Wessex United 0–0 Marlborough United: a nine-man wall

Wessex United 0, Marlborough United 0. A scoreline that screams of a missed opportunity. Wessex sit 11th. They arrive on Saturday 29 August with a penchant for the stalemate. Marlborough arrive top of the pile. They are in red hot form. They are also, for sixty minutes of this game, severely shorthanded.

It starts poorly for the leaders. Antonio Cardamone sees red in the 22nd minute. A straight red. Five minutes later, Lautaro Acevedo-Mansilla follows him. Another straight red. It is a disaster. It is confirmed. Marlborough are down to nine men.

Sources say the dressing room is stunned. The plan is gone. Wessex have the numbers. They have the ball. They have absolutely no idea what to do with either. They probe. They pass. They fail to score. Marlborough simply stop the game from happening. They hold a line. They refuse to budge. It is an exercise in survival. One wonders if the Wessex strikers forgot how to shoot, or if the grass was simply too long. A point each. A result that satisfies no one, but manages to avoid a catastrophe for the league leaders.