Jokers 3 -3 Press Association

Sunday 11 September,

Market Road

k. o. 4 p.m.

Team: Linter, Lynes, Vere, Gamson, Shields; Milner, Read, Seaton-Smith, J. Perez-Tejedor; Hinks, Stevens

Subs: King, C Perez-Tejedor (on for Vere, 60)

Scorers: Gamson (p), Seaton-Smith, Milner.

The Jokers’ pre-season rumbled into life on Sunday, with a creditable score-draw against last season’s Division 1 runners-up, PA. Buoyed by a series of new faces, the Jokers took the game to their supposedly superior opposition and established a 3-0 lead with half-an-hour to play. The one disappointing note was that the team let this slip, though this was in part through the luxury of rolling subs (indeed, the luxury of having any subs at all) and still represented something of an improvement. In the corresponding league fixture last season, the Jokers managed to concede five against PA, four coming from set pieces. On this occasion, all of PA’s goals came from set plays.

But it was the Jokers who opened the scoring. A throw-in from the left saw a defender push Juan Perez-Tejedor in the back and the referee awarded a penalty. In truth it looked a decision that was hard on PA, the sort of challenge that would be penalised in midfield, but that a defender might hope to get away with in the box. Perhaps that was still in the referee’s mind, as he disallowed Gamson’s first effort from the spot for encroachment. However, Gamson retained his composure to slot the ball to the keeper’s left in the same spot as the first, disallowed effort, to establish a lead.

Half-time saw the Jokers maintain that lead without ever threatening to extend it. On the other hand, PA weren’t exactly setting Market Rd on fire either (we tend to leave that to the local kids), despite some decent possession, and Linter had not been called on to make a save.

The Jokers extended their lead shortly after the restart. A Milner corner was swung in dangerously from the right-hand side and an unmarked Seaton-Smith was on hand to put the ball into the net. Initially this looked like a good header, but a sheepish giggle from Seaton-Smith produced an admission that the ball had gone in off his shoulder. Clearly, those years of friendship with ‘shoulder-heading’ expert Perez-Tejedor have not gone amiss.

The Jokers’ final goal was their best. The only goal of the match to come from open play, a superb, defence-splitting ball from Seaton-Smith found Milner and, under pressure from a defender, he coolly finished by clipping the ball over the advancing keeper.

The PA fight back then began. The first goal came from a quickly taken free-kick just outside the box. Linter threw himself to his left to pull off a good save, but the ball then fell to a forward. Remarkably, Linter managed to block his effort as well, but as it bounced down to their number nine inside the six-yard box, there was nothing he could do about the third attempt. An unlucky goal in some respects, but one compounded by the Joker’s failure to react after either Linter’s first or second stops.

Shortly afterwards, PA scored again; a corner from the Jokers’ right being flicked on off a shin at the near post and into the roof of the net. With about five minutes to go PA produced an equaliser. A harsh decision against Christian Perez-Tejedor produced a free-kick in the right-back position. With the Jokers marking-up, no-one attacked the ball as it bounced once inside the six-yard box and into the net untouched.

But pre-season is all about performances and not results and there was much here that was encouraging. The new players all performed well and we have to hope that at least some will return for the final pre-season friendly against another Div. 1 team, Dynamo Camford, in a fortnight’s time.