Tuesday 31 January 2012

Harworth CI 1 v Belper United 0 - CMFL League Cup Replay

Tuesday 31st January, at Scrooby Road, Bircotes
Windsor Foodservice Central Midlands Football League,

Baris League Challenge Cup, 2nd Round Replay
Harworth Colliery Institute (0) 1
Gareth Sides 80 pen
Belper United (0) 0
Admission £3 inc. programme
Harworth Colliery Institute
1. Mark Latham 2. David Cornthwaite 3. Michael Nugent 4. David Reeve 5. Stuart Needham 6. Bobby Johnson 7. Louis Reed 8. Simon Wars 9. Gareth Sides 10. Kev Shelley 11. Jordan Pickering
Subs - 12. Luke Edwards 14. Matt Bradley 15. James Stuart
Belper United
1. Adam Jablonski 2. Oliver Kelly 3. Eddie Bridges 4. Adam Taylor 5. Dave Bacon 6. Scott Slater 7. Richard Searson 8. Tony Hemmings 9. Jamie Wilde 10. Richard Clarke 11. Kyle Wadsworth
Subs - 12. Karl Payne 14. Darren Mayes 15. Steve Watson
Belper United are CMFL newcomers this season, they play in the Southern division.
While Harworth CI ply their trade in the Northern section.

When the two sides met, for the first time ever, at Alton Manor back on January 7th, the game ended in a 2-2 draw, hence the need for a tonight's replay at Scrooby Road.
A Gareth Sides penalty, in the 80th minute, separated the sides at the end of this one.
But it beggars belief that neither team had managed to convert a number of great chances either side of that.
Kev Shelley hit the post inside the first 5 minutes, it set the tone for the rest of the first half.
Belper's Adam Taylor was the next player to be given the chance to break the deadlock, but in a one on one with Mark Latham, the Harworth keeper saved well to win that particular duel.
With 20 minutes gone, Jordan Pickering cleverly released Louis Reed inside the visitors box and it took a fine one handed save at full stretch from Adam Jablonski to turn the ball away to safety.
Belper attacked again, Tony Hemmings, who was central to most of their forward play tonight, released right back Oliver Kelly on the overlap, whose dipping shot skimmed the top of the cross bar.
The best chance of the first half fell to Gaz Sides, who sprang the offside trap and found himself clean through facing Adam Jablonski charging from his line.
The Harworth centre forward chose to hit the ball instead of placing it, or lobbing the keeper and miscued his effort straight into the Belper keeper's arms.
A few minutes later from a difficult angle, Sides fired just over the bar.
Belper finished the first half strong and Mark Latham had to be alert to keep the ball out during a goalmouth scramble.
Half time ... goalless.
With the temperature dropping rapidly, the second half was far more cagey from the outset.
But the incident counter soon picked up pace again, especially in the last twenty minutes.Bobby Johnson laid an inch perfect pass for Kev Shelley to run on to but the linesman's flag put paid to that effort as the Harworth striker lined up his shot.
At the other end, Belper's Richard Clarke air kicked with the goal at his mercy and Mark Latham gratefully gathered the ball.
Belper had a few good efforts during the next few minutes, Jamie Wilde saw his header from a right wing cross well saved and then Mark Latham held onto Richard Clarke's free kick from the edge of the box.
With 15 minutes remaining, you could hear the unmistakable sound of studs rattling on the hardening pitch, reminding us that the weather forecasters have been predicting the worse over the next few days.Louis Reed sprayed a pass out to Sides on the right wing, who's pinpoint cross found Kev Shelley, but his header was inches wide of the left hand upright.
We began to joke about how cold it was going to be when extra time arrived, while secretly wishing somebody, anybody! Would score a solitary goal to spare us the extra half an hour of seasonal January weather.
On 80 minutes, Reed ran into the goal area as Jablonski charged off his line, the Belper keeper's momentum skittled the Harworth captain and a penalty was awarded.
The visitors bench and their followers were incensed, but if the incident had happened at the other end, they would happily have accepted the decision with good grace.
Likewise, if the roles were reversed, Harworth would've felt it was a soft penalty and a harsh call too.
However, the keeper took the man, not the ball, end of.
It didn't help matters that the referee was having such a poor game tonight.
Either way, Sides despatched the spot kick.
Advantage Harworth.
With the clock ticking down, Jordan Pickering put a right wing corner into the path of Bobby Johnson, but the Belper defence charged down his shot.The visitors threw everybody forward looking for a late equaliser ... but Louis Reed cleared his lines, sent Bobby Johnson on an upfield run and with Jablonski well off his line, having gone upfield to help out with in attack, Bobby decided to aim for the open goal from 45 yards out.
His shot, agonisingly, hit the foot of the post and bounced back into play.
But all the drama was at the other end of the pitch.
Before Reed had cleared his lines the ball did appear to bounce up and hit him on the hand.
It didn't look like a deliberate offence, but it changed the momentum of the ball and made controlling the pass to Johnson a whole lot easier.
I think it was on the ref's blind side, which is the only reason I can think of why he didn't give United a last minute penalty.
For the record, I would've given one ... and I wanted Harworth to win.
A Belper fan stood near us, who had complained about absolutely everything from the word go, almost went into meltdown at this point.
Chill out pal, it's only a game ;-)
Amidst the ensuing shouting, finger-pointing and histrionics, hardly anybody noticed that Mark Latham saved a late effort from Karl Payne to preserve Harworth's lead and see them through to the next round, for the first time since the year dot.
Full time 1-0.
It's a shame that those of you who left early, missed all the drama at the end :-P
That's what you get for wearing a St. Mirren hat to games!
Referee mark out of 10 ... 4, he stepped in at short notice, credit to him for that ... and he was presentable. But apart from that, by and large he missed a few important things over the course of the game and didn't impress anybody tonight.
I realise it's a thankless task being a CMFL referee and I don't envy a single one of the officials in this league, but I'm just being honest and calling things as I saw them.
Please note, that the 4/10 is my own mark, I'm not officially involved with either team.

Saturday 28 January 2012

Stamford AFC 3 v Sutton Coldfield Town 2 - Evo-Stik NPL - First Division South

Saturday 28th January 2012, at the Premier Kitchens' Arena
Evo-Stik Northern Premier League - First Division South
Stamford AFC (1) 3
Bruno Holden 30, 76, 78
Sutton Coldfield Town (1) 2
Mark Bellingham 32, Joel Fuller 67
Admission £8, Programme £1.80, Attendance 184
In which 5th placed Stamford AFC, entertained the Royals of Sutton Coldfield Town, who were 6th in the table and 2 points behind the Daniels prior to kick off.
Left click image for larger view

Stamford AFC get their nickname 'the Daniels', from Daniel Lambert, who it is claimed, is the fattest man in British history (they haven't measured me yet though).
He died in Stamford and is buried in St Martins churchyard which is close to the ground.
Daniel Lambert 1770-1809

You might choose to believe that I'm making all of this up, much the same as all the other fiction you read on THE66POW, but it's on Wikipedia, so it must be true ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Lambert
If anybody knows which local tailor he used, I'm on the lookout for a new pair of trousers for best.
On the subject of 'Big Dan', a reputable internet source states:
In 1809, suddenly while on tour in Stamford, aged thirty-nine, with of a waist measurement of 9 feet, 4 inches, and weighing 739 pounds, Lambert died of an unknown cause.
The wall of the inn where he was residing had to be dismantled to allow his body to be removed for burial.
His coffin had to be supported on wheels and it took twenty men to lower it down a ramp to the grave.
So now you know!
St. Martins in the background, one of many churches on the Stamford horizon

"Two shit teams!"
Not my post match assessment, but the 'appraisal' of a Stamford AFC regular I was talking to as we left the ground.
It would be fair to say, two evenly matched sides cancelled each other out all over the pitch for the majority of the first seventy minutes, which was akin to watching a slow (very slow) moving, strategic game of chess.
But it burst into life on 67 minutes, when Joel Fuller wound Stamford's centre forward Bruno Holden up, by putting the visitors 2-1 ahead.I see a lot of Evo-Stik Northern Premier League, Premier Division teams in action ... and in all honesty, I can't see either of these two play off contenders causing many ripples in the next tier up, if they win promotion at the end of this season.
But, going by his performance today, Bruno Holden is definitely capable of making the step up.
I'll hold my fire at this juncture however, because it wouldn't be right to judge Stamford or Sutton Coldfield Town on the strength of having watched just one game they've played in this season.
In fairness, Nathan Watson and Danny Brooks both put in decent shifts for the home side too.
Today's victory consolidated 5th place (the last play off berth), for Stamford.
Hucknall Town and Loughborough Dynamo both leap frogged over Sutton Coldfield in the table, who dropped to 8th, with Leek Town snapping at their heels, 2 points adrift in 9th, but with 4 games in hand.
The Daniels were in front after half an hour, when some neat passing play down the left flank released Holden, who opened the scoring from 12 yards out.
The Royals attacked from the restart and pretty soon they were lining up a direct free kick just outside the Stamford area.
Mark Bellingham made no mistake and he planted the ball just inside the left hand post beyond the reach of the Daniels keeper Ross Whalin's reach.
An onlooker on the terrace cruelly shouted out to Whalin: "You would've caught that if it was a pie!"
Have you noticed how the sort of people who indulge in this kind of 'wit' are usually several pounds heavier than the victims of their verbal brickbats?
Ross Whaling ... Whoops! I mean Whalin

A bit of a stalemate ensued either side of half time and I was really glad of the company of a couple of good mates I was at the game with, to help break the tedium.
Clear cut chances were at a premium and this cagey, uneventful game seemed to be teetering slowly (painfully slowly), but surely towards a draw.
In the 67th minute, Stamford failed to deal with a speculative high ball into their box ...... and moments later Joel Fuller was charging away celebrating his final touch, which had put the visitors back in front.
While the Stamford back line argued amongst themselves about who was at fault.
Thankfully for the home fans - who I have to say were a friendly and welcoming bunch, with one or two oddities thrown in for good measure (you expect that kind of thing when Daz Bailey is around) - Sutton Coldfield's second goal, acted as a wake up call and Stamford sprang into life.
On 76 minutes, a 30 yard shot from Luke Garton cannoned back into play off of the Royals crossbar, the ball fell into the path of Bruno Holden, who buried the equaliser past Niall Cooper.
You have a good pick mate, nobody is watching :-O

Almost immediately, Stamford regained possession and were on the attack again.
Matthew Isamene and Scott Mooney combined well on the right hand side of the box and found Bruno Holden in space.
The Daniels number 9 gratefully completed his hat trick.
Obviously Bruno Holden was in a confident mood today. Prior to the game he had commented on Twitter: "On way to football ... Fancy a few goals today ...!!"
Until the final 20 minutes or so, the game had been a turgid affair, bereft of much incident worthy of note, but it finished on a high note.
Inside the last five minutes, the impressive Danny Brooks fired narrowly wide and bruised the side netting of Cooper's goal.
Though Stamford had (possibly) shaded a fairly evenly balanced and at times rather dull game, by upping their game towards the end, they didn't really merit more than the narrowest margin of victory ... and so it proved to be.
Final score: Stamford AFC 3 Sutton Coldfield Town 2.
Bend it like Brooks

I'll be taking in some more action in this division soon.
Hopefully, today was just a one off and isn't typical of the standard that is the norm in the First Division South at present.
Next up:
Harworth Colliery Institute (first team) Tuesday and Mansfield Town (Under 19's) Wednesday, both weather permitting.

Wednesday 25 January 2012

Luton Town 0 v Mansfield Town 0 - BSBP

Wednesday 25th January 2012, at Kenilworth Road
Blue Square Bet Premier
Luton Town 0
Mansfield Town 0
Admission £18, Programme £3,
Attendance 5,261 inc. 111 in away end
Luton Town:
K Pilkington, Gleeson, Taylor, G Pilkington, Howells, Kovacs, Lawless, Watkins, Morgan-Smith (Fleetwood 57mins), Crow (9 McAllister 67mins), O'Connor
Unused Subs - Tyler, Dance, Poku
Mansfield Town:
Marriott, Riley, O'Neill, Sutton, Dempster, Murray, Roberts, Green, Dyer, Smith (Meikle 76mins), Hutchinson (Briscoe 82mins)
Unused subs - Redmond, Worthington, Howell
Quote from the Luton Town website report:
Two goal-line clearances from skipper George Pilkington earned the Town a point in front of the live television cameras.
The Hatters captain came to his side's rescue in each half: firstly heading Adam Smith's effort off the line on 10 minutes before brilliantly stretching to hack Matt Green's header off the line with just five minutes left.
The rest is all my own incoherent rambling.
Don't say you weren't warned.
Following the Stags unconvincing win against lowly Hayes and Yeading on Saturday, I said that some of the players 'will have to do better than that at Kenilworth Road on Wednesday'.
Well folks, although the BSBP draw specialists didn't win, I'm happy to report that they upped their game no end and were easily the equal, at least, of their highly fancied 'famous' hosts tonight.
Sure, the Hatters had their moments and Alan Marriott in the visitors goal was sporadically busy, but the Stags worked hard together as a unit, throughout the whole spine of the team, all night ... and it was very uplifting to watch first hand.
I personally believe that Paul Cox is definitely, 100% definitely, the right man to manage Mansfield Town, they've had a bit of a wobble of late, but look to be back on track and building for the future again.
They've now gone five games unbeaten again, the problem is, there have been too many bloody draws along the way, all season.
Luton, the town itself, gets a lot of bad press and is saddled with the reputation of not being a very desirable place to live.
I don't think I'm being too unkind when I say it isn't aesthetically charming in any way, shape or form, whatsoever.
Though, to be fair, the same could be said for the majority of towns I travel to in pursuit of football's holy grail.
But, since my son opted to go to Bedfordshire University this last year, I've seen quite a lot of the 'off the beaten track' attractions that this seat of learning has to offer in recent times and have reassessed my overall impression of Luton as a consequence.
But not necessarily for the better.
In conclusion, I must say, my favourite local feature, is probably the A6 northbound, which is the quickest escape route I've found out of Luton up to now, that leads towards the A1 and my own horrible council estate home.
If anybody has any faster suggestions for getting out of this ugly runt of a place, then I'm keen, nee desperate, to hear from them.
Both sides had early opportunities to take the lead.
Janos Kovacs hit the Stags crossbar and Mansfield came even closer when their former keeper Kevin Pilkington, for old times sake maybe, had a rush of blood to the head and charged out of his box in an effort to break down an attacking move ... Matt Green calmly knocked the ball to Adam Smith in space and his shot was on it's way over the line until the other Pilkington, Luton's captain George, ran backwards and headed the ball from under the bar.
The game ebbed and flowed both ways and the longer that the home side struggled the take the initiative, the more Paul Cox's side grew in stature and confidence.
Right on half time, Kovacs headed over the Stags bar. In doing so he had collided with Alan Marriott.
Thankfully, after a stoppage while the visitors keeper received treatment, he was able to carry on.
As the second half commenced, Gary Brabin, the Luton manager, had obviously given his side an half time bollocking and they came out all guns blazing.
But Mansfield absorbed the pressure, saw a few good chances come to nothing and began to assert themselves on the game more and more.
From various conversations over the course of the afternoon and evening ... we had commenced socialising in the White House, a Wetherspoons pub in Luton Town centre at 2pm ... it was apparent, that a good few Hatters fans aren't especially fond of Brabin, despite the fact that they are sitting third in the BSBP table and have progressed to the 3rd round of the FA Trophy, when they beat Hinckley United 3-0 in a replay on Monday.
'Pilko' ... Ex Stags and current Hatters keeper

Adam Smith came close again for the Stags, then in the final five minutes Matt Green beat Pilkington (K) in the air and with the ball heading goal bound and three points seemingly en route up the M1 with the Mansfield Town team, Pilkington (G) acrobatically hooked the ball away as it was going over the line.
I'm not convinced it wasn't over the line when the Luton skipper pulled off his second rescue act of the night, but to be honest I'm too biased to call it either way.
The Stags fans directly behind the goal were better placed to see it than me and they were in uproar towards the referee's assistant.
I suspect they are just as biased as me though.
Luton weren't unduly fussed by the - i) travesty of justice, ii) accurate call by the linesman*, (delete as apt, depending on whether you were blatantly wronged and stood in the away end, or spawny and grateful your team were riding their damn good luck elsewhere in the rest of the ground) and they surged up the field.
A late strike from Luton would've been a bitter blow for the Stags in light of what had just happened, but Marriott comfortably saved Dan Gleeson's shot from the edge of the box and the spoils were shared.
Green's goal didn't stand and inconclusive evidence aside, the draw was probably a fair result.
It needs to be said ... there were many positives to be drawn from the Stags effort, commitment to the cause and cohesion tonight.
Paul Cox picked exactly the right team for the job and played exactly the right tactics tonight.
And odd though it may seem, I felt better about tonight's draw as I left the ground, than I had about the smash and grab raid of three points against Hayes & Yeading ... I'm sure anybody else who attended both games will understand where I'm coming from.
The Oak Road Stand - it's nearly in that bathroom

Next up ... having a couple of nights off from football, because looking through the fixtures I can't find anything appealing.
Then I'm throwing a pair of dice to determine where I'm heading off to at the weekend, the options are infinite.
Though one of: Ebsfleet United, Gainsborough Trinity, Hall Road Rangers, Easington United, Stamford, Chorley or Rainworth MW v Mansfield Town XI (£3 admission) seems most likely.
For all you free-loaders out there, take note, it's ex-gratis admission day at Stocksbridge Park Steels v North Ferriby United in the Evo-Stik Northern Premier League on Saturday 28th January.

Monday 23 January 2012

Frickley Athletic U19 3 v Appleby Frodingham U19 1 - Northern U19 Alliance

Monday 23rd January 2012
at the Tech5 Stadium, Westfield Lane, South Elmsall
Northern Under 19 Alliance
Frickley Athletic (1) 3
Matt Cunliffe, Brett Souter, Nick Guest
Appleby Frodingham (1) 1
Jake Parker
Admission £2, Attendance 45 (or so)
In which Frickley came back from being a goal down, to record a fairly comfortable home win that cements their place at the top of the table.
29 minutes into the game, a speculative free kick into the box, dropped nicely into the path of Appleby Frodingham's Jake Parker ... and he finished well from 10 yards out.
A frustrated Blues side, must have felt aggrieved about going behind, given that they'd had most of the game and several clear cut chances before the visitors scored.
But 6 minutes after Parker's strike, they were back on level terms, when Matt Cuncliffe found the narrowest of gaps just inside the left hand post and equalised via the outstretched hand of the Appleby 'Frod' goalkeeper.
Half time 1-1
Four minutes after the break, Brett Souter got up at the back post and powered home a header from a free kick out on the left wing, which was taken by, err ... somebody who was obscured by that bloody great pillar that helps to hold the Tech 5 Stadium roof up!
Then on 55 minutes, Nick Guest broke free down the right hand channel, persevered with his run into the box despite some close attention, held off the challenge of a chasing defender and slotted home Frickley's third goal of the night.
With a little more polished finishing the home side could've chalked up a greater margin of victory, but in the end they won it at a canter.
Frickley U19's next scheduled fixture is on Thursday 9th February against Brodsworth Welfare AFC, at Westfield Lane. This fixture has been moved back from Monday 6th, to protect the pitch for the visit of FC United of Manchester to the Tech5 Stadium on Tuesday 7th February in the Doodson Sports League Cup.
Thanks to the FAFC U19 manager Alan Semley for clarifying a couple of things for me after this dumb ass blogger mislaid his notebook ... D'oh!

Saturday 21 January 2012

Mansfield Town 3 v Hayes & Yeading United 2 - BSBP

Saturday 21st January 2012, at Field Mill
Blue Square Bet Premier
Mansfield Town (1) 3
Ross Dyer 38, Matt Green 67, Ben Hutchinson 90 pen
Hayes & Yeading (1) 2
Julian Owusu 31, Louis Soares 55
Admission £15, Programme £3
Attendance 1872 (inc. 26 visiting supporters)
Mansfield Town:
1 Marriott, 3 Kendrick, 16 O'Neill, 17 Sutton, 31 Dempster,
11 Murray, 35 Roberts (Howell 90+3mins), 10 Green, 15 Dyer (Hutchinson 63mins), 19 Smith, 24 Meikle (7 Briscoe 79mins)
Unused Subs - 23 Redmond, 6 Riley
Hayes & Yeading United:
40 Pentney, 3 Moutaouakil, 4 Hand, 5 Cadmore, 18 Pele (not *that* one, obviously!), 38 Rose (27 Collins 46mins), 7 Soares,
20 Lee (25 Ajala 75mins), 6 Owusu (33 Bassele 83mins),
11 Wishart, 39 Walsh
Unused Subs - 31 Beasant, 26 Legg
200 blue West Stand lower tier seats, have gone missing

Driving away from Field Mill, I heard people talking on the car radio, about a 'thrilling' match between Mansfield and Hayes & Yeading.
Hmm, I'd been to the Stags game too, but though I would concede the game had elements of drama about it, given that they had come from behind twice and won the game with a penalty kick in the final minute, the actual quality of the spectacle I had just witnessed wasn't exactly what I would have called 'thrilling'.
Granted, the north wind howling down the pitch, which still chilled me to the bone up at the very back of the Quarry Lane End, made controlled passing football and aesthetically pleasing geometrical movement, nigh on impossible ... but Mansfield made bloody hard work of beating their relegation threatened visitors.
Luke O'Neill steps up ...
and hits this free kick so hard it smashed a seat to pieces in the Quarry Lane End


I'm delighted that in spite of all of the above, Paul Cox's team still won ... after all 'I AM A MANSFIELD TOWN SUPPORTER' and I was up out of my seat, punching the air and cheering the winning goal as much as anybody else.
But let's put the record straight here ... that heartfelt rejoicing, was as much of an outpouring of relief as it was a triumphant celebration.
This was an ugly, horses for courses win.
And though quite possibly, the Stags were even the better side for the last fifteen minutes or so, in no way, shape or form were they 'thrilling'.
Three points is three points though.
But I can't help feeling, that a point apiece would've been a fairer outcome.
Hayes and Yeading for their part, have some big, strong players, but they aren't an overly physical or long ball team and those guys can obviously knock the ball around on the deck.
They took the lead on 31 minutes from what was possibly their first attack of the game, when Jamie Hand found Julian Osuwu with a powerfully struck low cross which evaded the Stags defence and gave the visitors number 6 a close range chance to tap home.
Before then, the Stags had created several chances but they had been completely void of any bite in front of goal.
Ross Dyer fired home an equaliser from the edge of the box after Matt Green had set him up from a Gary Roberts free kick.
Carl Pentney then pulled off a great save from a Gary Roberts free kick, before Roberts cleared a Dwane Lee header off the line at the other end.
After the interval, the Middlesex side were back in front when Louis Soares fired home from the edge of the box, sans any defensive attention and in yards of space.
Pentney pulled off another excellent save from Joe Kendrick, but was beaten on 67 minutes by Matt Green after Adam Smith's persistence and refusal to give up chasing the ball had created the chance for him.
Welcome back from your loan spell at Aldershot Town Adam, good work ;-)
Mansfield, attacking the North Stand, picked up a bit of momentum towards the end of the game and actually put a few passes together, but the visitors still gave them a couple of scares and even hit the post on 72 minutes when Tom Cadmore almost put them back in front.
Just when it looked like a 2-2 draw was on the cards, Daniel Wishart brought Gary Roberts down in the visitors penalty area in the very last minute.
And the Stags recent signing Ben Hutchinson, put away the resulting spot kick to give Mansfield a much needed (but no frills) victory.
I don't want to sound too critical, because in the end Mansfield Town won.
The conditions dominated proceedings this afternoon and in truth it wasn't a very good game to watch.
In fairness Hayes & Yeading United, they can justifiably feel unlucky to have lost right at the end.
But even though they probably deserved a point, that's the way it goes sometimes.
The saving grace of the game, through my 'desperate to find something positive to say about the Stags' biased eyes, was the tireless running, passing and work rate of Gary Roberts and his captain Adam Murray in midfield.
A few other players, I'm not naming names, they'll know who they are, will have to do better than that at Kenilworth Road on Wednesday.
A lot better.
A scrappy win on a horrible afternoon, but they all count.
It wasn't 'thrilling' though.
Luton Town have an FA Trophy replay against Hinckley United on Monday night.
Hopefully it will be played in strength sapping, hideous weather conditions and go to extra time and loads of penalties, so the Hatters are well and truly knackered before Wednesday night.
Are the Stags out of the running for a place in the play offs?
Not mathematically, so lets not get too despondent about a lacklustre performance this afternoon, even though if we're being honest, we know they rode their luck a bit.
All aboard for Kenilworth Road ... COME - ON - YOU - STAGS!!!
It only takes a camera to change his mind