Men's 2nd XI Vs Mansfield 3

10/11/2018

Match Report: 
South Nottingham 2’s vs Mansfield 3’s

A wet and windy Bingham welcomed 4th place Mansfield 3’s, who arrived to try and close the 6 point gap to the mighty South Nottingham 2’s sat comfortably in 3rd place on goal difference following a 6 match 100% record...

We also welcomed Tom Fletcher and Sam Clough and Tony Ellis back into the fold!

Following a few early skirmishes, Mansfield found themselves ahead after bundling the ball into the South net after a number of missed tackles, the lead was doubled shortly afterwards in very similar fashion! 0-2 within 15 mins.. This seemed to kick start South into something resembling a hockey team and chances started to come, only to find a very accomplished goal keeper having the game of his life! Picking incredible saves out of what seemed like certain goals - South should have had at least 3 or 4 goals! 
Unfortunately, with almost the last play of the half, Mansfield managed to scramble yet another scrappy goal across the line to lead by 3 at half time...

A stern but realistic halftime team talk by Captain Grozzy urged the South players to stay focussed, play for each other and to try to grab the game back with a view to win it 5-3!!!

Second half started with a bang as straight from the off South managed to burst through the Mansfield defences with Alex J slipping the ball across the keeper to Grozzy who touched the ball in from close range! 1-3!
Literally seconds later, the same combination almost resulted in another goal when Alex J drew the entire Mansfield defence to the fire a square pass to the skipper in the p-spot who fired just wide (trying to break the net - DOD)... Unfortunately, South started to lose players to injury, Stevie W’s Hamstring gave way, followed by Grozzy’s calf.. luckily Sam C & Craig L were on hand to step in and enable South to push forward once more!
The solid defensive unit of Batty, Elliot D, Tom F and Tony E broke down every Mansfield attack, which in turn fed the midfield unit of Adam S, Craig L, Gaz P and Sam C, creating more and more chances for the frontvpairingbof Alex J & Mikey S to take advantage of.. 
Some slick interplay and a nice short corner routine saw Alex J grab a couple of well finished goals in quick succession, 3-3! 
The game was now for the taking...

With time ticking down, another gritty defensive display saw the ball break through the midfield, then with a couple of well placed passes putting Mikey S through to finish with a thunder bolt from the top of the D! 4-3!

Great game management from here onwards saw the game out and gave South 7 wins from the first 7 matches of the season!

At the final whistle, Mansfield were visibly shaken by the result, so much so, that their excellent keeper was in tears!

No hard feelings though as the oppo came back for teas & a pint at The Cranmer and all was well..

Fantastic second half performance by everyone involved, it was really too close to call for Man of the Match, as everyone put in a shift, the makeshift defensive unit played solidly, the Mids managed to dominate and find spaces seemingly not there in the 1st half, and the forwards made it extra hard work for their defence! A couple of performances really stood out for me though - Sam Clough with his driving runs giving the defence a real problem and Alex Jones (finally playing in his correct position) who made the 1st goal, scored the next two and was instrumental in our attacking play all match.

Many thanks to Ray and Ken for umpiring in challenging weather conditions too!

Onwards and upwards to next week, another home game, this time against struggling Derwent 3’s..

Match Reporter: Grozzy