Captain Matt Brewis was missing this week due to him preferring to go to Florida than brave the drizzle of West Bridgford. Jimmie Whitehead was also missing with an ankle injury. The final issue that the team had going into this game is the goalkeeper problem. Olly Vickers (a great keeper and looked at by Derby last season) has decided that he wants to play outfield this season. John has been trying to get a keeper, but has still drawn a blank. All credit to Olly who agreed to play in goal for the first half of the match.

At this point any goalkeepers reading this who are eligible to play first division football, for the under 14's, then please click here and contact John Dale. Keepers can play on a Saturday & Sunday.

Back to the match. Bridgford started off livelier than Cotgrave and had the better chances. A corner for Bridgford nearly produced the opening goal, but a fantastic save by Olly Vickers kept them out. Man of the match, Morley was having an outstanding game in central defence winning everything. The pressure told though and Bridgford managed to get into a two goal lead. Cotgrave's heads didn't drop and they got their rewards late in the half when Ben Dunning managed to pull one back. Greg Halford and Ryan Smith were combining well up front and causing the Bridgford defence problems with their pace and power. Colin Randall come onto the field late in the first half and this helped to inject some strength into the midfield. From this point Cotgrave really started to come back into the game.

Half time: Bridgford 2 Cotgrave 1

The second half change was Glen Dale went into goal and Olly Vickers moved out. I have to say that Glen had a great game in goal and he looked really confident. Glen's gone in goal a few times, but this was by far his best performance as he was in total control of his box at all times and his distribution was superb. Greg Halford came really close to scoring against his old club when he went on a surging run and the Bridgford keeper just managed to fingertip the ball around the post. Bridgford added a third goal which was taken very well, by the Bridgford striker. From my angle, I actually thought that Glen was going to rugby tackle him as he rounded him, but thankfully he didn't. Olly Vickers came close to getting a goal back as a cross/shot hit the Bridgford post. The second half saw a much stronger performance than the early stages of the first half and the confidence levels grew as the lads could see that they could get something from the game. Ryan came close with another free kick, but the game finished.

Full time: Bridgford 3 Cotgrave 1

Summary: We backed off and let Bridgford play too much in the early stages of the first half and this cost us. End of the first half and the second half when we competed, we matched them all over the pitch. We must start better in our next game if we are to pick up all 3pts. Well played lads!!

Another Cotgrave chance, which ended up with the Bridgford keeper making a great save.