Jason Stein has launched a stinging attack on Faithfold A and described Oakwood’s match against them as “more UFC than football”.
The Oakwood manager (pictured above) watched on in horror on a morning when he claimed Faithfold “came to fight, not play”.
He said: “Faithfold were egged on by two irresponsible managers, they set the tone for violence. After five minutes you could see that certain players — and we all know who they are — came to let some anger off.
"At times it was thuggery. We lost Dan Ash to suspected ligament damage. One day someone is going to be very seriously hurt by those UFC stars."
Stein claims when he “tried to shake hands with the Faithfold goalkeeper at the end of the match, he was “squirted with Lucozade”.
Prior to kick-off, Stein revealed Faithfold had asked for an earlier kick-off so their players could watch the north London derby between Arsenal and Spurs on television. It was an invitation he declined.
He said: “Faithfold requested a 9am and then 9.30am start. I fail to see why Arsenal against Spurs is a reason to change the entire league format. Like Spurs against Chelsea was last year. If the players want to go to the game great, good luck to them. Go. If they want to play then play. If you cannot do both then choose one.” He joked: “I would love to kick-off at 11am every week so I could watch The Andrew Marr Show. But we don’t.
"I can only assume they were wound up because they had to choose between playing football or going to football — big deal."
Faithfold joint-manager Robert Shooman said he finds Stein’s comments “peculiar”. He said: “It was not a dirty game and to be honest, I’m a little upset with the personal accusations.
"I don’t have thugs playing for me and we don’t have players who turn up wanting to fight."
He confirmed Faithfold had “half a dozen players who missed the game due to the north London derby” and added: “Those who wanted to play played."
Commenting on the match which finished 3-3, Shooman said: “We were the better team but must congratulate the way Oakwood hung on to their lucky point. We look forward to the return game and hopefully being able to put out our full squad."
