Men's 2nd XI Vs Derby 3

Match report.. DERBY 3’s V SNHC 2’s
19-1-19

Chris ‘cotters’ Cotterill reporting!!

A damp and cold afternoon saw the mighty 2’s take on a mid-table Derby team on their own patch with a few changes to the normal line up. Sam C returning to the starting 11 on the right wing and Dan S slipping back in at right back. Grozzy’s team talk before the match harked at some issues suffered in previous games where we weren’t quite “switched on” from the start. However, it appears nobody listened as Derby put the pressure on from the beginning and after a bit of a melee in the South D, it ended with the ball in the back of the goal. Derby 1-0 up after 5 minutes. This seemed to spur South in to life and some good strong tackles from Leon and Batty coupled with accurate passing kept Derby at arms length and allowed South to explore the opposition half. A slick passing move saw Ellz break free in to the opposition D and 1 on 1 with the keeper, where he neatly flicked the ball over the on rushing keeper to make it 1-1. Game on. A couple of subs saw Mark R and Cotters come on for their debuts. Will Brydon and Sharpey were breaking down attacks and controlling the midfield whilst Gary on the wing was making the usual nuisance of himself. Some good passing saw the ball with Grozzy’s back to goal and a little lay off allowed Cotters to get a shot off which found its way in to the bottom corner. South were up 2-1 at half time. The second half started with the same personnel as the first and even though South were gifting possession away a bit too regularly, Derby didn’t manage to muster much. Solid work at the back and some brilliant defending from short corners keeping them mostly out. South managed to get a short of their on (and their only one of the match). A well worked and well drilled routine started with Batty rolling back the years to inject perfectly. Gary stopped for Will to shimmy round their runner and find Grozzy at the back post to deflect in and make it 3-1. I think even the Aussies would have been proud of that one! A few minutes later South passed the ball right down the middle, from the back, through Will and up to Grozzy, whose skills and diving reverse stick shot found its way under the keeper and put South 4-1 up. A double substitution was required again to keep the legs fresh. South kept making life difficult for themselves with soft passes and Derby managed to force their way in and get a shot off which passed Simon in goal and was dubiously stopped on the line by a foot. Penalty flick was given but Simon was up for the challenge and saved the resulting flick, low, with his body. There was still 10 minutes left to go when Cotters found himself in the D with the ball at his feet and the reverse stick shot wrong footed the keeper as South made it 5-1. South saw out the remaining time and came away with a well earned 3 points. On to next week when there may be a couple more debuts!!