As the final score suggests, this was a one-sided match dominated by Cotgrave. In the first half Cotgrave played down the slope with the wind behind them, conditions not ideal for playing good football, and the Keyworth players ensured Cotgrave had to work hard by constantly closing down and never giving up. However, the wind was helping Kit Weir’s in-swinging corners from the right, which were almost impossible to defend, and on five minutes Thomas Staples opened the scoring by side-footing in a Weir corner from close range.

Cotgrave then tried repeatedly to run the ball through the middle of the pitch, and saw most of these runs blocked by the Keyworth defence. Although after fifteen minutes James Staples finally succeeded in breaking through and finished from close range. Seven minutes later a good passing move down the Cotgrave left saw the ball moved inside to Aidan Sheppard, who shot into the net from just inside the area. This was followed three minutes later by a close range Jordan Cumberland finish from a Thomas Staples right wing cross. In difficult conditions Cotgrave found themselves four - nil up at half time, but the best was yet to come.

Cotgrave played up the slope with the wind against them in the second half, which meant that the ball had to be kept on the ground to make progress, and Cotgrave looked a much improved team. Matthew Hodgett and Lewis Hopkinson ran the right hand side of the pitch and Elliott Coulthard-Gaunt and the impressive Max Robertson the left side. On thirty-six minutes Weir was fouled in the area and picked himself up to score from the penalty spot. Four minutes later a Robertson run and cross from the left was tucked away by Luke Black. David Young then hit a tremendous long range shot which cannoned down onto the line from the cross bar before being cleared by Keyworth. Keeper Nathan Burgin did have some work to do, and in the forty-ninth minute he blocked impressively when a Keyworth striker broke through the Cotgrave defence.

Cotgrave’s good football was rewarded with four more goals in the last ten minutes. With eight minutes left Weir picked up a long forward ball and finished impressively. Then three goals followed in the last two minutes. The first was a dazzling solo goal by Ben Halcro. Starting from the half-way line Halcro dribbled round half the Keywoth team, including the keeper, before knocking the ball into an empty net. A fierce Coulthard-Gaunt shot from just outside the area made the score nine - nil, before a superb Sheppard ball set Harry Normington clear on the right. Normington drove straight at the Keyworth goal before finishing with a clinical low drive across the keeper.

A very impressive second-half performance.

Man of the Match - Max Robertson