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| Lightning bolt inspires Sports to victory Picture copyright: Joanne Stenson |
U15's
Saturday Division One Notts Youth League
Hucknall
Sports 4 Edwalton Cavaliers 2
25/1/14
After the
local council declared Edwalton’s pitch unplayable this game was moved to Goosedale
Sports Complex where an immaculate surface presented every opportunity for a
great game of football.
Newly
promoted Edwalton had found points hard to come by in Division One but their
results showed that they had been unlucky to miss out by the odd goal here and
there and Sports certainly were taking nothing for granted.
Hucknall
won the toss and decided to play with a strong wind at their backs in the first
half and started really well. They put Edwalton’s back line under immense
pressure and this resulted in a number of dangerous Tom Eastwood and Dante Diriso
corners but unfortunately Sports just could not covert them. The one occasion that
Eastwood found James Hallam at the far post his headed was well saved by the
impressive Edwalton keeper. A Diriso corner looked to be headed for the far
corner only to see it clawed away at the last moment. Only 10 minutes into the
game an injury to inspirational midfielder Mitch Davies saw him replaced by Maleek
Batten who immediately imposed himself on the game with a neat inter-change on
the edge of the box. But the shot was closed down just as he was about to ‘pull
the trigger’. As the clock ticked away and the scores stayed level Sports
became more hurried as they knew that the second half would be a different proposition.
Finally, the goal came when a looping ball over the opposition defence saw
Hallam bravely put himself in between opposition centre half’s and goalie to
somehow scramble it into the net. But if Sports thought that this would
open the floodgates they were wrong, well not in the football sense anyway.
Half-Time:
Hucknall Sports 1 Edwalton Cavaliers 0
Buoyed by
an impressive defensive display Edwalton started the second half really well and
a fine move saw them get themselves back into the game and level the scores.
Hucknall were rattled and starting to get overrun in midfield. Clear cut
opportunities for strikes on goal were non-existent as Sports insisted on
playing down the middle instead of going wide. Edwalton on the other hand looked
odds on to find another goal and with it possibly secure their first three
points of the season.
Sports
needed a spark of inspiration and it arrived in the most unlikely of sources. The
heavens opened! Hail stones, lightning bolts and wild lashing rain brought a temporary
halt to proceedings and both teams took shelter waiting for the weather to improve.
On their
return to play Sports looked like a completely different team and were back to
their magnificent best. Maleek Batten and Mitch Davies regained control of
midfield and the left sided combination of Kieran Green and Tom Eastwood
started to terrorise the opposition. Time and again they got around the back
and on one occasion they found Hallam who was crudely upended by the goalkeeper
to win a penalty. This was to prove the turning point of the game and much
praise must go to Danny Darlow for showing the courage to step up in such tense
circumstances. He dispatched his shot expertly, Edwalton’s heads dropped and
before they could recover Darlow had got a second when he tiptoed his way
through the mud to slot nicely into the bottom corner. Sports had not finished
yet and Ellis Evans got himself a goal which was richly deserved for his
terrific performance. In the final minutes Edwalton got a second but it proved
to be nothing more than a consolation as Sports claimed victory from the jaws
of defeat.
Full-Time:
Hucknall Sports 4 Edwalton Cavaliers 2
Sports will
know that but for the lightning bolt that stopped play this result could have
been very different. However, the last 20 minutes of play from them was nothing
short of brilliant. Hucknall scored three times and could have had at least a
couple more. The challenge for them is to play like that from the outset in the
remaining games of the season and you never know where that might take you.
Special
mention goes to Sports central defensive partnership of Skipper Joe Newton and
Jarrod Davies who gave the team a solid back line that was essential for the
second half and helped build the platform for the eventual victory.
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| Ellis Evans |
Late update to this report. Could'nt resist including these pictures of our dedicated mums. Thanks for sharing Joanne Stenson.
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| Kelly Brandom |
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| Vonny Hallam |
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