![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.albionfc.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/Richard-Pemberton.JPG\" "\\"Richard")
<\/a>Pemberton: Like a Volvo 240 Estate 2.3l<\/p><\/div>\n
We kicked off. And despite the poor conditions a decent game off football broke out. Albion seemed to adapt most quickly to the conditions, bypassing the boggy midfield areas by exploiting the better playing surface on the wings through the Two Nicks. Judicious use of the long diagonal also paid dividends with Rich causing his usual havoc up front with his trademark \u00e2\u20ac\u0153skidding Volvo estate\u00e2\u20ac\u009d dribbling.<\/p>\n
So to the first of many controversies in the game. Despite the bright start, Albion almost conceeded the first goal. A deep cross to the back post was headed past Barker in goal. But the referee disallowed it for pushing. I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see it but I wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t going to argue.<\/p>\n
Not long after though Albion were deservedly ahead. Can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t remember who played the through ball \u00e2\u20ac\u201c might have been one of the Nick\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s or Steve \u00e2\u20ac\u201c but it was a lovely dink over the defender which allowed Rich to run through and finish first time past the keeper. 1 nil to the Albion.<\/p>\n
From there, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m a bit hazy on how the scoring went. But I think I can be forgiven for that due to the amount of drama within the match \u00e2\u20ac\u201c more on that later. Suffice to say, and cutting a confused story short, by half time we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d managed to open up a 4-2 lead.<\/p>\n
This was largely courtesy of a first half hat-trick by Steve. His first came after he chased down a long ball. He robbed the defender then slotted past the keeper. His second owed a lot to Rich who wangled some space and shot at the goal only to find his effort hold up in the mud. Fortunately, Steve was on hand to gobble up the chance like a greedy Shearer, bundling the ball home from fully 6 inches out – past the despairing dives of the Wanderers defenders.<\/p>\n
Westminster though began to adapt to the conditions. And from here the game turned into an end-to-end contest with chances galore. Adding to the spectacle was the pitch which was giving both teams a lot to contend with. The centre of it was almost unplayable. Any ball along the ground would simply became stuck in the mud after 10 or 15 yards and the treacherous footing made any attempt to change direction entirely fruitless.<\/p>\n
Intriguingly, despite the heavy conditions Nick Milne had chosen to play the game in moulds. This, though, didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seem to make any difference to his game as he seemed to skate over the cloggy surface like a pint-sized Torvill and Dean.<\/p>\n
As if the pitch wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t adding enough drama to the match, the referee and part-time Dimitar Berbatov impersonator decided to get into the act by making decisions entirely at random. To the mystification of both sides goal kicks were given as corners and vice versa, and free kicks were given for seemingly arbitary reasons regardless of whether a foul had actuall been committed. Throw-ins provided a regular and continual source of bemusement to both teams with Berbaref initially adopting a \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcanything goes\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 approach. However, just in case anyone might accuse of him of at least some form of consistency, he took a disliking to the Donfather\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s throw-ins \u00e2\u20ac\u201c even though they didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seem any better or worse than anybody elses.<\/p>\n
Anyway, second half and Westminster made a couple of substitutions. The fresh legs seemed to work as Albion found themselves pegged back in their own half, with the first 20 minutes alone seeming to be played in my left back area. It looked like we were might ride out the pressure, but in told in the end and Westminster nicked one back 4-3.<\/p>\n