This top-of-the-table clash had been eagerly awaited and proved to be a close encounter.

From the kick-off Ruddington seemed to be the more switched on team and gave Cotgrave no time on the ball. The Cotgrave defence had to be alert against the mobile Ruddington forwards and Harry Normington was often sweeping behind the defence and clearing the ball to safety. There was little opportunity for Cotgrave to push full backs Thomas Staples and Elliot Coulthard-Gaunt forward as Cotgrave appeared to be constantly tracking back.

However, in the twelfth minute a ball was released over the top of the Ruddington defence. Luke Black chased through and, despite being under pressure from several defenders, he forced a save from the Ruddington keeper. The keeper, however, could only parry the ball to Lewis Hopkinson who drove the ball into an empty net to open the scoring.

Cotgrave then had more attacking play, concentrating on the right where Hopkinson and Thomas Staples were finding space. Four minutes later a Hopkinson run and cross saw the ball cleared to James Staples who, from about thirty yards, drove a spectacular shot into the top corner of the Ruddington net. Cotgrave now had some breathing space. Kit Weir and Kris McCann were brought into central midfield and the match continued to be end-to-end, though with very few clear chances for either team.

In the twenty-second minute Ruddington pulled a goal back when Cotgrave failed to deal with a ball bouncing across the area from the left, leaving a Ruddington forward with a close range finish. However, the rest of the half was played out in midfield and there were few more scoring chances for either team.

The second-half continued with both teams battling for midfield supremacy. Aidan Sheppard and Weir looked impressive, Sheppard appearing to be everywhere on the pitch. With David Young on the left wing, Max Robertson switched to the right and was starting to run at the Ruddington defence, forcing a good early save from the Ruddington keeper. Ben Halcro stood out in the Cotgrave defence, intercepting the ball and looking to set Cotgrave back on the attack. Matthew Hodgett brought fresh legs to the central midfield and keeper Nathan Burgin’ s was dealing calmly with Ruddington’ s through balls.

In the forty-third minute Robertson ran the ball fifty yards down the right wing, powering past two Ruddington defenders, but just as Robertson was about to shoot a last ditch sliding tackle brought him down and the referee awarded Cotgrave a penalty. Sheppard stepped up and drove the ball hard into the roof of the net.

Ruddington now threw players forward, and at every opportunity drove the ball at the Cotgrave goal. Still there were few clear chances, although Ruddington won a series of corners, and almost inevitably from one forced the ball home at the far post to set-up an exciting final eight minutes.

Ruddington pushed even more players forward and Jordan Cumberland, who had spent the whole match battling against Ruddington’ s centre backs, now finally started to find some space for his runs. Cotgrave packed the midfield to try and close down the game, and Ruddington were unable to create that one more chance to equalise.

A tough, competitive match between two well matched teams. Cotgrave did well to establish a lead and hold onto it despite some determined pressure from Ruddington.

Man of the Match - Aidan Sheppard