Sports not afraid of Spiders (again)

U16's Division One

West Bridgford Spiders 0 Hucknall Sports 1

29/11/14

After a disappointing loss to Keyworth on the previous weekend Sports traveled to high flying West Bridgford Spiders for their last league game of the year looking for a positive reaction and in need of three points.

Both teams are renowned for playing a stylish brand of football but faced with a ‘pudding’ of  a pitch they were going to find it a real struggle.

Missing several members of the squad Sports had to shuffle the pack and took the opportunity to play Ryan Towle in central defence and give Danny Darlow a run in central midfield. With traffic at a standstill on the ring road Skipper James Stenson and Dylan Smith arrived just as the team were about to kick off. Hucknall moved the ball around nicely trying to find a way through the mud but all too often the pitch intervened and thwarted any chance of fluid passing. The best chances to score looked like being from set pieces and a dangerous Tom Eastwood free-kick from the right edge of the penalty area was tipped over with a fine save from Spiders keeper. A clever Adey Lang corner to the near post nearly caught the opposition out but was scrambled away to safety. Later James Hallam thought he was through on goal but was narrowly adjudged off-side as he took aim. Hucknall’s new shape defence looked very solid and the only real notable danger came from a corner when the tall Spiders right-back stole in at the far post but Towle did enough to ensure that his header just missed the target. Full backs Matt Leivers and Kieran Worthington ‘showed’ for the ball at every opportunity and regularly threaded neat passes to their midfielders.

In a flash the first half was gone and the scores were still level.

Half-Time: West Bridgford 0 Hucknall Sports 1

After cleaning the mud from their boots Sports re-entered the game with the only change being Dylan Smith resuming his normal right-back position. Hucknall sensed a victory was theirs for the taking and Lang was desperately unlucky when he beat the keeper only for the ball to cannon off the post and back across the penalty area. Shortly after appeals for a penalty were waved away when the same player was dragged down in the area. Mitch Davies broke free on the left side and swung over a terrific cross but Dante Diriso’s header narrowly missed the target. Maleek Batten entered the game in central midfield and sent in a stinging shot that was well held by the keeper. Then a goal kick from Kal Orton picked out Diriso and his glancing header beat the defensive line of Spiders to set Lang free. Still with plenty to do Lang hit a ‘Ronaldo-esque’ shot that looped over the opposition keeper to give Sports a well deserved lead. Eastwood looked to have setup a chance to put the game out of reach but his cross for Hallam to score was judged offside. Sports had more chances but the opposition goal lead a charmed life as goal-bound shots were bundled away to safety. Spiders switched to a front three but Sports defenders were in no mood to concede goals today. The central combination of Towle and Stenson looked unbreakable and wing-backs Dylan Smith and Matt Leivers were simply immense not just for their tackling but also for driving their team forward in creative fashion rather than panicking and booting the ball clear. Spiders threw the kitchen sink at Sports looking for the equaliser and looked about to score when a ball broke clear just outside the penalty area for their striker to rifle in a blistering drive only for Hucknall keeper Orton make the save of the season and palm the ball onto the crossbar and then see his defenders clear away to safety.

Full-Time: West Bridgford 0 Hucknall Sports 1

How soon things can change in football. Last week we were scratching our heads wondering how we didn't get something out of the game. This week we were wondering how we would cope when playing a top team with a number of members of the squad missing. But this was a truly remarkable performance. From front to back every single boy put in a terrific performance and shows the strength in depth that we possess.

All credit to Rue Hallam for putting together a training ground drill to iron out the problems of last week, but even greater credit to the boys for having the belief to carry it onto the pitch.

For the second week running the winner of today’s Man of the Match was Mitch Davies. An almost impossible decision but the deciding votes came from opposition management and the referee who all picked out the same player for the award – well done Mitch, truly awesome performance.

Special mention goes to the defensive unit of skipper Stenson, Towle, Smith, Leivers, Worthington and not forgetting Keeper Orton and THAT save and our first clean sheet of the season in the league - well done boys.

Phew what a game!

#properfootball