Cardea Ease To Win Despite Awful Refereeing Performance

Bushfield was the venue for the comfortable victory on a day where the sun was shining but the wind provided a chill in the air. Following last weeks improved second half showing against Fenland Police, Cardea started with a 4-3-3 formation with Aaron Yeoman returning to the starting line up. Yeoman was making his first appearance since the opening day of the season.

The game got off to a fast start as Cardea pushed forward and forced a corner from kick off. Daniel Robinson whipped the corner in and it was flicked on by Tom Broughton, further helped on by Michael Williams and Yeoman found himself 1 yard out with an open goal to claim the easiest goal he will ever score and give Cardea a flying start.

With just over ten minutes gone the referee attempted to take centre stage with the first of a series of staggering decisions as he deemed a miscontrol off defender Tony Harper's knee to be a back pass when keeper Tiago Rodrigues picked up the loose ball. The defender was 25 yards out when he made contact with the ball! Halcyon's attempt to get back on level terms was blocked on the line by Mike Dandrilli.

Coming up to 20 minutes played and it was 2-0 following a fantastic attacking move. Captain Daryl Patrick passed the ball down the left to Dandrilli who found Tom Broughton in the box who rounded the goalkeeper and tucked the ball into the empty net.

Rodrigues in the Cardea goal had to be alert minutes later when he was quick off his line to save at the feet of the Halcyon striker. But Cardea were soon back on the attack and a Dandrilli free kick was headed wide at the back post by Tom Rimes.

It wasn't long before it was 3-0 and it was another brilliant move. Michael Williams hooked the ball over his head and found Robinson on the right side of the penalty box, he looped a cross over to Dandrilli who timed his header perfectly to lob it over the keeper and into the far corner of the net.

The game went quiet until 5 minutes before half time when the referee again made a horror decision. A Halcyon corner was played in and a header went over the bar, the players started to run back for a goal kick but the ref had other ideas and awarded a penalty to Halcyon. The decision was for a push by Yeoman but it baffled both sets of players. The penalty was taken and it was superbly saved by Rodrigues diving to his right.

As Cardea cleared the ball and pushed out of the area Phil Brown was judged to have fouled a Halycon player 30 yards out and received a harsh yellow card. From the free kick Rodrigues was again called into action having to making a diving double hand save. The referee continued to annoy the teams by over ruling the two linesman when he deemed he was in a better position - he was not!

The referee was consistent to the poor standard he was setting as he inappropriately blew the half time whistle as a dangerous looking cross was sent into the Halcyon area.

After the break Halcyon, who had made several substitutions, made the better start and should have pulled a goal back when their striker struck the crossbar with a half volley from 12 yards out.

The referee continued to make errors which were being pointed out by the players. He called over Daryl Patrick to try to calm things down and as the captain re-laid the message to defender Tony Harper he was booked himself for dissent. Clearly angered by the decision Patrick tackled a Halycon midfielder and lobbed the ball over the stranded goalkeeper with a superb chip to make it 4-0.

On the hour mark and Harper was booked by the ref, who was clearly on a massive power trip, for dissent. A couple of minutes later Harper was in the action again as he made a fantastic challenge, however the referee gave a free kick against him for dangerous play. The free kick was struck wide.

Cardea made two subs with Mark Weekes and Tom Greetham coming on for Brown and Robinson. With 15 minutes to go another player went into the ref's book as the Peterborough FA's chief revenue maker took the name of Tom Rimes for making a meaningless comment. As Cardea searched for a fifth goal Patrick found Dandrilli in the box who hit his shot over the bar.

Into the last 10 minutes and Greetham earned himself a free kick. He picked himself up and had a go from 35 yards, the ball bounced through the area, the keeper made a complete mess of it and the ball rolled into the back of the net.

Halcyon attempted to grab a consolation in the last five minutes and Rodrigues saved a one on one attempt and then made a camera save to his right to push away a long range effort. Tom Rimes then had time to show boat in his own area by flicking up the ball and nonchalantly heading back to the keeper.

The referee's performance was summed up when a Halcyon player dangerously clattered into Broughton and the ref declined to book him. He instead decided to send off the subbed Phil Brown for another case of dissent.

The final whistle went and it was a comfortable morning's work for Cardea who returned to the top of the table with a 5-0 win. The man of the match was hard to pick as it was a fantastic team effort but it went to Daryl Patrick for another committed performance. Other performances that stood out were Aaron Yeoman and Tiago Rodrigues.

After the game Craig Robinson said: "Starting 4-3-3 really gave Yeoman the licence to find the little spaces in-between the lines and ping the ball about. Tiago's penalty save and free kick save at 3-0 contributed massively.

"The work rate of the wide boys Drilli and Robbo was exceptional and Willy looked like he enjoyed his freedom in the centre of the park. Tom B ran the channels all game and Tom G's free kick was decent!! Daz gave his typical captains performance and smashed into tackles like a captain should."

Cardea's next game is against struggler's Parkside Athletic at Bushfield on Sunday 6th October.