Lingers struggle against the 12 men of Little Common

Common struck first in the 16th minute through Lewis Hole.The Lingers responded well and started to dominate the game with Sam Bell and Matt Burroughs both having efforts which went close. The breakthrough finally came when Charlie Dodd's powered home a header from a Matt Burroughs corner. Lingers went into the break expecting a difficult second half because of the wind but what happened in the second half came as a shock to both teams.

Lingfield continued to battle well but Common took the lead through a wind assisted goal from the lively Tate. Moments later Bell went close with a header which was saved well by the Common keeper. The referee then proceeded by booking every tackle Lingfield made and every comment which was made to the referee resulted in a caution. The referee awarded Common a dubious free kick which was well finished by Eldridge, 3-1 Common. The officials were once again at their best as Tate was put through on goal but appeared to be at least 10 yards offside, at this point it was no shock to see the flag stay down. Tate rounded the keeper and performed his best Tom Daley impression to which the referee obviously gave a penalty which was finished by the expensive Tate, 4-1 Common. Mat Gates pulled one back for Lingfield with a fantastic goal, after rounding 3 Common players he delightfully finished from 25 yards to reduce the deficit to 4-2. Game on. The referee continued his lively form and brandished yellow cards to the Lingfield players and reward Marc McEvilly two yellow cards.
Common got 2 goals late on to put the game out of reach but it was a shame that the match was spoilt by the officials and we look forward to welcoming Common in the return fixture.