U14's
Saturday Shield
Bottesford
4 Hucknall Sports 4
20/10/12
In
the only game of the Division during the Half-Term break unbeaten Sports made
the long trip to Bottesford. New boys Bottesford had recovered from a poor
start to the season to put together a fine run of 3 consecutive victories and
knew that a win would take them top of the table.
On
what has to be the smallest pitch in the league Sports started the game very
well and took the match to Bottesford. Early pressure produced opportunities
for Sports and they were unlucky not to go into the lead after a well taken
corner went narrowly wide of the target. But soon enough the lead was theirs
when the in-form Owen Everton lashed a curling shot under the Bottesford
keeper. However, almost directly from the restart Sports normally reliable
defence were caught napping and Bottesford equalised with a simple tap in. This
was quickly followed by a second with the referee unsighted to a blatant
handball that pushed the ball passed Sports last man. Bottesford extended their
lead even further when a harmless looking free-kick from wide on the right
somehow found its way in at the near post. Hucknall looked rattled and sought
to get back into the game as quickly as possible. Returning winger Jacob Barlow
provided the spark that Sports needed when he made the most of a fumble by the
opposition goalie to score his first goal of the season. He very nearly had a
second after a great through-ball from Hallam gave him a chance to shoot only
for the Keeper to deny him with a fine save. The introduction of Dante Diriso
injected more pace up front and he continued his rich vein of form with some
thrusting runs to stretch the well marshalled Bottesford back line.
Half
time: Bottesford 3 Hucknall Sports 2
Bottesford
extended their lead early in the second half when Sports attempt to keep the
ball alive backfired and you would be forgiven for thinking that the game
looked to be heading the oppositions way. But Sports are made of stern stuff
and you can never write them off. A triple change saw Ollie Bowley, James
Hallam and Charles Blatherwick all introduced within the space of 5mins and the
game suddenly took on a different complexion once more. Good work by Sports
forced a corner that Bowley delivered into the danger area for Blatherwick to
power home a fine header. Now is was Bottesford’s time to looked rattled.
Great battling play in midfield, in particular by Captain for the day Mitch
Davies, created the platform for Sports to drive forward looking for the
equaliser. Tom Eastwood, carrying a knee injury, made a terrific run to the byline
and put in a wonderful cross that Sports just couldn’t convert. Hucknall had to
swap centre-half James Stenson for Ryan Towle after his week in a sick-bed
finally started to take its toll. Then fine work once more by Blatherwick and
Eastwood saw the ball find its way to the unmarked Bowley who hit a first-time
shot in at the near post to draw the scores level with only 10 minutes to go.
It was Sports who looked the more likely to grab the winner after staging a
fantastic come-back. But efforts from Blatherwick, Hallam and Dylan Smith
drifted narrowly wide and with Hucknall encamped in the opposition half the
referees whistle blew all too soon with the score level.
Full
time: Bottesford 4 Hucknall Sports 4
Incredibly
Sports last 2 matches have now finished 4-4. In the previous week we were
unlucky to drop points to a fluke goal. But this week a fantastic fighting
spirit and determination to keep an unbeaten run going allowed the boys to grab
a draw when others might have folded.
Today’s
Man of the Match was awarded to Dante Diriso for his strength and speed.
Dante’s improvement this season has been a joy to behold and we look forward to
what will surely be an outstanding season for a boy who has worked so hard to
improve his game – well done Dante, keep it going.
Well
done all the boys on a great start to the season. Enjoy your half-term break
and look forward to our cup game with Trowell on the 3rd November.
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