Ten men FC United beat Rushall Olympic - full report

FC United gained a narrow but vital 1-0 victory over Rushall Olympic at Bower Fold on Saturday afternoon with Matthew Kay scoring his first goal for the club.

Kay is claiming the only goal of the game, which came in the 70th minute, although Rushall defender Mitchell Tolley did unwittingly get the final touch before the ball crossed the line.

Tthe Reds had to battle hard to protect the lead, even more so after Scott Cheetham was sent off for two bookable offences with 15 minutes remaining.

Thankfully, Karl Marginson’s side did enough to take all three points. The win maintains our eighth place spot in the Evo-Stik Premier Division as we welcome Blyth Spartans to Bower Fold on Tuesday night, fresh from their FA Cup exploits. The Northumberland club reached the First Round Proper yesterday.

The first half was short on action with only two shots wide of the goal, one for either side. Within five minutes of the restart FC had their first clear chance on goal when a Kay cross was headed wide by Mike Norton.

Norton was involved again nine minutes later when he challenged the Olympic keeper Cameron Belfield. As they both landed, Belfield took exception to the challenge and reacted to the Reds striker, throwing him onto the post.

With 20 minutes to play, FC scored the only goal of the game as a Craig Lindfield free-kick was glanced on by Kay only for Rushall’s Tolley to head into his own goal.

Five minutes later, Cheetham saw red when he collected his second yellow for not retreating at a free-kick.

As the game drew on, the red card count could have been equalled as Carl Palmer put in an atrocious challenge on Norton on halfway, almost putting him in the stand. Once things calmed down, referee Mr Jonston inexplicably saw the challenge as only a caution.

In the last minute, The Pics nearly took home an undeserved point with substitute Stan Mugisha bringing a fine save from FC United goalkeeper Dave Carnell.

It was a battling performance from FC, with a well deserved three points. The game may have been short on goalmouth action but the players dug in, especially with 10 men, when required.

Report by Steven Wood

Website man of the match - Craig Lindfield. Out for a couple of months with injury but slotted back well into the side before tiring late on. Looked hungry for the ball and brought his teammates in well.