Worksop Parramore XI 4 Sheffield FC XI 5 - Lee Whittington Benefit Match

Thursday 29th November 2012
at the Windsor Food Service Stadium, Sandy Lane, Worksop
Lee Whittington Benefit Match
Worksop Parramore XI  (2) 4
Sheffield FC XI (2) 4
Admission, £5
Attendance, I expected more
Lee Whittington Benefit Match details 

Chris Waddle

Upon entering the ground, I thought that Parramore's Max Ross had morphed into one of those stereotypical Liverpudlian 'Scouse' characters off of the Harry Enfield show; but it transpired that he hadn't actually converted into an Evertonian after all (note the distinction at this juncture, Liverpool fans don't come from Liverpool, Everton fans do), but he looked like that because he was involved in the annual 'Movember' fund raising and event. 
Either way, it's a very becoming and rather striking appearance Max.
Personally, I'm waiting for Fanuary, when hordes of eager females are letting their lady gardens get out of control and waxing them in a handlebar shape fashion at the corners.

Two quality goals

Amongst the 'celebs' who turned out to support Lee Whittington tonight, besides those on the pitch, were a good few local players and managers, including Worksop Town's finest ex manager Peter Rinkcavage.
It's a real shame that he wasn't actually playing, but modest as ever, I'm sure Rinky didn't want to steal the show from his old mate Darren Bland, who nearly weighed in with a goal himself. 

Parramore's number 9 was a little Bland

This was an entertaining enough game, staged for a good cause, on a freezing cold night, which deserved to attract a good few more people through the turnstiles. But the majority (though by no means all) of the Worksop town fans who said they would flock to Sandy Lane to watch Parramore games when their own team wasn't in action, given the role that their landlords played in the Tigers returning to the town, haven't exactly kept their word.
Which is a real shame.
That is my opinion by the way, not anybody else's.
Not that it's my place to question anybody's actions of course.
But, just a thought, it wouldn't hurt some Tigers fans to consider where their club might be, or more to the point might not be, if it hadn't of been for Peter Whitehead and Worksop Parramore FC.
However it was good to catch up with some of the Worksop Town fans who did make the effort.

Peter Whitehead - Top bloke!

Chris Waddle, party guest and star turn for the night, showed he still has the same ball distribution skills he always had and it was great to see him back on Sandy Lane, where he'd played the best football of his long and distinguished career.  Nobody expected him to tear around the pitch after all these years. 
But, having said that, he always did things at his own pace, throughout his career anyway.
Martin McIntosh weighed in with two great goals, no doubt implementing the goal scoring skills he picked up while he was at Mansfield Town, but he wore gloves! Hmm, I s'pose he was associated with Hibs for a while too, so he probably picked up a few 'big Jessie' traits while he was there.
The pitch was srtarting to freeze over towards the end of the game, which won't have helped some of the older, tired legs out there, but we all managed to get home before hypothermia set in.
A great gesture by Parramore to help out an injured player. 
I hope you have a full and speedy recovery Whitto.

AFC Mansfield 4 v Ollerton Town 3 - CMFL North, Floodlit Cup

Wednesday 28th November 2012, at Forest Town Stadium
Central Midlands League (North) Floodlit Cup
AFC Mansfield  (1) 4
Kieren Watson 31, 62, Danny Naylor 53, Dean Rick 70
Ollerton Town  (1) 3
Sam Holmes 37, 58 (pen), James Munson 76
Admission £3, Programme £1.50, Attendance 140
Team line ups courtesy of Peter Craggs, ta Petcra ;-)

AFC Mansfield:
Ed Eley, Mark Carter, Joe Meehan, Matt Draper, Liam Pride, Danny Naylor, Jason Edwards, Phil Buxton, Dean Rick, Carl Haslam, Kieren Watson
Subs - Gary Armstrong, Danny Tighe, Danny McClane, Mark Stainforth, Steve McGurk
Ollerton Town:
Lewis Sprigg, Ben Bowring, Ricky Starbuck, Craig Cantrell, Lee Bowler, Nathan Brown, Lee Easom, Sam Holmes, James McCann, James Munson, Gavin Jackson
Subs - Kyle Clarkson, Dean Hankey, Lewis English, Kyle Hickinbottom

Ollerton had the best of the early exchanges, seeing a lot of the ball without actually troubling the Bulls keeper Ed Eley too much.
But it was the home who side created the better clear cut chances chances, with Jason Edwards crashing the ball against the cross bar and Carl Haslam forcing a point blank save out of Lewis Sprigg from close range.
Keiren Watson opened the scoring for Mansfield on 31 minutes, when he got on the end of a left wing cross from Dean Rick, as the CMFL champions elect began to get more into the game.
However 6 minutes later, Ollerton won a corner out on the left flank and from the flag kick their captain Sam Holmes nodded the ball home, from inside a packed goalmouth, to equalise for the visitors.
Right at the end of the first half, Carl Haslam broke into the Ollerton box and was just about to run the ball into the goal, when Nathan Brown made a timely interception and cleared the ball off the line and hooked it away to safety.
I guess it doesn't matter what part of your body you initially use the stop the ball if the referee doesn't spot it ;-)
HT - AFC Mansfield 1 v Ollerton Town1

The second half was 8 minutes old, when Danny Naylor thumped the ball home from just inside the right hand side of the Ollerton box after Keiren Watson had picked him out with a long cross. 2-1.
Bur the visitors pulled level again on 58 minutes when Sam Holmes scored his second of the night, from the penalty spot.
A few eyebrows were raised when referee Liam Snodden blew for a a penalty, after James McCann had gone to ground while running in on goal, after the very slightest of nudges from Danny Naylor, who was behind him in pursuit.
It was a soft one to concede ... and I'm sure James McCann himself would concede that it was a soft one to be awarded too.
But the Bulls were ahead again on 62 minutes, when Keiren Watson smashed the ball past Lewis Sprigg, with an unstoppable shot, from virtually the same place that Danny Naylor had scored from.

 

And on 70 minutes, Dean Rick belted home a fourth goal from the home side to give them a two goal cushion for the first time tonight, with yet another quality strike and contender for goal of the game.
I've seen several sides crumble against AFC Mansfield this season once the goals have started racking up, but Ollerton kept plugging away and James Munson knock the ball home from 12 yards out after 76 minutes, to set up a grandstand finish.
In the last minute, with Ollerton committed to attack, Dean Rick took advantage of the space in their rearguard by spreading a long pass across the area to Keiren Watson from out on the right wing. Lewis Sprigg parried Watson's shot, but Carl Haslam couldn't quite get a decisive touch onto the loose ball and Sprigg cleared the danger.
A good game all in all, very competitive (9 yellow cards in total), punctuated by some top class finishing.
But, by heck, it was bloody cold!

Mansfield Town 1 v Matlock Town 1 - FA Trophy First Round

Saturday 24th November 2012, at Field Mill (AKA One Call Stadium)
FA Trophy First Round
MANSFIELD TOWN   (1) 1
Adam Murray 25
MATLOCK TOWN   (1) 1
Lewis McMahon 39
Admission £10, Programme £2
West Stand only open for Stags fans, North Stand for Matlock
Attendance 1615 (250 away fans)

Mansfield Town:
Shane Redmond; John Thompson, Exodus Geohaghon, Luke Jones, Richie Sutton, Louis Briscoe, Adam Murray, Chris Clements, Lindon Meikle (Nick Wright 62), Ben Hutchinson (Matt Rhead 74), Matt Green (Jake Speight 67)
Unused Subs: Anthony Howell, Colin Daniel. 

Matlock Town:
Jon Kennedy, Micky Harcourt, Phil Roe, Laurence Gaughan (Brad Grayson 21), Adam Yates, James Lukic, Glyn Cotton (Joe Leesley 90+), James Ashmore, Massiah McDonald, Lewis McMahon, Gareth Davis.
Unused Subs: Will Dennis, James Travis, Matt Leese.

Shane Redmond - Man of the match

From the outset, I want to make it abundantly clear, that when I left Field Mill this afternoon, I felt extremely disappointed with the complete lack of interest and application that some of the Mansfield Town squad had shown today. This embarrassing 'no show' from Paul Cox's team, was completely unacceptable.

And, I think the Stags only saving grace as they go into Tuesday night's replay at Causeway Lane, is that they surely can't be as inept as they were this afternoon again. 

Can they? 

Hmm, that is a rhetorical question, of course.

In his programme notes, the Stags manager said "We want to be successful in all competitions this year".
I would suggest, that given the lack of focus and application shown by some of his players today, that they might not exactly share his views.

Obviously, on the back of their recent good run of league results, aiming for a play off place must be the Stags priority.
And there is the small matter of the second round FA Cup tie with Lincoln City coming up next weekend.
But, over the course of the season, you've got to take each game as it comes and treat all opponents with the measure of respect they deserve, or you're going to end up getting a reality slap or two along the way.

There is no doubt in my mind, that some of the Stags team have got illusions (delusions?) of grandeur and they appear to believe they're better than they actually are.
Did they honestly think that all they had to do today was turn up and the game against their Evo-Stik League visitors was as good as won?

Because, credit where it's due here, although far too many Mansfield players displayed traits that suggested that they were merely (and indifferently) going through the motions today; Matlock were well organised, worked hard as a unit and actually squeezed their Blue Square Bet Premier hosts out of the game and stopped them from playing for long spells. Whilst still managing to get forward regularly and creating plenty of chances, that caused the home team's defence no end of problems. 

The Stags goalkeeper Shane Redmond wasn't voted man of the match for nothing today. 

He kept his side in the game. 

Though whether some of his team mates will thank him for pulling out the stops to ensure they get another bite of the cherry, over them there Derbyshire hills on Tuesday night, might be open to question.

Seven minutes into the game, Matlock well and truly gave due warning of their intention to take the game to the Stags, when Phil Roe went to ground under a John Thompson challenge in the Mansfield penalty area and the referee had no option but to point to the spot.
Lewis McMahon struck the ball well, but Shane Redmond pulled off a great save from the penalty and then recovered quickly enough to turn away James Ashmore's effort from the rebound.
It was a brilliant double save from Redmond, who is obviously growing in stature and confidence, now that he's getting a decent run of games.
The opening goal on 25 minutes, brought a collective sigh of relief, as much as a cheer, from the Stags faithful who'd braved the foul weather this afternoon to watch this FA Trophy tie, when Jon Kennedy in the visitors goal parried Louis Briscoe's 20 yard shot away and Adam Murray was on hand to prod the ball home from close range.

But on 39 minutes, Massiah McDonald neatly wrong footed his marker (if he actually had one), with a deft back heel into the path of Lewis McMahon, who planted the ball into the corner of Redmond's net.
It was a quality strike, to finish off a great move by Matlock, who had pulled the Stags defence all over with their neat build up play, leading up to the goal..
Talk around me turned to clichéd discussions about giant killing and plucky minnows.
Wooah!
Mansfield Town are not, never have been and never will be giants, by any stretch of the imagination.
Except, of course, for Exodus Geohaghon, who is approximately 8 feet tall, shoots fire out of his nostrils and has a death ray glare.
Well, that's a slight embellishment or two on my part, but he is good at long throw ins.
Which on it's own, probably wouldn't help him to get past the auditions to join the X-Men, but it keeps him in gainful full time employment as a top flight non league footballer.
That's not meant as a criticism of 'Big Ex' by the way.
Faint heart and tippy tappy football never won a fair maiden or promotion out of the Blue Square Bet Premier ... so there's some food for thought for all you purists who frequent the 'One Call Stadium'.
And as for Matlock's minnows tag.
Hmm, there is, in actual fact, just one division separating the respective leagues that these two teams play in and they're both where they are in the grand scheme of things on merit.

HT - Stags 1 v Gladiators 1

Brad Grayson almost put Matlock in front early in the second half, but Shane Redmond pulled off another fine save after the former Frickley Athletic striker had surged past Exodus Geohaghon and left him for dead.
Jon Kennedy then denied Matt Green at the other end.
On the subject of Matt Green, last week he came on as a second half substitute to great effect, today, it would be fair to say that Matlock had obviously done their homework on him and he wasn't so effective.
Tin hat on time, because I know this will go against the grain with quite a few loyal Stags fans, but in my humble opinion, they haven't seen the best of Green for a while now, but I suspect he will up the ante again in due course, possibly to coincide with when it's time to renew his contract again.
But hey!
What do I know, eh!?
Either way, with a little over 20 minutes remaining, Paul Cox replaced Matt Green and sent Jake Speight on in his place.
Matlock attacked again when Brad Grayson and Lewis McMahon combined out on the left flank, but Shane Redmond intercepted the ball before it reached the lively Massiah McDonald.
Incidentally, McDonald is currently on loan from Worksop Town and, by all accounts, is impressing the Gladiators fans no end.

McDonald found himself some space on the left hand side of the penalty area, but fired over from ten yards out, as the visitors looked to finish the game off at the first attempt.
Matlock were enjoying a really good spell now and, not to put too fine a point on it, the Stags weren't in it at all for a while.
Paul Cox later called his team's performance 'dire' and said; "The lads know they've let themselves and the supporters down today".
Damn right they did!
The Stags have been playing a lot of games of late, but they've got a big enough squad to work around that, so the tired legs and punishing schedule theories I've heard bandied about, are falling on deaf ears with me.
Today, a part time, Evo-Stik Northern Premier League side, looked fitter and sharper than a full time Blue Square Bet Premier one.
Go figure!

In the last five minutes, Mansfield suddenly woke up to the fact that they were meant to be favourites to win this game and Matt Rhead, twice, almost snatched a late victory that would've been totally against the run of play. But he put the ball wide from a free header and then he flicked an even better chance wide from Adam Murray's cross, when just belting the ball hard and on target would've been the better option, so late in the game.
Deep into injury time, Brad Grayson nearly won it for Matlock, but Luke Jones made a last ditch clearance.
Phew!
That was bloody close :-O
FT - MTFC 1 v MTFC 1

Footnote:
Back in the 1976/77, when I still foolishly thought, in my youthful manifestation, that lower league and non-league football (apart from the mighty Retford Town) was beneath me, a friend's dad took us along to an FA Cup replay between Mansfield and Matlock, it was my first ever visit to Field Mill.
The visitors won that game 5-2, but the Stags went on to win promotion to the old Second Division (now called the Championship) a few months later.
It was the one and only season that they ever played at such a high level.
Could this be an omen?
Or, am I merely saying that as an over optimistic precaution, just in case Mansfield Town come unstuck in the replay at Causeway Lane on Tuesday night?
It's OK, save your breath, I already know the answer.
Me clutching at straws again ... the very thought.

This one lives in a box under my bed.

Frickley Athletic 1 v AFC Fylde 1 - Evo-Stik NPL

Tuesday 20th November 2012, at Westfield Lane
Evo-Stik Northern Premier League
Frickley Athletic (1) 1
Gavin Allott 45 pen
AFC Fylde (0) 1
David Buck 73 OG
Admission £9, Programme £1.50, Attendance 196

 For John Uttley

Frickley Athletic:
Tom Woodhead, Terry Barwick, David Buck, Jake Picton, Luke Danville, Danny Stimpson, Chris Howarth (Jason Yates 85min), Matty Bloor, Luke Hinsley, Gavin Allott, James Ghaichem
Unused subs - Luke Jeffs, Chris Wood, Joe Davies, Zack Levers.
AFC Fylde:
Ben Hinchcliffe, Steve Haslam, Adam Sumner (Paul Jarvis 60min), Matt Hughes, Michael Taylor, Bradley Barnes, Joe Booth, Harry Winter (James Dean 60min), Adam Farrell, Michael Barnes, Richie Allen
Unused subs - Glenn Steel, Jack Dorney, James McCarthy.

Penalty!

If only Frickley Athletic could reproduce some of their home results on the road, they would be bombing up the Northern Premier League table by now, because Westfield Lane's become something of a fortress over the months of October and November for the Blues. 

7 games in all competitions at the Lane since the narrow defeat at Harrogate Town's Wetherby Road ground in the FA Cup, as seen them win 6 and draw 1. 

That's very impressive by anyone's standards. 

Their next home game is on Friday November 30th, against opposition that they have already beaten (6-2) in the Sheffield & Hallamshire Senior Cup this month.

Before that Frickley face a trip down the A1 to Grantham Town on Saturday, who they are now level with on points in the league following tonight's very entertaining draw.

Following a rather sombre minutes silence for John Uttley, Frickley came straight out of the blocks and put their Lancashire visitors under the cosh, from the moment the referee sounded his whistle to start the game.

Gavin Allott had three great chances to put the home side ahead and Chris Howarth fired narrowly over the bar too, as the Blues strove to get a grip on the game, but with half time getting ever closer, it looked as though they were going to have to settle for going in with honours even at the break.

Against the run of play, Adam Farrell nearly put AFC Fylde ahead with five minutes of the first half remaining, but Tom Woodhead pulled off a great save and did well to tip the ball over.

 In stoppage time, both Gavin Allott and Luke Hinsley had efforts on goal cleared off the line, before Mike Taylor felled Allott in the penalty area and the referee pointed to the spot.

Ben Hinchcliffe in the AFC Fylde goal, delayed the game momentarily with a slight burst of histrionics aimed at the ref, but Gavin Allott, kept his cool, didn't let the hold up break his concentration and drilled the ball home to give Frickley the lead and cap off a great individual and team performance for the first 45 minutes.

HT - Blues 1 v Coasters 0 ... if truth be told, Frickley ought to have had a couple more before the break.

After the restart, the tempo of the game was still just as high, but the visitors were getting more into it now ... and Tom Woodhead was called into action twice in the space of a few minutes, to deny both Harry Winter and Joe Booth.

Adam Sumner looked as though he had forced an equaliser in the 53rd minute, but his shot was cleared off the line and Andy Farrell skied the ball over the crossbar from the rebound.
Jake Picton came close, twice, for the Blues, when he hit the underside of the crossbar after beating Ben Hinchcliffe and shortly afterwards, headed just wide from an in-swinging corner kick.

It looked as though Gavin Allott was on the cusp of claiming all three points for Frickley, when he took the ball round Ben Hinchcliffe, but he miss kicked his shot from just outside the 6 yard box and the Coasters heaved a sigh of relief.
On 73 minutes the visitors were level. They had played well in an end to end second half and deserved something from the game, but their equalising goal was dead lucky. Paul Jarvis put a cross into the Frickley area, that caused a chaotic scramble in front of Tom Woodhead's goal and David Buck got the unfortunate last touch as he put the ball past his own keeper.
Both sides were still creating chances and going for a winner, Luke Hinsley hit the post, Allott had an effort saved by Hinchcliffe and Jake Picton had a shot cleared off the line as the Blues went for glory, before Adam Farrell somehow managed to squander two gilt edged chances right at the end.
A draw, in my humble opinion was a fair result. And given the amount of chances both sides created, it could have been 4 or 5 all.
FT - Frickley Athletic 1 v AFC Fylde 1

I don't think you can say fairer than this very honest and magnanimous, post match overview by the AFC Fylde manager David Challinor that appeared on their website:
“I think if we’d have gone in at half time still 0-0 we’d have been lucky - we didn’t start right and there was some harsh words spoken at half time.
“When you come to these places, you expect them to give their all and they did that.
“We didn’t deal with that in the first half, but in the second half we came out brighter, changed our shape a little bit and went for it.
“Certainly for the last half hour we created a lot of chances but just didn’t stick them away and to be fair if we’d have won the game it would have been a little bit unjust on them as they did well.”

Footnote:
I'll see some of you Frickley fans again on Thursday afternoon, at John Uttley's funeral, 2.15pm, Rotherham Crematorium, Herringthorpe. 

God bless you John mate, your lads did you proud tonight.

Lee Whittington Benefit Match

 
Chris Waddle has accepted an invitation to play for Worksop Parramore in a benefit match on Thursday 29th November 7:45pm against Sheffield FC. 
Monies raised will principally benefit ex-Retford United, Scarborough, Matlock Town and Worksop Town player Lee Whittington, who was badly injured, while playing for Worksop Parramore, in a recent match at Sandy Lane. 
Others pulling on a Worksop Parramore shirt will be former Mansfield Town and Rotherham United player & Ex-Worksop Town & current Buxton FC manager, Martin Macintosh and the 'Parras' manager, Darren Bland.
Other celebrities have been invited and there will be several items including signed shirts to raffle/auction.
The freak injury has left Lee with a fractured cheekbone and eye socket, which required an operation to insert two supporting plates. 
For Sheffield FC, current manager, Blades boxing legend and ex-Mansfield Town player, Curtis Woodhouse, will play and Lincoln City manager, David Holdsworth will also be making an appearance on the pitch.

The bar will be open (from 6pm) and the snack cabin will be serving food and beverages.
Admission will be £5 (£3 concessions)

Best wishes Lee and good luck with your recovery.

Staveley Miners Welfare U19 10 (Ten) v Southwell City U19 0 - NMU19L Div 1

Monday 19th November 2012, at Inkersall Road
North Midland Under 19 League
Staveley Miners Welfare (3) 10
Steve Mansell 2,
James Whitfield 4,
Sam Finlaw 2,
Jake Smith,
Pat Lindley
Southwell City (0) 0
Admission £2, Programme 50p
Ta very much to 'our Ele' for the team details.

Staveley Miners Welfare:
Sam West, Danny Plant, Ben Goodwin, Pat Lindley, Lewis Hayward, Brad Jones, Soul Asquith, Sam Finlaw, James Whitfield, Steve Mansell, Jake Smith
Subs - Ryan Walters, Ryan Bates, Oliver Greaves, Ryan Watters, Josh Fields
Southwell City:
Max Danby, Nick Winn, Brad Milton, Brett Langsdale, Leuan Plume, James Morel, Rob Brown, Alex Bexon, Owen Roberts, Billy Pycroft, Dan Gleeson
Subs - Jake Glover, Jack Mellor

There's not really anything that I can add about tonight's game.
Because the final score, which doesn't flatter Staveley in the slightest, already says it all.
If Ryan Bates had kept his shot down and on target, if James Whitfield had been a bit luckier in front of goal and if Staveley had turned the screw as much in the first half as much as they did in the second ... then tonight's result could have been really humiliating for the visitors. 
With all due respect to several good friends I have at a number of other NMU19L clubs, I honestly believe, that I have seen this seasons league champions in action tonight.
And, for the record, I don't mean Southwell City, in case you were wondering. 
But the season is far from over yet, so feel free to prove me wrong ;-)

Mansfield Town 2 v Luton Town 2 - BSBP

Sunday 18th November 2012, at Field Mill/One Call Stadium
Blue Square Bet Premier Division
MANSFIELD TOWN  (1) 1
Ben Hutchinson 8, Matt Green 85
LUTON TOWN  (1) 1
Andre Gray 26, 67
Admission: £18 West Stand Upper - £17 West Stand Lower - £15 Quarry Lane End.
Programme £3, Attendance 2,619 (inc. 522 from Luton)

Left click team sheet picture for enlarged version

Substitutions:
Mansfield Town -Matt Green for Nick Wright 64, Jake Speight for Ben Hutchinson 69, Matt Rhead for Lindon Meikle 76
Luton Town - Stuart Fleetwood for Andre Gray 90
Sunday afternoon football. Not ideal for everybody, but it suited me just fine this weekend, ta very much :-)

Match details on BBC Sport website

Match details on Luton Town website

Match details on Mansfield Town website

Under fire Stags boss Paul Cox, took the courageous decision, to leave Matt Green on the bench this afternoon, against play off chasing Luton Town.
As psychological motivation goes, it was an astute decision, because although it gave Mansfield's other strikers a chance to shine, Green was evidently fired up and out to prove a point when he was finally introduced into the game with 25 minutes left to go.
Paul Cox doesn't always get everything right and his step up to the Blue Square Bet Premier has proven to be a steep learning curve for the Stags manager at times, since he switched to Field Mill from Eastwood Town, but credit where it's due today.

This afternoon's game was fairly evenly balanced, with the Stags perhaps shading possession percentage wise, but only by a whisker.
Ben Hutchinson headed Mansfield in front from one of Exodus Geohaghon's trademark long throw ins, from out on the right wing, after 8 minutes.
Both of Luton's goals came from the same source, namely Andre Gray capitalising on a couple of defensive lapses.
After Luton had scored their second goal, the Hatters enjoyed a spell where they pushed on, in a bid to increase their lead and Shane Redmond needed to pull off a great stop from Scott Rendell to keep the home side in the game.

Now that on loan goalkeeper Liam Mitchell has returned to Notts County, the Stags are going to have to rely on Redmond as cover for the injured Alan Marriott and the big Irishman wasn't found wanting when it came to crunch time against the Hatters.
Of course, he was the hero of Mansfield's midweek penalty shoot out in the FA Cup replay at Slough too.
Shane Redmond has waited patiently in the wings for a long time now and will be relishing the opportunity to finally prove himself with the first team.
That vital save, set up a grandstand finish.
Chris Clements free kick was flicked across the face of the Luton goal and Matt Green was on hand, to end his uncharacteristic dry spell in front of goal.
Hopefully now he's back on the score sheet, finding the back of the net is going to become a regular habit for Green again.
FT - Mansfield Town 2 v Luton Town 2

Next up:
Monday 19th November, Staveley Miners Welfare U19 v Southwell City U19, at Inkersall Road, Staveley, S43 3JL

Retford United 2 v Scarborough Athletic 3 - Baris NCEL Premier

Saturday 17th November 2012, at Cannon Park
Baris Northern Counties East League, Premier Division
Retford United (2) 2
Liam Slack 1, Brett Lucas 13
Scarborough Athletic (0) 3
Sam Denton 69, Ryan Blott 86, Tony Hackworth 89
Attendance 221

Ready. Aim.

Another game, I won't be counting towards my total of matches attended this season, because I was still at work and missed the first half.
After careful consideration, I've now adjusted my target figure, to 100 games all together, by the end of the 2012-13 season.
Hristo Karaivanov wasn't listed as the match official for this afternoon's game, but I might have known he'd be officiating anyway, because he usually is, at at least two games a week I watch.
People are starting to talk about us Hristo mate, we're going to have to start meeting more discreetly ;-)
By all accounts, Retford were good value for their half time lead and deserved to be two goals in front at the break.
But, for whatever reason, just like they had done at Barton in midweek, the Badgers managed to lose again, despite giving themselves a two goal cushion.

Whoops!

I can't really pass comment or judgement on the game as a whole, but from what I saw, Rudi Funk's Scarborough had the better of the second half and, as their goal times testify, never gave up chasing the game ... and as a reward for their never say die tenacity, today's win moves Athletic up to second place in the Baris NCEL Premier Division table, a point behind their landlords Bridlington Town, who drew 1-1 at Maltby Main this afternoon.
Harworth Colliery Institute won the big local game 3-2 against Clay Cross Town in the CMFL (North). Work commitments meant I missed the game at Scrooby Road today, so ta very much to 'Stoney' for keeping me up to date with what was going on at that game. The win keeps the Colliery in second place in the table, two points behind champions elect AFC Mansfield.
It was sad to see that Staveley Miners Welfare had lost to Brighouse Town (after extra time) in the FA Vase. I had hoped that they would go one step further than last year, when they bowed out in the semi finals.

Right folks, my last word on Retford United, for at least a few days, before I get accused of defecting to Cannon Park.
On Friday 30th November, in conjunction with Retford Lions, Retford United Under 19's are holding a fund raising race night at the Birches public house on Thrumpton Lane, Retford (DN22 6HS - 01777 711819). For older readers it's the same place that used to be called the Rifleman's Arms and then Sloanes.
For more details, click here: RUFC U19 RACE NIGHT
This blog is sponsoring a couple of horses and riders ... and you all should too!

Next up: Tomorrow afternoon, I'll be at Field Mill (AKA the One Call Stadium), for the Blue Square Premier Division clash, between Mansfield Town and Luton Town ... may the best team win (as long as the Stags are better than Luton, in which case, a scrappy win against the run of play will do). KIck off is at 1pm. COME ON YOU STAGS!