Darren's double delights addicks

By Rob Virtue on December 13, 2007 12:00 AM |

Tagged with:

DARREN Ambrose was the goalscoring hero against his old club, but it was only an eagle-eyed linesman that saved him an ear-bashing from his manager.
The two-goal man was ready to step up for his hat-trick after a penalty was awarded for handball in the second half of Saturday's (December 8) 3-1 win against Ipswich, before the linesman persuaded the referee it had come off the defender's chest.
While that meant he missed his chance for a third goal from the spot, it saved him the wrath of Alan Pardew, who after the game said he would have given Ambrose a piece of his mind as only Andy Reid is allowed to take penalties.

But for Ambrose it would have been a case of selective hearing.
"The ref pointed to the spot and Andy Reid said 'go on, get your hat-trick', and I was delighted," he said. "I've never scored two in a senior game before so I was begging for my hat-trick, but it was never to be. I don't think the gaffer
would have had a choice of who was to take it. He was on the sideline and me and Andy decided I would take it. The gaffer may have been unhappy but I would have had the match ball as consolation."
The 23-year-old midfielder was delighted with his new role in the centre of a five-man midfield.
This year has been stop-start for Ambrose but he said he hopes his goals will help him cement a place in the starting line-up.
"The manager put Andy Reid on the left and me in the hole," he said. "I was pleased with that and glad I popped up with a couple of goals.
"We've got a lot of fantastic players in the squad and if he wants to rotate it then no-one can argue because we need to put out the 11 players each week who can win the game.
"Obviously I'd like to be playing every week, but with the players we've got you can't expect that.
"If you have a slight injury or a slight bad game you're going to be taken out.
"I think a couple of goals always helps the cause so I hope I can have the same role next week."
--------