| Match Report |
Stuart Croston: South Nottm 2’s vs West Bridgford 6’s
Captain Grozzy reporting:
Never before has a fixture been subject to such “chatter” pre-game as to whether the match would actually take place!
Freezing fog took its toll on many early matches around the area, including all matches for the other teams within the club, an eagerly anticipated pitch inspection gave us the green light 2 hours ahead of push back. Once pitchside, even though the temperature was at zero degrees, the surface was good, albeit with questionable visibility, but safe enough to continue with the match!
We welcomed some new/returning players to the fold, namely young Hamza & Andy W from the 3’s, plus AJ & Tom P for a special appearance!
The match began with some great early exchanges leading to a couple of half chances, one of which the keeper deftly saved with his helmet from skipper Grozzy’s quick reaction shot following a great run and shot by a Nathan G.
The deadlock was broken by a lovely passage of play, defence switching the angle of attack, working through the midfield, down the right, ending with another incisive move by Nathan who drew the keeper, allowing him to pull back for Grozzy to finish first time high into the roof of the net from the P spot. 1-0.
We almost doubled our lead with another slick move, AJ with a defence splitting pass to Grozzy who drove into the D to the goal line to pull back for Mikey only for the keeper to stand firm and save well from close range.
Chances came and went but no more goals were scored as the halftime whistle blew.
Wise words came via Jon Lane, (starting his role as coach to aid development throughout the club) urging us to tighten up our formation and keep the high press going to force the mistakes from the opposition.
The 2nd half began better, we started to really boss the game but still the much needed 2nd goal was missing! West Bridgford almost made us pay with their own good passing move, the solid defences of Will B & Tom P saw the ball break to a young attacker who drilled the ball just wide past keeper Sam L’s post, keeping the clean sheet intact.
Jon L kept the troops fresh with regular substitutions and tweaked the line up to suit the game situation.
The relentless pressure finally told when a quick piece of thinking from a side line hit high in the opponent’s 25 area saw the ball find its way to the ever energetic Nathan who drove into the D and fired a shot across the goalkeeper into the bottom corner. 2-0.
The wind was now truly knocked out of Bridgford’s sails and a 3rd goal swiftly followed. Continued pressure on the exhausted Bridgford defence allowed the forward line of Elliot D & Mike S to work the ball to the back post for skipper Grozzy to finish off the game with only a couple of minutes to spare.
Final score: 3-0
Many thanks to Ray & Dick for umpiring in pretty challenging conditions!
|