Thursday 16 September 2010

Retford United 4 v Pinxton 1 - North Midlands U19 League Cup

Thursday 16th September 2010
North Midlands U19 League - League Cup
at Cannon Park, Leverton Road, Retford
Retford United 4 (Theo Ganderson 2, Reece Thomson, Jack Johnson)
Pinxton 1

A night out for a few beers with my son at Cannon Park social club, with a football match thrown in for good measure.
Retford didn't really get out of second gear all night, they didn't need to, Pinxton didn't offer much resistance.
Pinxton bought with them an elderly gentleman spectator, who's sole purpose in life is to shout and rant as many expletives and obscenities as possible for the entire duration of the game at everyone and anyone.
He was sat in the stand on the opposite touchline from where I was stood ... the best place for him.
Alas, on a still and increasingly misty night, he was still clearly audible and was a complete embarrassment to himself, his travelling companions and his team of choice.
Lord forbid football should ever become completely sanitised, there will always be swearing both on and off the pitch, we all do it, but this individual needs his mouth taping up as a matter of urgency.
Theo Ganderson was the stand out player on the night - it was clear to everybody why Luton Town have invited him for trials. A great asset for Retford United if they can keep hold of him for a while longer.
United were slick without really breaking a sweat tonight - Pinxton weren't!

Admission £2
Programme free

Wednesday 15 September 2010

Southwell City 2 v Worksop Town 1 - North Midlands U19 League Cup

Reproduced from the Worksop Town 2010-11 blog
Windsor Food Services, North Midlands U19 League
League Cup 1st Round
at the Memorial Ground, Southwell

Err ... a bit of a shocker if truth be told.
Goalkeeper Alex Gray kept the margin of defeat down to a respectable level, pulling off a string of top class saves and holding on to a tamely struck penalty.
Liam Gleeson and Phil Peters were exceptional tonight ... problem is they are both Southwell City players.
It was never a dirty game but the teams picked up five yellow cards between them, but I guess the referees have a greater understanding of the rules of the game than me, AKA a mere onlooker viewing the world through ever so slightly biased eyes with a vested interest in the outcome.

Result
Southwell City U19 2 (Grant Blackhurst 8, Phil Peters 53)
Worksop Town U19 1 (Rob Fenton 38)

Thanks to those of you who came down to give the team encouragement tonight ... everything that could go wrong on the night did, sorry you all never got to see a better performance.
This team are capable of MUCH better than what you witnessed tonight and I have every faith in them to prove me right with that statement any time soon.
It's a real shame that a lot of these lads already had commitments to play other games earlier in the day too and a lot of them were obviously tiring more and more as the game progressed.
Hucknall Town Unity visit Shirebrook next Thursday as the Under 19's return to League action, so the team will have to put this cup exit behind them now, move on and focus on what's coming next.
Well done to Southwell City, they played some neat football, fast, to feet and on the deck at times. Enjoy your trip to Radford in the next round.


Saturday 11 September 2010

Matlock Town 3 v Worksop Town 1 - FA Cup 1st Qualifying Round (proper)

Saturday 11th September 2010
FA Cup 1st Qualifying Round Proper
at the Reynolds Stadium, Causeway Lane, Matlock
Matlock Town (1) 3 (Hannah 6, Cropper 51, 57)
Nick Buxton, Kris Witcombe (Mark Haran 28), Lee Featherstone, James Knowles, Adam Yates, James Lukic, Danny Wood, Steve Warne, Nathan Joynes, Ross Hannah (Dene Cropper 13), Colin Marrison (Ben Algar 79). Subs not used. Ben Turner.
Worksop Town (1) 1 (Shiels 42)
Jon Kennedy, Scott Wharton, Chris Wood, Mark Camm, Luke Shiels, Michael Simpkins (Steve Wankiewicz 21), Chris Bettney (Danny Simpson 73), Deon Meikle, Peter Knox (Ben Tomlinson 64), Jamie Jackson, Ryan Mallon. Subs not used. James Colliver, Danny Bacon.
Admission £8. Programme £1.50. Attendance 428
In which Worksop Town visited in form and currently table topping Matlock Town with £3,000 prize money at stake.
Of course, not only are the Gladiators flying high, they contain a number of ex Worksop Town players amongst their ranks, including a couple of prolific goal scorers.
Anybody care to hazard a guess as to what happened next?
The route march to the pitch

After six minutes Ross Hannah, well it just had to be him didn't it? Put the home side ahead ... I bet you never saw that coming, eh!?
Ex Gainsborough Trinity and Retford United player Colin Marrison was the creator.

On 13 minutes Ross Hannah had to go off after pulling his hamstring, he was replaced by another ex Tigers striker Dene Cropper.

Michael Simpkins also had to go off for Worksop, he had played with an injury and only lasted 20 minutes ... the former Tigers Under 19's captain Steve Wankiewicz came on in his place.
With less than half an hour gone Kris Witcombe the Matlock right back, pulled a muscle and was replaced by yet another ex Worksop Town player Mark Haran.
Amidst the turnover of players and enforced changes Worksop started to show some good touches and were playing their way back into the game.
Chris Bettney hoisted over a corner on 41 minutes and Luke Shiels powered home a header at the far post for the equaliser.
Half Time 1-1

Peter Knox was denied what looked like a stonewall penalty early in the second half.
The game was still there for the taking at that point and the decision, which looked completely incorrect to me (albeit through slightly biased eyes), was to prove costly.

Matlock's Joynes had an effort on 50 minutes that he should've done better with, but he shot over in a one on one with Jon Kennedy, a minute or so later he opted not to shoot, but played Dene Cropper in instead ... who fired the home side back into the lead.

Bettney, Knox and Jackson all went close to grabbing a second goal for Worksop before Cropper added a third on the hour mark.
He looked offside, but the defence should've played on in the absence of the referee's whistle, they didn't ... and Dene Cropper put the ball home from an angle across Jon Kennedy's goal.
Wharton, Meikle and Wankiewicz all went close to scoring for Worksop late on, all from Ryan Mallon corners, but Nick Buxton just about held on in the Matlock goal and the home side march on in to the next round of the FA Cup.

During the course of the afternoon, the main topic of conversation seemed to centre around the imminent departure of Tigers manager Peter Rinkcavage, even at such an early stage of the season, if his team didn't progress in the FA Cup.
After 3 wins and a draw in the six games prior to this cup elimination, that seems a bit harsh, particularly as today's result could've been a lot different if a couple of key decisions hadn't gone the way of the home side.
The rumour I've been hearing since the very outset of 2010-11 suggests that 'Rinky' was only getting ten games this campaign ... well we won't have to wait very long to see if that is fact or hearsay, but that version of events is emanating from someone within the club and isn't borne out of fans speculation.
Don Estelle invading the pitch. With the new Twigg Stand in the background.
"Don't you tell it to the breeze, cos she will tell the birds and bees"

This cup tie was actually a great advert for the standard of football in the Evo-Stik League, the weather was great and the outdoor 'imbibing' with friends from both Matlock and Worksop made for a great afternoon all round - except for the result!

Wednesday 8 September 2010

Harworth Colliery U19 0 v Worksop Town U19 4 - North Midlands U19 League

Reproduced from the Worksop Town Under 19's 2010-11 blog
Wednesday 8th September 2010
Harworth Colliery U19 (0) 0
Worksop Town (1) 4
Adam Brown 28
Jason Ash 68
Danny Briggs 78
Josh Sweetnam 84

A great start to the Tigers U19's League campaign against a quite useful looking Harworth Colliery team.

On a slightly difficult playing surface and under the Central Midlands League standard floodlighting at Scrooby Road, both teams went in search of an opening as the game ebbed and flowed from the start.
Young Matt Bradley, the Harworth number 9, looks like a great prospect in the making, but the Worksop back four were in a tight mood tonight and weren't giving him the space to do the things he is capable of.
Alex Gray in the Tigers goal handled everything the home side did manage to create up front very well.
The midfield pairing of Jack Baines and Pete Stafford linked up well and having played together last season for WTFC U19's, have already developed a real understanding in the middle of the pitch.
On 28 minutes Adam Brown took the ball round the Harworth left back before dribbling his way into the area and firing Worksop ahead, via a shot that went in off Dean Stones in the Colliery goal.
It looked as though the Tigers were two ahead before half time after some neat play from Aaron Knight, but while everybody initially thought a chance that had crossed the line had been ruled out incorrectly, the linesman later confirmed it was actually not given because of an infringement in the build up play.
Harworth's ground from the top of the adjacent BMX and Skateboard ramp

After the break, Worksop forged ahead and grew stronger as the half wore on while Harworth seemed to tire. All that hard work in pre season training at Manton over the Summer months is now paying off.
The away side chalked up three further second half goals, all from substitutes.
Jason Ash, who had been on since the hour mark, sprinted forward to put the Tigers two ahead on 68 minutes.
Danny Briggs added a third having only been on the pitch 5 minutes and he could have had one even sooner but hit the post.
Then Josh Sweetnam burst away down the left on 84 minutes after a precision pass forward from Jason Markell, drew the keeper off of his line and made it 4-0 with a sublime finish to put the result beyond doubt.
Four quality strikes on one night, all from different players and all from open play ... you can't ask for more than that.
A fantastic all round performance, tempered a bit by the disappointment felt for the lads who weren't part of the 16 man squad tonight and in particular the two who made personal sacrifices to be at Harworth for the game but didn't even get a run out.
Not every player can play in every single game, but it's tough when you've seen how hard some lads have worked this last couple of months towards the new season, not to feel a massive amount of sympathy for them when they miss out on a chance to shine.
It's not right to single anybody out, football is after all a team game, but Aaron Knight's tireless running up and down the right flank and Steve Davis out on the left both had outstanding games. But in all fairness, every one of them did Worksop Town proud tonight.
At the end of the game I thought that result would send WTFC U19's to the top of the first league table, but that berth is held at this early stage by Calverton MW who put six past Southwell City, the Tigers League Cup opponents next Wednesday.
Left click for enlarged image

Raffle prize tonight was won by Mr David Cawthorne after the WTFC U19's Secretary who just happened to be stood with David, drew the winning ticket out of Harworth's tin.

Saturday 4 September 2010

Worksop Town 3 v Bradford Park Avenue 3 - Evo-Stik Premier

Saturday 4th September 2010.
Evo-Stik League Premier Division

Worksop Town (2) 3 Mallon 13, Knox 25, Tomlinson 73
Bradford Park Avenue (0) 3 Greaves 54, Sanasy 77, 90 something

Admission season ticket, Programme £2, Attendance 320
A three all draw against Bradford Park Avenue would have been looked upon as a great result by the Tigers faithful last season, but it hasn't taken long for the natives to get restless again and the expectation levels to go off the scales.
It matters not to some people that the equaliser came deep into injury time and was awarded when a Bradford player fell over the ball in the box and was actually a massive injustice ... the scent of blood is forever in the nostrils of a certain element of every football crowd who will turn on their own team/management/club at the drop of a hat.
Unfortunately Worksop Town have quite a large percentage of people who follow them around, seemingly for the sole purpose of having a bloody good moan about everything and anything regardless of circumstance and fact.
And of course, from the very outset of the season, it was always evident that their is a lobby out to belittle, discredit and undermine the Tigers manager Peter Rinkcavage.
Give the guy a break, hey guys!
In my 'slightly' biased opinion, Worksop Town were robbed right at the end of a very entertaining game, by an unsighted match official. And so was Rinky as a consequence ... so why were people aiming their invective and anger at the manager?
Of course it was always going to be Worksop's 'ex factor' curse that struck the final blow again ... it's traditional by now after all ... and you couldn't have got odds on it being the former Tigers fans favourite Kevin Sanasy who stepped up almost five minutes into the added three minutes of 'injury time' to fire home the equaliser with the last kick of the game from the penalty spot.
On the plus side, the crowds at Cannon Park are well up on last season at the New Manor Ground and games of this quality are going to keep attracting them back.

Friday 3 September 2010

England 4 v Bulgaria 0 - Euro 2012 Qualifier

Friday 3rd September 2010
Euro 2012 Qualifier - at Wembley Stadium

England (1) 4 (Defoe 3, 61, Adam Johnson 83, Defoe 86)

Hart, Glen Johnson, Jagielka, Dawson (Cahill 56), Ashley Cole, Walcott (Adam Johnson 74), Gerrard, Barry, Milner, Defoe (Young 87), Rooney.
Subs Not Used: Foster, Gibbs, Carrick, Bent.

Bulgaria (0) 0

Mihailov, Ivanov, Milanov, Manolev (Minev 66), Iliyan Stoyanov, Yankov, Angelov, Stiliyan Petrov, Martin Petrov, Bojinov (Rangelov 63), Popov (Peev 79).
Subs Not Used: Vladislav Stoyanov, Kamburov, Domovchiyski, Genchev.

Booked: Popov.

Att: 73,246.

START AS WE MEAN TO GO ON
Friday night is football night, a great idea, unless you're one of those people heading to Wembley on the M1 southbound past Luton, where the roadworks are hideous at the end of each and every week.
Valuable drinking time was wasted crawling along past the 200,107 traffic cones Bedfordshire highways authority owns - I counted them all individually and you can't prove otherwise!
The Green Man pub's bar takings will have suffered tonight given our later than usual arrival time.
But everyone on the North Notts England Fans coach was in good spirits, they're well organised trips with plenty of 'in flight' entertainment organised and a labour of love war and peace sized volume of a newsletter to read en route.
The papers were saying that England fans would be boycotting this game and the handful who were going to show up, were only trekking to Wembley to vent their spleen on the team who ought to be flogged and persecuted for 'only' reaching the last 16 at the recent World Cup tournament.
Sensationalism sells papers - and everybody present tonight had never been under any illusions that this team was ever anything like good enough to even reach the last eight in the first place.
We hadn't come to boo, or cast aspersions or murder anybody, we were here to support our national team, nothing more, nothing less.
Leave all that hyperbole to the journalists eh!?
Football fans, England fans in particular ... ignore all of that bullshit anyway.
Journalists and 'rent a flag' once every four year 'patriots' are both made from the same low grade casting in my opinion, I could happily live out the rest of my days in this mortal coil without encountering either sub species again.
They feed off of (and are as bad as) each other.
So what of England tonight?
Rooney played deep, that'll piss off the stay at home critics who want him beheading every time he doesn't score ... regardless of the fact he did all of the running and fetching for the forward line and created Jermaine Defoe with a couple of chances that he put away with relish from absolutely sublime passes.
Joe Hart put in an assured performance, Adam Johnson took his goal well after he came on in the second half ... in fact there didn't look like a weak link throughout the squad.
The World Cup is over, England under performed (they weren't alone in that respect) in what wasn't, if truth be told, a very inspiring tournament. Germany who had looked phenomenal in the group stages peaked too soon, France and Argentina wilted in much the same England did and I was actually very grateful that I couldn't afford to travel out there in person, but it's over and done with now ... tonight it was rip it up and start again time and as qualifying campaigns go, the road Euro 2012 is off to a flyer.
COME ON ENGLAND!!!

Wednesday 1 September 2010

Retford United 0 v Bury XI 5 - Friendly

Wednesday 1st September 2010 - Friendly Match
at Cannon Park

Retford United (0) 0
Bury XI (1) 5
(Curtis Main 43,73, Tom Roberts 59, Kyle Bennett 77, Danny Hudson 88)

Admission £5, No programme, free team sheet.
Attendance 57
DJ Beechy at the controls

Bury sent a mixture of first team players, reserves and trialists over for this friendly.
Some Retford fans questioned why there was any need for this game in the first place and most voted with their feet to stay away ... which was a shame.
John Knapper and David Lloyd have been disadvantaged by having their pre season plans curtailed by F.A. embargoes. They had to cancel a number of friendly games, meaning the United team were short of match practice ... hence the need for tonight's run out.
It also gave the Badgers management the chance to run the rule over a potential signing, right back Jamie Birch, give a début to Sam Green the striker they've just signed from Harrogate Railway Athletic ... and give Niall O'Brien who recently signed from Worksop Town another game under his belt.

In the event, the Bury team, managed by former Mansfield Town striker and Field Mill legend Richie Barker, had too much quality for their Evo-Stik League hosts and punished ruthlessly every slight mistake and momentary lapse at the back ... so to all intents and purposes this was just what the home side actually needed as they endeavour to steady ship for the rest of the season.
A shooting match against lowly opposition wouldn't have told the Badgers management anything at all about the players they have at their disposal.
Bury trialist Curtis Main opened the scoring, but not until 2 minutes before the interval.
But after the break, a lack of match fitness showed on the United team and as they tired the visitors turned the screw.
Tom Roberts came on as a substitute in the 56th minute and he added the second goal less than four minutes later.
Curtis Main, impressing everybody present in his trial game scored again on 73 minutes.
Retford rallied briefly, but only very, very briefly and then Bury clinically cut through them to put the result beyond doubt with a fourth through Kyle Bennett on 77 minutes.
Danny Hudson, another Bury sub, completed the rout on 88 minutes.
A good night for Bury and the Retford management will have got some useful insight out of this performance from the Badgers too.
Nice to see an my old friend Duncan at the game, a Bury fan who now lives in Nottingham and works as a teacher in Warsop, one of his ex-pupils was a match official tonight, that must make you feel *really* old Mr Ashton!
We did our bit to boost the bar takings ;-)