Jokers 3 Wee Bairns 2

Market Rd

24 January 2005, k.o. 4.00

Team: Linter, Reid, Vere, Gromb, Keen, Tatum, Hyde, Gamson, Perez-Tejedor, Milner, Mandolini

Scorers: Milner, Gamson, Gromb

This fixture saw the Jokers looking to extend their winning run to three games following recent wins over the Leopards and Golden Boots, as they took on basement side the Wee Bairns. However, the potential for an upset was clearly there, and the Jokers did their best to find the self-destruct button they so often press when faced with supposedly weaker sides.

With no points from 9 games, the Bairns will have looked on this as a genuine opportunity to get off the mark. With league tables still unavailable, they would have assumed that the Jokers were still languishing near the bottom of the table. Added to this, Jokers were without regular left-back Lynes, influential midfielder Seaton-Smith, and top scorer Jack Wilby.  The talk in the dressing room was all about how to avoid a banana skin so large that it resembled a sculpture by Claes Oldenberg.

Talk however, remained just that, as the Jokers started like they would rather be anywhere than a freezing Market Road on a Sunday afternoon. A lacklustre start saw the Bairns go close on a number of occasions, enjoying particular dominance down their left. It came as no surprise when, after ten minutes, they translated their early domination into a goal. Once again the move developed down the left hand side of the pitch, and a pull back to the edge of the area resulted in a well-hit Bairns shot sailing under the bar from twenty yards.

The Jokers were not exactly aroused from their torpor, and the rest of the half passed in much the same way, with the Bairns threatening to extend their lead and only failing to do so through a combination of poor finishing and an intervention from Vere. Fuelled by the goal, the Bairns did not look like a team at the bottom of the table A well-marshalled offside trap saw the Jokers restricted to few real opportunities, although Read, Perez-Tejedor and Gamson all drew competent saves from the Bairns keeper.

Half-time could not come soon enough and it was a rejuvenated Jokers side that took to the field for the second half. Tackles were made, players picked up and passing was much improved. When the equalizer came it was simple enough; Vere finding Gamson with a pass, which he turned on for Milner to run on to. For once the referee deemed him not to be offside, and he finished coolly past the advancing keeper to restore parity.

A second was added soon after, and was worth the wait as Gamson picked the ball up on the right and hit a long-range shot into the far top corner. By now, the Jokers were playing like we know they can, and it came as no surprise when, from a Reid corner, Gromb headed in from close range to give them a two-goal advantage. The team now threatened to put the Bairns to the sword. Milner shot straight at the keeper when through. The keeper dropped another shot through his legs, only to recover his fumble as the ball bounced goalwards.  Mandolini scuffed a shot from close in with the goal gaping. In the resulting scramble, he managed to work the ball back to Reid before being taken down from behind by the keeper. Bewilderingly, the referee waved away calls for a penalty, but this seemed to matter little, as the Bairns had really only mustered one chance of note, Linter’s save allowing Keen to shepherd the ball away for a throw.

All that changed following the dubious award of a free-kick to the Bairns for a high foot. Deep inside his own half, the right-back launched it long towards the Bairns substitute. The ball cleared both him and Vere, but the attacker has the presence of mind to turn and run, beating the advancing Linter to the ball and guiding it into an unguarded net. From here, the Jokers frailties returned and it was the Bairns turn to undergo a transformation, forcing a number of corners against their nervous opponents. Perez-Tejedor picked up a booking for his now customary cynical tackle from behind. The Jokers were not exactly hanging on, for the Bairns didn’t create anything clear-cut. Nevertheless, it was a relief when the referee blew for time and the Jokers had secured another three points.

Gamson’s wonder-strike apart, this was not a game that will live long in the memory or be recalled fondly at the end of season drinks. Jokers were frequently awful, but at least managed to ‘win ugly’, thereby dragging themselves further away from the relegation zone, and ensuring that they matched the results of everybody else who has played the Bairns thus far. Next up are Hoxton, a mid-table team who the Jokers beat in the cup earlier this season.