Men's 3rd XI Vs West Bridgford 6

2nd placed South welcomed top of the table West Bridgford- on the same points but separated by a slim 2 goal difference - for their re-arranged fixture due to a frozen pitch pre-Christmas.  

An earlier resumption to the league than most were expecting, with a number of players reporting some pre-match rustiness the game started with Adam Sharpie Sharpe passing the ball off the side of the pitch straight from the push back - hopefully not an omen of things to come! 

The first 25 minutes saw both teams probe and tussle to gain a foot hold on the game, a tight encounter saw the deadlock broken by some sloppy defending by the South backline giving away a penalty corner that WB finished well with a flick from the top of the D. 0-1.

South rallied immediately and earned their own PC that skipper Grozzy dispatched with his own powerful flick into the corner of the net. 1-1.

Only a minute later, South took the lead when the ball reached Elliot “Ellz” Dixon on the 25 yard line who looped a deflected pass that bounced in to the D, Grozzy met the ball on turn in mid air and smashed the ball into the bottom corner. 2-1.

Half time came with sage advice from the skipper to keep the quality level high and try to cut out the diving into tackles that led to the opposition goal.  Keeper Mark Doney gave his observations from the back for every player to remain focussed and keep the work rate high in the second half to make sure of the final result. 

South had the luxury of 3 subs which saw a regular switching of roles and responsibilities across the pitch. The back line of Tom Cross, James Brydon, Ben Walker, Craig Lawson, ably supported by the marauding Andy Wallace kept the WB attacks to a minimum, while the midfield unit of Sam McNeil, Sharpie, Gary Pickering, Mark Roe and super sub Tom Fletcher worked the ball well and fashioned multiple chances for the attacking unit of Grozzy, Ellz and Daniel Recaldin. 

South grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck and Grozzy completed his hat-trick when Gary P drove through the WB defence,  passed to the skipper on the left of the D who slapped a first time finish across the keeper into the far corner. 3-1.

8 mins later, the best move of the match saw Tom F slide a beautiful pass down the line to Sam McNeil on the right, he neatly found Andy W in the 25 who crashed a ball into the D where Grozzy deflected in for his fourth. 4-1.

The visitors were looking beaten but South hadn’t finished scoring. A PC was earned and Grozzy grabbed another with a strike from the top of the D through the keepers legs. 5-1.

More chances came and went with Ellz having one cleared off the line and hitting the post with a first time looping effort.  Grozzy hit the keeper a number of times and dragged a lovely reverse just wide and Sharpie also nearly found the backboard but just hit wide by a few inches. 

A final nail in the coffin came when another attack and multiple team passes found Sam McNeil who finished off the days scoring with a goal from close range. Final Score 6-1. 

Great result saw South hit the top of the league at the half way point of the season! 

Many thanks to Batty & Willey for keeping us in check! (Good job the early disallowed goal with an early whistle from Batty wasn’t decisive)