Last Friday night saw a game between Douglas United and Stratford FC in the FNQ football Second division at Stratford.

The game would be a very close affair but with a massive turning point in the game Douglas would keep the momentum going and chalk up another win.
 
The game got off to a fairly slow start with both teams looking to play direct football but with a very slow tempo which was leading to a lot of turnovers of possession.

Stratford, trying to test the ability of the Douglas back line and keeper, began to cross numerous times into the box but the Douglas defence was not having that hard of a time in dealing with what Stratford had been producing.
 
That said, one of the crosses Stratford did produce caused a huge problem for Douglas. The cross itself was seemingly cleared by a Douglas defender's hand and as we all waited for the referee to give the penalty he started to look away as though nothing had happened.

Unfortunately for Douglas the assistant referee had seen the incident and got the referee's attention informing him that Stratford should have a penalty kick. He awarded it and rightly so. The Stratford striker made no mistake from the spot and made it 1-0.
 
This goal did little to change the impact of the flow of the game as it fell right back into the same pattern. Douglas created very few moments in the first half and they were looking to get in at half time to regroup and come out fresh for the second half with the score line still 1-0 to Stratford.

However, this should not of been possible when a Stratford player got put through clear of the defence and was pretty much rugby tackled to the ground by a Douglas defender.

As we waited for the referee to produce a penalty and a red card, everyone on the field could not believe their eyes when he decided to produce neither and deemed it to be just a coming together.
 
After the half Douglas came out looking a lot sharper and brighter. The quality of football had suddenly gone up a level and confidence seemed to be flowing.

The fact confidence was flowing would explain why Neil Burcombe felt like having a shot from over forty yards out for Douglas. As the ball left his foot he was heard to utter his disappointment in his attempt.

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That all changed when a matter of three seconds later the ball was in the back of the net and it was 1-1. To score from that far out is something that will surely not be seen again this season.
 
Under two minutes later Douglas found themselves in possession of the ball. After a few quality passes around the field the ball found itself at the feet of Joe Fox who played a superb ball in behind the Stratford defence for the run of Adam Wright who calmly and collectedly took the ball around the keeper and slotted it in for 2-1 Douglas.

The game had been completely turned around in the space of minutes in Douglas' favour.
 
After Douglas had taken the lead they held strong and retained the ball as best they could right up until the final whistle to claim victory.
 
The 'Paddys Irish Bar' man of the match award would go to Daniel Ferrero who has become a big presence in the starting Douglas team despite his young age.
 
Tonight Douglas travel to JCU with the game starting at 8pm.

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