Men's 1st XI Vs Chesterfield 2

Chesterfield 4 v 4 South Nottingham

After a defeat at the hands of top of the league Loughborough last week, South were keen to get their first points of 2020.

Having lost 3 out of the last 4 without him, South were buoyed to have their talismanic midfielder Stuart Mills return to the side after an injury, which would have ended the career of lesser men. ( I love writing match reports) South began brightly with the ball being shipped round the back sharply by Tommy, Harry, Mark and Fletch. This patient play and control of the ball eventually created a gap, which Tommy Crossland exploited with a driving run through the Chesterfield defence, where he rounded the keeper and found captain Gaz Bland to slot home.

South continued to try and play through the press but one short pass allowed Chesterfield in and there was nothing that Mark Doney could do from the deflected short to equalise.

Again South’s patience and possession style in the first 25 minutes was the best they had played all season and South soon capitalised on this. With Gaz Bland again slotting home. But the captain wasn’t finished, relishing returning up front, the skipper completed his hat trick and gave his side a 2 goal lead.

However, South lost their way and tiredness before the end of the half meant they resorted to hitting longer, more direct balls. This meant they lost control of possession and allowed Chesterfield back into the game to pull one back just before half term.

The message at half time was to play with the possession and patience that had seen South be the better side for most of the game. Yet South struggled to find their control again at the start of the second half and found a Chesterfield side with more energy pressing them higher. Chesterfield found their equaliser and South knew they needed to respond.

As the game went on Robbo and Mills managed to get hold of the ball more and South began to get their control back. With energy on the wings from Ben, Gaz and Dan South created a number of chances but were unable to take the lead.

South weren’t dispirited and after Gaz Rich got the skipper sent back to the half way line, South found Tom Crossland in the dee to slot home and give South the lead.

With ten minutes left in the game, South knew they were going to get the kitchen sink from Chesterfield and that’s exactly what they got. South repelled as long as they could, especially a brilliant helmet save from Mark Doney, but eventually Chesterfield won a controversial short and converted from this with a minute to go.

It left South wishing they would have converted some of their chances and had the last five minutes again. But for me, South shouldn’t be dispirited but take the positives of the hockey they played. A process they must stick with in the short term to reap the long term rewards. On a personal note, great to play hockey and not visit A & E!

MOM- Tommy P
DOD- Ben- obviously there’s no gyms in Chesterfield.