Deja vu time for Sports

U15's Notts Youth League

Saturday Division 1 

Hucknall Sports 1 Greenwood Meadows 4

28/9/13

Sports welcomed Greenwood Meadows to Goosedale for Saturdays 3:00pm kick-off in Division One of the Under 15 league. Greenwood had made a 100% start to the season and thrashed Rolls 7-0 in their last game so Sports knew this was going to be the sternest of tests.

Hucknall had almost everyone to call on for once with only Matt Leivers and Ryan Towle unavailable. With the exception of a swap of Dante Diriso for Leivers Sports started with the same team that had done so well in the previous game against Long Eaton. Greenwood’s first attack saw them get around the back of Sports defence too easily and Hucknall were relieved to see the header loop up and over the cross-bar. Good work from Charlie Blatherwick in midfield found James Hallam in space and a wonderful pass inside the Greenwood defender presented a great chance for Diriso to go one-on-one with the keeper only to see his shot smothered at the second attempt. This served to give Sports a shot of confidence and for the next 20mins they penetrated Greenwood’s back line time and again. Tom Eastwood stood out as Sports danger man on the left side and turned his marker inside and out. Skipper James Stenson got on the end of an Eastwood corner and his fantastic shot just missed at the far post. More corners followed and Blatherwick went close in a scramble soon followed by a Mitch Davies shot being blocked on the line. Greenwood got a lucky break when a bad bobble in the penalty area presented them with the easiest of opportunities to take the lead. Hucknall responded by bringing Maleek Batten and Danny Darlow into the game and this helped make Sports the dominant team in midfield. Unfortunately, just prior to half-time Skipper Stenson had to limp off for the 3^rd week running with a recurrence of his hamstring problem.

Half time: Hucknall Sports 0 Greenwood Meadows 1

Sports were forced to move Mitch Davies to centre-half alongside Joe Newton with Blatherwick and Batten renewing their midfield partnership for the start of the second half. Greenwood used the strong wind to great effect and lumped the ball long time and again to try and exploit the space behind Sports defenders. Three quick goals followed and effectively the game was over, or so Greenwoood thought. But Sports refused to throw in the towel and continued to press forward. Batten and Eastwood combined well on the left side on a number of occasions but their crosses just could not find a Sports player and Greenwood were happy to clear their lines. Finally, the goal came when Blatherwick collected the ball on the edge of the area and drilled a lovely shot into the bottom right corner. Further chances followed for Sports and Kieran Green smashed a wonderful volley from just over the bar from the edge of the area. Blatherwick had another good shot saved and Dante Diriso made the most of his pace on the right-side to get around the back of the Greenwood defence but the goal would simply not come and the game finished 4-1.

Full time:  Hucknall Sports 1 Greenwood Meadows 4

This was a great game of football played in the right spirit. Yes, Greenwood played well but for the second week running Sports will be ruing the missed chances early on and wondering what might have been had they taken them.

Lots of positives to take from the game though and much credit to the boys for refusing to give in. They created enough problems for the league’s top team to know that better times are just around the corner for Hucknall.

Mitch Davies

Man of the Match today was Mitch Davies. First half saw him give a terrific ‘midfield general’ performance where he lead by example and showed for the ball time and again. In the second half he played in centre defence and put in a battling performance alongside Joe Newton – well done Mitch, really great performance.