Team:

1. Liam Cooper
2. Ryan Shield
3. Robbie O’Donnell
4. Tom Marshall
5. Craig Dale
6. Max Pashely
7. Will Gill
8. Dylan Farrow
9. Macaulay Kilpatrick
10. Ryan Birch
11. Connor Bartle
12. George Carline
14. Jack Morris

Match Report:

Well if we wanted a sign that winter was here we got it today; it rained for the whole game, the wind never stopped blowing and it was cold – the combination of all three elements meant it was “very cold” for the players. The fact that these two teams played through the conditions, and produced a non-stop action packed game, is a real credit to all of those lads involved.

Prior to kick-off we learned that Chris was going to be unavailable due to ill health; get well soon Chris and hopefully you will be back for next week. This meant a re-shuffle to the team and a slight change in tactics.

Arnold are a team that like to play football and they certainly played some good stuff today; the first 20 minutes saw them have a majority of the game but, as in last weeks again (against Gedling Town) the Colts stuck to their task and held firm against some pretty testing Arnold pressure.

With 30 minutes of the half gone, Liam was called upon to stop Arnold taking the lead. A well placed shot seemed destined for the bottom right hand corner of the goal before Liam dived and turned the ball around the post for a corner.

The save provided the Colts with a boost and on the stroke of halftime Dylan scored his 14 th of the season. A good through ball and a strong run created the opportunity; the finish was a typical “Farrow Finish” (a low drive across the keeper and into the net).

Half-Time: 1 – 0

Ryan B had to be replaced midway through the first half after suffering a re-occurrence of the leg injury sustained in a school match (last week); bearing in mind the weather and the fact that he could play now further part in today’s game, he was told to go home and rest his injury. Full credit to Ryan for wanting to stay at the game but we need him fit for next Sunday.

As the half wore on the players (in both teams) continued to provide excellent entertainment for the rain soaked crowd. When you are playing in conditions like today’s it is not easy and nobody should under estimate the effort that both teams were putting in.

With 11 minutes of the half gone, Macaulay went on one of his mazy runs which left 4 Arnold players wondering how he had managed to go past them. On the edge of the penalty area he looked up and slotted the ball through to Dylan who made no mistake with the finish to score the second goal of the game.

The determination and energy in the Colts team at the moment is excellent and for the first time in the match they looked to be on top. With another 5 minutes gone the Colts were rewarded with a 3 rd goal. The scorer was Max, netting for the first time since his transfer from Clifton. This was in fact Max’s second goal of the season at The Pit; you might remember he scored against us for Clifton on the opening day of the season (not that we hold that against him – anymore!!). I have an apology to make here, apart from seeing the ball crossing the line I missed everything else about the goal. Perhaps if anyone reads this report and they actually saw what happened they can add to feedback and explain it to me [see feedback option below].

Arnold played well today and never stopped trying to get something from the game so it was no surprise that they reduced the deficit with about 12 minutes to go.

The game finished with every player battling for their respective team; the Colts were holding firm in defence; Liam was commanding in goal and Dylan tried to get on the end of every ball that can his way. Our midfield was again very mobile and were breaking up the forward play of Arnold to great effect.

Fulltime – 3 – 1

Summary:

When you write a match report the goal scorers always get a mention as does the goal keeper when he pulls off a great save; both of these situations have been common place in our matches over the past few weeks as you can see from the consistent references to Dylan and Liam (long may this continue). It is not always so obvious to pick out (from the report) the involvement and impact of the other players. Over the past 3 or 4 weeks every player has raised his game by at least 50%; Tom, Ryan S, Jack, Robbie, Tom and Craig (and Richard although he didn’t play today) have provided us with a much better line of defence than we had earlier in the season. Will, Macaulay, Connor and Max (and Chris although he didn’t play today) have provided a more industrious and enterprising midfield, and George and Ryan B have worked hard to provide more ammunition up front.

For a change we are playing Arnold again next Sunday and for the second week running we will be at home. Let’s hope that the weather is kinder next Sunday and the football is equally entertaining.

I would like to thank everyone for their help today; Brian for refereeing (thought you did a great job as did Ian (Arnold Manager)), Ian B (especially for his role in the kitchen!!), Fiona, Spugy, John and anyone else that got involved. Every bit of help that Mark and I get is greatly appreciated.

Finally, well done to the players (both teams) hope you enjoyed it as much as those of us wrapped up warm did.

Training as usual is on Friday between 7pm and 8pm (Dayncourt).

Thanks

Alan and Mark.