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18 November 2006 Notts 2 v Beeston 1
Humphries, MacDuff, Hillier, Hannan, Burd, Keating, Bett, Cunningham, Abbott, Stedman, Willott, O’Keeffe, Weston, Cursham, Oliver
Manager in charge of rotations: Mr Phil “the Young 1”
Scorers - James (“the Poacher”) Bett -2; MotD – Robin Weston
Mentioned in despatches
Mark Keating, Ollie Humphries, Ben Hannan, James Bett
First I must make an apology for the quality of last weeks report. If my old English master at prep school read that drivel especially the poor spelling, he would have turned in his grave. So this week I’ll turn the “spoil chocker” on and try and do better.
So it was on a late Saturday afternoon, that I drove to Goosedale. It was that dark that the lights of the pitch were like beacons drawing its victims like moths to a flame. It is said that pilots use the pitch floodlights as a reference on the final approach into East Midlands.
Why am I going on about this – well a 5.00pm start (17.00hrs on the 24hr clock) for starters. What sort of time is that – its well past my bed-time and for one of us (GO’K) it interfered with the Panthers game and hence we only saw him for half a game (you still owe me half match tax by the way!!). We do seem to get the short straw on home games.
To the game – this was going to be another tough game. Beeston V are a young side, technically proficient and no doubt a number are destined for higher XI’s. So the tactics were simple. With a squad of 15, the rotations, under the control of the Young 1, would be frequent as everyone would be required to give 110% effort.
The game was presided over by that formidable duo – Mr Mike Allen and Sir Don Nettleton – it was going to be a hard struggle!
The first decision was what colour ball to use. It seems that one of the Beeston players is colour-blind and a request for a white ball was made to which Mr Allen said he wouldn’t be able to see it – no change there! However there is a point – a white ball at night on that pitch – sense had to prevail and we played with an orange ball.
The game started off at a brisk pace with Notts having most of the play. Then as is the case with us, sloppy play and poor defending at the back resulted in a goal. This is getting to be habit forming!
The equaliser followed shortly after. A great run by Robin resulting in pass to the Poacher who converted the shot from the back of the D – this is becoming habit forming.
A period of steady play ensued – we saw the introduction of Mr Cursham – looking a tad out of match practice following his recent 2 week safari.
The second goal came just before the half with another short corner converted yet again by the Poacher.
2-1 at half time represented a good effort from the team.
The second half started with Beeston applying pressure that opened up the backs and only some great saves from Ollie kept us in the game.
We had many opportunities to score in the second half – Robin with a solo effort saw his shot go wide – Ed with his instinctive nose for a goal found the goalie in the way.
The final whistle and a much needed 3 points.
We played well and as a team. In fairness to Beeston it could have gone either way – we applied pressure and got breaks. Another day and it could (and has) gone the other way.
If I have any criticisms it would be that we are still holding on to the ball too long and not looking for that easy pass. Also I felt that the mid-field were not coming back soon enough to support the backs on the breaks. Ollie was shouting until he was hoarse to get you back. Let’s work on that please – the mid-field are the engine room and need to be at full pace.
Players to get a mention today were Mark Keating – a fine effort at sweeper snatching the ball from the opposition in that distinctive manner; Ben Hannan – played well at left back and was an effective thorn to the right wing; the Poacher – simply because of his goal scoring abilities and Ollie because of those fine saves.
However, the MotM award goes to Robin – his speed and skill were again evident and set up several opportunities for us.
The TotD award was difficult to give away this week as everyone played well (despite Tim’s dubious passing in the second half). However I hear from a reputable source, none other than the Young 1, that GO’K was observed practising his short corners with Asbo and several air shots ensued. No doubt he was trying for that most difficult of shots – “the topped shot” – the one that bobbles along the ground and totally confuses the goalie and eventually finds its way into the back of the net. However, as I wasn’t there to see it, the mug stays in the bag.
Well done everyone and see you next week.
On a final note, Giles Hulme called last week to say that the operation had been a success and that he is looking forward to starting again in January. Now he then proceeded to give me the gory details which I will spare the more squeamish amongst you. Suffice to say it brought tears to my eyes as the legs crossed. Something to with wire mesh and MDF. He is presently doing some light exercise but would not go so far as to say whether it was of the horizontal variety. So Giles, as the world has recently dropped out of you bottom you may want check if all is present and correct and if you count any more or less than 3 then go back to the doc and get your money back!
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