then had a shot from 25 yards that went over the bar.From a centre Jordan Brown headed wide when well placed.
A through ball found Freddie Moriarty and with the keeper advancing lofted the ball over his head to see the ball go narrowly wide of the goal. For Arlesey Stewart made a good run but Wappett deflected his shot for a corner. In the 2nd minute of added time Amu ran on to a trough ball and lofted it over the advancing Galatis head and it finished in the back of the net. As soon as Potton kicked off the restart the referee blew the final whistle
Potton United:Sam Galatis, Mikey Tierney (Mamadou Diallo), Matt Gilbert, Josh Brown (Dan Wappett), Ben Holmes. Jack Thomas, Cole Butler, Harvey Vegh, Adewumi Aladetimi (Freddie Moriarty), Devonte Simms, Reece Crowter (Ryan Lamond)
A performance, even in defeat, that Potton could be proud of. They tried to play football throughout and were very supportive of each other throughout the match. If they keep on producing performances like this they should start collecting points to move up the league table.
On Saturday 1 November Harpenden Town are the visitors to The Hutchinson Hollow in a League match.