Freak Goal Punishes Sports

U14's Saturday Division 1b 

Hyson Green 1 Hucknall Sports 0

2/3/13   

After a no game the previous week Hucknall Sports travelled to Melbourne Park to take on Hyson Green. The run up to the game had not been ideal for Sports with Goalie Kal Orton and left back Kieran Green both suffering injuries. Fortunately Sports centre-half James Stenson didn’t hesitate to volunteer for the keepers shirt and Green showed real character to play through the pain barrier rather than letting his team mates down. Hucknall had to shuffle the pack and the line-up was almost unrecognisable from previous weeks with Ryan Towle dropped into the back four, Matt Leivers playing right-back, Dylan Smith right midfield and new boy Maleek Batten playing centre midfield.

On a dreadful pitch both teams started very cautiously. Sports created the first chance of note when Dante Diriso played in James Hallam but just as he was about to ‘pull the trigger’ the ball bobbled and his shot went astray. Hyson Green won a few corners which Sports defended without too much trouble. Stand-in Keeper James Stenson was commanding at the back and gathered any loose ball comfortably. Late on in the half Sports pressure from their own corner saw shots from Tom Eastwood and James Hallam blocked as Hyson Green ensured they had loads of bodies behind the ball. Eastwood had a strong shout for a penalty turned away by the referee but in truth the first half was one to forget with neither team troubling the opposition goalkeeper or managing to play particularly well.

Half time: Hyson Green 0 Hucknall Sports 0

The opposition started nicely in the second half and introduce their lightening striker within moments of the restart. Jacob Barlow narrowly missed out on converting a James Hallam pass with the ball just running out of play before he could get a hold of it. A nice move saw a half-chance fall to Tom Eastwood but he couldn’t find the target from a difficult angle. New boy Maleek Batten showed a great turn of pace to beat the Hyson Green back line to the ball and his shot troubled the goalie who gathered in at the second opportunity.

With the game looking like it was heading for a 0-0 draw Hyson Green won a corner on the left and Sports were left scratching their heads as the ball curled straight in at the far post.

Although time was running out Sports refused to give in and drove forward but just couldn’t breach the backline of the opposition before the final whistle blew.

Full time:  Hyson Green 1 Hucknall Sports 0

Quite how Sports failed to get something out of the game defies belief and it is hard to recall a shot from Hyson Green on target.

We can feel sorry for ourselves or decided to do something about it next Saturday. This team can achieve great things if they want to – it’s really in your hands boys.

Today’s winner of the Man of the Match Award was Matt Leivers for another outstanding performance – well done Matt and keep it up.