Men's 2nd XI Vs Nottingham 3/4 XI

Match report from Mark Willey

Nottm 2/3’s vs SNHC 2’s  26/9 

A short trip to Goosedale for the last friendly of the season saw South’s 2’s facing a potentially stronger Notts side. 

After a strong team talk from skipper Jon Lane we faced the breeze and the whistle for the start of the game. Notts started with a friendly smash of the ball back to keeper Mark Doney who casually kicked the ball to the defence and started a string of good passes right into the Notts D.

Notts pressed hard and almost got the first goal of the match  with a diving flick to the top corner of the goal but luckily this was denied by the umpire who deemed the ball in was dangerous. (Good call!) 

Apart from this South dominated the first half with awesome work in the centre from Ben Walker, Nathan Gerard and Jon Lane. 
Forwards Andy Jenkins, Sam Clough, Finlay Collins and Ian Lane switching and running rings around the Notts defence-a real pleasure to watch. 
Great defensive work from Andy Wallace  Will Brydon, Rhys Collins and Mark Willey made sure Notts didn’t penetrate the D too many times and if they did Mark Doney was there to mop anything up that came his way. 

The first South goal came from a series of precise, crisp passes starting from defence linking Ben, AJ  and Jon to find Nathan in the Notts D and with a square pass to Ian south were 1-0 up. 
Despite hard work from South with some great work from the younger  generation  a second gaol wasn’t forthcoming and the halftime whistle was blown. 

The second half got under way with Notts changing formation and South seemed under a lot more pressure. Notts looking to bully there way past Souths youngsters and dominate play.  Fin and Rhys held there own and stood up to the aggressive opposition. 

Notts found the net early in the second half with a strike that keeper Mark couldn’t get a touch on.   1-1. South came back strong, determined to score again but despite the best efforts of the hardworking midfield it was not to be. 

An unfortunate error from Mr Willey in his own D cost South a short corner. Keeper Mark Doney saved 3 times before a deflection from DOD Mr Willey let it in the goal. 
2-1 Notts were elated. 

South weren’t finished and pushed forward again   with awesome skill from Wilston linking the midfield to assist Nathan Gerard who did the keeper like a peach, Souths second goal 2-2

A lack of composure from South found Notts pressing again into their 25, despite Ben putting ex south player Louis on his arse  Notts kept the pressure on and eventually pushed into the D. 
The 70,s pornstar playing for Notts managed his only shot, a reverse hit-which found Keeper Mark  in a rare lack of concentration not able to get a full glove on the shot. 3-2 to Notts. 

A frantic five minutes ensued with both teams trying to finish the game with a goal. Although Skipper Jon seemed to cover the entire pitch-beating his stick with abandon it wasn’t to be. 

Despite the score line South shouldn’t be disappointed. Hard work and commitment proves this team is ready for the start of the league next week.