Match: Midland Junior Premier League Match 3 – Nuneaton 8 vs 1 Redditch Utd

Date: Saturday 27th September 2008

Report: (By Kev McGarry)

The Reds battled gamely and never gave up in yet another tough away fixture to the unbeaten table toppers of Nuneaton. With Shaley and Brad absent Ben N was the only sub available as the boys lined up against a team with a 100% record this season and a recent history of winning many trophies in local leagues. The boys kept their shape well from the off under pressure from the hosts who started at a very high tempo. Having weathered a couple of early attacks Nuneaton did make the breakthrough from a good passing move which left Ross no chance from a sharp piece of finishing on 5 mins. Redditch tried to get a foothold in the game but struggled to retain possession and were quickly closed down by the confident home side. Whilst a second and third goal had arrived for the home side midway through the half the boys kept their heads up and began to compete more strongly winning some important tackles and blocks. The back four of Ben Mc, Huddy, Sam and Robbie were holding their shape and strong tackling back by George and Nick began to even the play up a bit. Dan and Charlie were ably trying to defend but also support Max and Matt up front who were too often outnumbered when the ball did come forward. Huddy made a superb block following a Nuneaton effort rebounding off a post but his bravery resulted in an injury so Ben N joined the fray in midfield with Nick dropping to central defence. Although he was unlucky that he deflected a goalward effort into his own net for a fourth to Nuneaton Nick made a remarkable goal line clearance to ensure no further goals in the half. From a rare Redditch attack Matt had a free-kick well saved as the half drew to a close.

Half Time Score:  Nuneaton 4 vs 0 Redditch Utd

The Reds faced the second half playing uphill but almost immediately an excellent flowing move resulted in a cool finish and a fifth Nuneaton goal. This was quickly followed by a sixth and seventh with still over 20 minutes remaining. The pride of the boys finally came to the fore and a number of attacks were well constructed with Charlie and Dan getting some joy down the lines and Max penetrating the centre of defence with some strong running. Reds forced a couple of corners in quick succession and looked threatening. From the second of these George fired in a low cross and Matt was on hand to swivel about 10 yards out and accurately dispatch the ball into the bottom corner of the net for a just reward. This lifted the boys and they continued to hold their own during the last 20 minutes where they only conceded one more goal which was a scrappy unfortunate own goal at that. It would have been easy for the boys to lose heart and drop their heads but they battled on bravely and took the defeat with commendable spirit. Again there were some encouraging signs and there is no doubt the boys are learning a lot from trying to compete with some very strong established teams. I’m sure they will get some reward for these 100% efforts in the coming weeks

Full Time Score:  Nuneaton 8 vs 1 Redditch Utd

Reds Goalscorers: Matt

Man of the Match: Nick - never say die attitude, strong tackling and amazing goal line clearances.

ROSS

BEN Mc

ROBBIE

SAM

HUDDY

GEORGE

DAN

NICK

CHARLIE

MATT

MAX