Monday, 24 January 2011
Evans inspires Sports to the Semi's
22/01/11 Saturday U12's Cup Underwood Villa 0 Hucknall Sports 3 Frosty conditions meant that this game was delayed by an hour as the venue was moved from Brinsley to Bestwood Village (Goosedale) and with both teams enduring a frustrating league campaign it was a chance to relax in this Cup Quarter-final match. The only change for Sports saw them rearrange their defensive line-up and deploy Dante Diriso at left-back in place of the holidaying Tom Eastwood. From the start it was clear that Sports had brought their confidence of the previous weeks with them and got the perfect start when Jacob Barlow bicycle-kicked his team into the lead when he latched onto a ball just inside the 6-yard box. Charlie Blatherwick's intelligent use of the ball saw him cutting the Villa defence apart with a great range of passes from his new position at the head of midfield and one such pass saw James Hallam's blistering run and shot narrowly miss the target at the far post. In defence Diriso showed his versatility by being able to both break-up play with great tackles and also setup attacks by driving his team forward. Villa did have a good spell of pressure midway through the half and might have punished Sports defence had it not been for Keeper Kal Orton who was alert to any dangers and quick off the mark. Sports finished the half pushing to extend the lead but had to settle for 1-0 as the whistle blew. Half Time: Underwood Villa 0 Hucknall Sports 1 For the second half Sports switched Ellis (Welsh Wizard) Evans into centre midfield where he made good use of the ball to release his team mates with a great range of passing. Buckly Gibson-Brown showed he had listened to the coaching instructions and proved a great threat on both the right and left wings. Evans vision set free Hallam who finished with the composure of someone twice his age to score after rounding the Underwood keeper. Centre-back Ryan Towle launched a thunderbolt strike from 30 yards after Villa cleared the ball from a corner but his shot narrowly missed the far post by inches. Then Towle started a 10-pass move which resulted in Oliver Bowley 'megging' the Villa defender with a weighted pass to setup Ellis Evans to round of his Man of the Match performance with a shot high into the top corner - the Sports fans went wild with appreciation and even drew applause from the neutrals for the skill of the football. Soon after the final whistle blew for a victory that saw Sports make the semi-final's of the Saturday U12 Cup and a home game against West Bridgford. Full Time: Underwood Villa 0 Hucknall Sports 3 There are so many good things to say about this performance, but the summary has to be that it was a great team performance. Strong when we needed to be strong and skilful also when creating a series of great moves. This set of boys have worked so hard get their season going and finally have started go see some rewards. Let's kick on now and take this type of performance into the League games. Man of the Match was almost impossible to chose today with great performances all around the pitch. Joe Newton was great in defence (again), Mitch Davies was awesome in midfield (again) and James Hallam a constant threat up front (again). However, for his terrific passing and wonderful goal the award goes to Ellis Evans - Well done Ell, great performance.
Sports give Long Eaton a real fright
15/01/11
Saturday U12's Division One
Long Eaton 3 Hucknall Sports 1
Blustery conditions greeted Hucknall and Long Eaton as they arrived at West Park for their second game in a week. Predictions of a thrashing for Sports had emerged from some of the Long Eaton players after they had won 4-0 the previous week.
Playing into the wind Sports started the better of the two teams and central midfielders Mitch Davies and Harry (H-Bomb) Saxton worked hard to take possession of the ball. Hucknall created the first of the games chances from a good cross by Jacob Barlow that Long Eaton managed to scramble away from James Hallam as he was waiting to pounce. Frustrated Long Eaton showed a moment of composure to sidestep a challenge on the edge of the Sports penalty area and finished well to take the lead and then in first half injury time United went 2-0 up with a half-volley goal that just eluded Sports keeper Kal Orton.
Half Time: Long Eaton 2 Hucknall Sports 0
Sports now had the advantage of the wind with at their backs and Long Eaton struggled to get out of their own half as Hucknall pushed forward. Good pressure from James Hallam created a defensive mix-up in the United backline and he fired Sports back into the game when intercepting a poor back pass. United were rattled and when Hucknall were awarded a free-kick wide on the left Sports fans sensed a chance to draw level but Blatherwick's goal-bound header was defended well. Sports right winger, Buckly Gibson-Brown, found himself clear on goal but just as he was about to shoot a last ditched United challenge cleared the ball. Then cruelly, with Sports going all out for an equaliser United broke and scored what a proved to be a vital third goal as the wind abated just long enough to allow rare second half Long Eaton shot to drift over the Sports goalie and into the back of the net.
Full Time: Long Eaton 3 Hucknall Sports 1
What a difference a week makes - The entire Sports squad showed tremendous believe in their ability to match the challenge of Long Eaton and on another day could easily have got something out of the game.
Many great performances all around the pitch mean that this weeks choice was particularly hard work. But for his fantastic heading, tackling and passing in midfield the award went to Mitch Davies.
His after-match video comments stating that the team had battled hard and closed down everything applied as much to him as the entire team - well done Mitch.
Let's take great heart from this performance and kick-on now for the rest of the season boys.
Saturday U12's Division One
Long Eaton 3 Hucknall Sports 1
Blustery conditions greeted Hucknall and Long Eaton as they arrived at West Park for their second game in a week. Predictions of a thrashing for Sports had emerged from some of the Long Eaton players after they had won 4-0 the previous week.
Playing into the wind Sports started the better of the two teams and central midfielders Mitch Davies and Harry (H-Bomb) Saxton worked hard to take possession of the ball. Hucknall created the first of the games chances from a good cross by Jacob Barlow that Long Eaton managed to scramble away from James Hallam as he was waiting to pounce. Frustrated Long Eaton showed a moment of composure to sidestep a challenge on the edge of the Sports penalty area and finished well to take the lead and then in first half injury time United went 2-0 up with a half-volley goal that just eluded Sports keeper Kal Orton.
Half Time: Long Eaton 2 Hucknall Sports 0
Sports now had the advantage of the wind with at their backs and Long Eaton struggled to get out of their own half as Hucknall pushed forward. Good pressure from James Hallam created a defensive mix-up in the United backline and he fired Sports back into the game when intercepting a poor back pass. United were rattled and when Hucknall were awarded a free-kick wide on the left Sports fans sensed a chance to draw level but Blatherwick's goal-bound header was defended well. Sports right winger, Buckly Gibson-Brown, found himself clear on goal but just as he was about to shoot a last ditched United challenge cleared the ball. Then cruelly, with Sports going all out for an equaliser United broke and scored what a proved to be a vital third goal as the wind abated just long enough to allow rare second half Long Eaton shot to drift over the Sports goalie and into the back of the net.
Full Time: Long Eaton 3 Hucknall Sports 1
What a difference a week makes - The entire Sports squad showed tremendous believe in their ability to match the challenge of Long Eaton and on another day could easily have got something out of the game.
Many great performances all around the pitch mean that this weeks choice was particularly hard work. But for his fantastic heading, tackling and passing in midfield the award went to Mitch Davies.
His after-match video comments stating that the team had battled hard and closed down everything applied as much to him as the entire team - well done Mitch.
Let's take great heart from this performance and kick-on now for the rest of the season boys.
Tough start to the new year for Sports
8/01/11
Saturday U12's Division One
Hucknall Sports 0 Long Eaton 4
Friday's light snow cleared in time for Sports to get back to Division One football action with a game against unbeaten Long Eaton United.
Sports started sluggishly and Long Eaton soon took full advantage with a well worked goal taking them into the lead after only minutes of the game. Hucknall then lost both Charlie Blatherwick and Mitch Davies in a matter of minutes to injury and had to introduce Harry Saxton and Dante Diriso in their place. Understandably, Sports midfield needed time to settle down but United were in no mood to allow that to happen and played some neat football to move into a three goal lead. Hucknall were struggling to find their passing range, but the introduction of Buckly Gibson-Brown brought about a positive effect and his long pass narrowly avoided putting James Hallam through on goal. Perhaps Sports best chance came from a long range Ryan Towle free-kick that the United keeper did well to hold onto at the second attempt.
Half Time: Hucknall Sports 0 Long Eaton United 3
Finally, Sports started to settle and the game levelled out into a battle of two midfields in the second half. Long Eaton extended their lead when Sports failed to close down the opposition striker who finished well. Late in the game Sports best move the match saw Mitch Davies put Gibson-Brown in behind the United defence and his cross was only narrowly put over the bar by the on rushing Dante Diriso.
Full Time: Hucknall Sports 0 Long Eaton United 4
After seven weeks without a competitive game Sports were bound to look a little 'rusty' and so it proved to be. We will get back to basics in training again this week and look to bring our composure from their into next Saturday's game.
Despite losing this game Sports had some notable performances. Ryan Towle and Joe Newton continue to look like a good defensive partnership and keeper Kal Orton did his reputation no harm at all with another great display. Ellis Evans showed more composure than most and looked to play some really clever football with neat passing and great vision. Today's Man of the Match went to Tom Eastwood for a great show of strength at left back. He coped with everything that United threw at him and showed what a valuable member of the team he is - well done Tommy.
Saturday U12's Division One
Hucknall Sports 0 Long Eaton 4
Friday's light snow cleared in time for Sports to get back to Division One football action with a game against unbeaten Long Eaton United.
Sports started sluggishly and Long Eaton soon took full advantage with a well worked goal taking them into the lead after only minutes of the game. Hucknall then lost both Charlie Blatherwick and Mitch Davies in a matter of minutes to injury and had to introduce Harry Saxton and Dante Diriso in their place. Understandably, Sports midfield needed time to settle down but United were in no mood to allow that to happen and played some neat football to move into a three goal lead. Hucknall were struggling to find their passing range, but the introduction of Buckly Gibson-Brown brought about a positive effect and his long pass narrowly avoided putting James Hallam through on goal. Perhaps Sports best chance came from a long range Ryan Towle free-kick that the United keeper did well to hold onto at the second attempt.
Half Time: Hucknall Sports 0 Long Eaton United 3
Finally, Sports started to settle and the game levelled out into a battle of two midfields in the second half. Long Eaton extended their lead when Sports failed to close down the opposition striker who finished well. Late in the game Sports best move the match saw Mitch Davies put Gibson-Brown in behind the United defence and his cross was only narrowly put over the bar by the on rushing Dante Diriso.
Full Time: Hucknall Sports 0 Long Eaton United 4
After seven weeks without a competitive game Sports were bound to look a little 'rusty' and so it proved to be. We will get back to basics in training again this week and look to bring our composure from their into next Saturday's game.
Despite losing this game Sports had some notable performances. Ryan Towle and Joe Newton continue to look like a good defensive partnership and keeper Kal Orton did his reputation no harm at all with another great display. Ellis Evans showed more composure than most and looked to play some really clever football with neat passing and great vision. Today's Man of the Match went to Tom Eastwood for a great show of strength at left back. He coped with everything that United threw at him and showed what a valuable member of the team he is - well done Tommy.
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